Psychology Commons^™

Exploring Psychopathy Predictors In Males And Females, Teresa M. Encalada

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Psychopathy is a clinical term used to describe a personality disorder. This personality disorder presents as callousness, lack of empathy, feelings of grandiosity, impulsivity, narcissism, and a lack of guilt or remorse (Cleckley, 1951). It is noteworthy that by some estimates, those meeting the criteria of psychopathy commit 20 – 40% of violent crimes (Drislane et al., 2019) and makeup between 15% and 25% of the prison population (Kiehl & Hoffman, 2011). As such, psychopathy is one of the most significant criminal justice constructs of the present day because of the heightened and persistent levels of aggression, criminality, and financial …

Preparing To Break Barriers: A Mixed Methods Exploration Of The Knowledge, Attitudes, And Perceptions Of Hiv, Prep, And Hiv Risk Behaviors Among Women Of Color In Miami, Florida, Amanda C. Ichite

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The U.S. HIV epidemic is characterized by regional, racial, and ethnic disparities. HIV rates are disproportionately higher in the South and Black and Hispanic populations are most impacted. Moreover, the intersectional identity of being a Black or Hispanic woman living in the South has been associated with profound disparities in HIV impact. Prior to the advent of the biomedical HIV prevention tool pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in 2012, women were limited in their options for female-controlled HIV prevention strategies. Despite the proven efficacy of PrEP, utilization in women is significantly lower than other at-risk groups. In the present study, secondary analysis …

The Politics Of The Self: Psychedelic Assemblages, Psilocybin, And Subjectivity In The Anthropocene, Joshua Falcon

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines how psychedelic substances become drawn into particular sociohistorical and political arrangements, and how psychedelic experiences with psilocybin ‘magic mushrooms’ are used as tools of subjectivation. Guided by literatures in philosophy, critical theory, and the social sciences that focus on subjectivity, assemblage theory, and critical posthumanism, I argue that psychedelics are drawn into variegated assemblages, each of which conceptualizes the nature of psychedelics in highly specific ways that reflect implicit conceptions of the world and the self. In developing the concept of psychedelic assemblages, this research provides a window onto the politics of the self in the Anthropocene. …

Improving Witnesses' Predictive Confidence Judgments By Enhancing Test Domain Familiarity, Laura J. Shambaugh

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recent research on witnesses’ pre-identification confidence (“predictive confidence”) suggests that these judgments are moderately related to identification accuracy when witnesses experience encoding variability and appropriate statistical techniques are used. However, other research shows that under ecologically valid conditions involving a single identification, the relationship between predictive confidence and accuracy deteriorates. One potential explanation for this lack of a meaningful confidence-accuracy relationship is that witnesses are unfamiliar with the lineup task leading them to underestimate its difficulty. Identification difficulty is partly determined by the similarity of lineup fillers to the suspect, which witnesses cannot anticipate when they make a predictive confidence …

The Interplay Between Parental Executive Functioning, Parental Stress, And Parenting Skills Across A Parenting Intervention, Taylor Landis

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Behavioral parent training (BPT) interventions are the gold standard treatment for preschoolers with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and have been shown to improve parenting, and therefore children’s behavior. However, treatment outcomes are dependent upon various child and parent factors. Less research has examined predictors of treatment response in preschoolers, including parental factors, which is important given the known benefits of early intervention.

This dissertation is comprised of three manuscripts focused on parent and child executive functioning (EF), and intervention outcomes for children with ADHD and their parents. Study I examined the extent to which individual differences in EF and emotion regulation …

Neuromodulation To Enhance Attention Training In Socially Anxious Adolescents, Daniella Vaclavik

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Anxiety and its disorders are prevalent and impairing in adolescents, often following a chronic course, and are associated with heightened prospective risk of depressive disorders, substance use disorders, and suicidal behaviors. Traditional interventions such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) have yielded response rates that highlight the critical need to examine treatment outcome moderators in underrepresented populations (i.e., Latino youth), as well as identify and evaluate innovative and alternative interventions that are brief, efficacious, and grounded in neuroscience. In a series of three manuscripts, this dissertation project presents findings on moderators of CBT outcomes in Latino youth (Chapter II) and explores …

Perceptions And Risk: The Role Of Education, Body Image, Partner Availability, And Condom Negotiation On Black Women’S Sexual Risk-Taking Behaviors, Brittany Nicole Boyd

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are at an all-time high (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2021; Kreisel et al., 2021; Merman, 2021), and disproportionately impact women of color. Understanding the factors that coalesce to create elevated risk for Black women is critical for more effective prevention/intervention to reduce risks and negative health outcomes. This study extended previous research by examining the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the mediating influences of psychosocial factors (i.e., body image, perceived partner availability, and self-efficacy for condom negotiation) on sexual-risk decision making (i.e., condom use) in Black women during emerging adulthood. …

Sex Trafficking In India: The Role Of Formal And Informal Support Providers, Claire E. Helpingstine

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

It is estimated that millions of women and children have experienced sex trafficking (ST) in India. The adverse mental and physical health outcomes and negative social impacts of ST are well established. Due to this, there are significant efforts to develop support services for ST survivors. However, support providers must navigate the multileveled framework of the Indian sex industry to reach ST survivors and provide treatment. Few studies have evaluated support services for survivors of ST across South Asia, nor have the experiences of anti-human trafficking stakeholders working in India been examined.

Study one utilized scoping review methods to identify …

The Influence Of A Showup Identification On A Subsequent Witness Description, Kelsey Lynne Hess

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Showups account for 30%-77% of initial identification procedures conducted by police (Flowe et al., 2001; Gonzalez et al., 1993; McQuiston & Malpass, 2001). Unlike lineups, showups are typically administered within a few hours of the crime event. The administration of a showup, due to its timing, is likely to precede a more formal police interview. The showup may introduce new characteristics of the suspect’s physical appearance to the witness. Any new characteristics inconsistent with the perpetrator’s appearance at the crime can be considered misinformation, which has the potential to contaminate witness recall. Although the contaminating effects of a showup have …

Playing Down To The Competition? Making Sense Of A Golfer's Frequently Used Excuse, Alejandro J. Regalado

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Golf is a sport that continues to develop throughout the years. The development of the sport exceeds the fascinating technological advances of the clubs, balls and gadgets and has taken a new sector of people by storm. Every year golf seems to capture a new audience and more over a new generation of women have taken a liking to the sport. With all these great advances there still seems to be a question out there on why performance fluctuates so much?

This fluctuation can be seen by the avid sports observer on any weekend of a PGA tour event, yearly …

An Examination Of Job Resources And Self-Determination In Employees' Job Involvement, Hernan Morales

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As employees and organizations continually strive to do more with less, the employer must remain an active partner in understanding the nature of their employee’s job involvement for its competitive advantage. The main objective of this research is to evaluate the influence of several work characteristics and motivational forces on job involvement. The study used a quantitative methodology. The sample of the current study was composed of 214 subjects. The reliability and factor structure of the scales used were evaluated and validated. The main results showed that intrinsic and prosocial motivations significantly influenced individual job involvement. Moreover, the results show …

Examining The Influence Of Parenting Practices On Youth's Sleep Health During A Sensitive Developmental Period, Juliana Acosta Lievano

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sleep problems among youth are highly prevalent and associated with mental and physical health concerns. During early adolescence, youth’s sleep health is at risk for disturbance, and problems with sleep around this developmental period have been shown to longitudinally predict escalating rates of anxiety and depression later in adolescence. Sleep-related behaviors are embedded within the family system and as such they are influenced by familial processes including parenting practices. However, the influence of parenting practice on young adolescents’ sleep health has been understudied. Moreover, there is limited evidence on the concept of nighttime parenting as it relates to youth’s sleep …

The Role Of Sociocultural Factors On The Relationship Between (Un)Employment And Well-Being Of Latinx Emerging Adults During Covid-19, Chantal Nichole Martinez

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and resulting recession have brought significant challenges for organizations and revealed deep-seated inequalities for employees of color. LatinX individuals, in particular, have experienced high rates of unemployment compared to their White and Black American counterparts and returned to work at a slower rate (BLS, 2020; 2021). As a result, organizational psychologists have been called to action to help understand the economic and psychological impacts of the recession on worker outcomes (e.g., unemployment, mental well-being). The objective of this collected papers dissertation is to a) take a culturally humble and strength-based approach to examine how the emerging …

Building Bridges: A Brief School Readiness Intervention Designed To Guide Families Transitioning From Early Head Start To Head Start, Katherine A. Zambrana

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The transition into the early school years is a salient developmental milestone, which lays the groundwork for later school success. Parent involvement in children’s development and early learning experiences has been widely examined and identified as a strong predictor of children’s school readiness. Therefore, promoting positive parent involvement during the early school years and during developmental transitions is key to children’s later school success. Recognizing the importance of early school success, several programs have been developed to support children and families in the transition to kindergarten. Yet, as early as preschool, a number of children display significant behavioral and academic …

A Mixed Methods Approach To Exploring Nurses’ Covid-19 Experiences And Identifying Effective Coping Strategies For Common Nurse Job Strains, Natalie Armenteros

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Given the substantial range of stressors exacerbated by COVID-19 and their detrimental effects on healthcare workers, researchers have called for a more thorough investigation into how COVID-19 has impacted the health and well-being of healthcare workers. With nurses working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a sense of urgency to empirically gather information on these experiences, particularly for those working in epicenters of the outbreak. The primary goal of this collected papers dissertation is to help inform organizational policies and practices in the healthcare industry related to nurses’ health and well-being. As such, this dissertation utilized a …

Homoerotic Medievalism: Looking At Queer Desire In The Homosocial Relationships Of Chaucer’S “The Knight’S Tale” And Fletcher And Shakespeare’S The Two Noble Kinsmen, Juan P. Espinosa

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to explore queer interiority within the heteronormative social constructions of late medieval England. Queer interiority is not an occurrence of modernity, but rather a response to social constructions that date back to the Middle Ages. It is essential to account for queerness in the Middle Ages because authors like Chaucer promote the successive resurfacing of queer characters within heteronormative social constructions. Writing during the queer reign of Richard II, Chaucer constructs the interior identities of Palamon and Arcite as a reflection of the king and the political norms of England. Inspired by Chaucer, authors …

Social Class And Workplace Norms: How African American And White Women And Men From Working-Class Backgrounds Learn Workplace Norms As They Experience Career Mobility, Anna Kallschmidt

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Professional workplace norms in the U.S., such as wearing a suit to an interview or offering a firm handshake as a greeting (Sharma & Sharma, 2012), are behaviors considered ideal among members of a specific occupation (Cohn et al., 2017). This project investigated how people from working-class backgrounds in the U.S. learned, adopted, and conformed to workplace norms as they moved from a lower-status to a higher-status position within their career. Guided by Intersectionality Theory, Cultural Mismatch Theory, and the Stereotype Content Model, these studies examined how workplace norms shifted as employees changed social class and interacted with employees’ racial …