Psychology Commons^™

On The Basis Of Gender: Discrimination Against Transgender People In The Hiring Process, Aaron N. Baillargeon

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

The study investigated the effect of a job applicant’s gender identity (male or female) and gender history (cisgender or transgender) on the evaluated quality of the applicant and the likelihood of the applicant being hired for a vacant software engineer position. Participants from the worker pool of Amazon’s Mechanical Turk evaluated the quality of a fictitious job applicant based on a mock resume and background check created for the purposes of this study, then completed the Social Dominance Orientation. There was no significant effect of gender identity or gender history on the evaluated quality of the job applicant or on …

Throwing Off The Corset: A Contemporary History Of The Beauty Resistance Movement In South Korea, Hyejung Park

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

The tal-corset movement, a beauty resistance campaign, swept South Korea’s feminist scene in 2018 and became a phenomenon bringing about unprecedented social changes in South Korea. This article explains sociocultural contexts to South Korea’s tal-corset movement through group interviews and examination of online materials. It documents the contemporary history of the development of the movement from a feminist perspective. Findings show that movement participants see beauty practice as social oppression imposed on women’s bodies and appearances and the marker of women’s low social status. The new wave of an online feminist movement that emerged in 2015 created women-only communities that …

A Model Of Individual, Relationship, And Societal Factors And Mental Health And Well-Being In Partnered Sexual Minority Women: The Central Role Of Relationship Satisfaction, Charlotte A. Dawson

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Sexual minority women (SMW) are at increased risk for mental health disorders, substance abuse, and physical health problems compared to heterosexual women. For heterosexual individuals, romantic relationships have been found to be protective against a variety of health issues. Less research, however, has focused on the association between romantic relationships and health in same-sex couples. The purpose of this study was to examine the potential protective nature of being in a relationship for SMW and to test a model investigating the central role of relationship satisfaction in the association between individual, relationship, and societal factors and mental health and well-being …

An Examination Of The Relationship Among Social Services Support, Race, Ethnicity And Recidivism In Justice Involved Mothers, Ne’Shaun Janay Borden

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

Historically, women have been ignored and minimized in criminology research and theory, leading to gaps in the literature on justice involved women. In recent years, there has been more focus on women as their rates of involvement in the justice system have increased. Previous studies have found that pathways to justice involvement are different for women and men, with women experiencing higher rates of victimization, sexual abuse and mental health concerns. Further, justice involved women are unique in that over 80% are mothers or primary caregivers for minors. General Strain Theory is used to assert that receiving support should reduce …

An Association Between Perceived Social Support And Posttraumatic Stress Symptom Severity Among Women With Lifetime Sexual Victimization: The Serial Mediating Role Of Resilience And Coping, Michiyo Hirai, Ruby Charak, Laura D. Seligman, Joseph D. Hovey, John M. Ruiz, Timothy W. Smith

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study examined the association between perceived social support and severity of posttraumatic stress symptoms, serially mediated by resilience and coping among women exposed to different patterns of sexual victimization experiences: childhood sexual abuse (CSA) only, adult sexual assault (ASA) only, and sexual revictimization (SR). A total of 255 sexually victimized women recruited from four U.S. universities completed self-report measures online; 112 participants reported provisionally diagnosable levels of symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The proposed model was largely supported in the CSA only group and the SR group. Different patterns of mediational effects were found across the three groups. …

A Mule For The Patriarchy: Waking Up To The Harm Of Prostitution To Wives And Families, Andrea Heinz

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

I exited from commercial sexual exploitation eight years ago. Here, I share my reflections on how my actions directly impacted other women. I describe how my participation in the sex trade adversely affected the wives and girlfriends of sex buyers. I posit that sex sellers negatively impact these vicarious victims by subscribing to and endorsing “sex work” ideology. I assert that the collective good of all women is diminished by viewing sexual services as a market commodity. I stress that the collective good of all women is enhanced by assuming responsibility and compassion for one another.

The Resilience Of Female Survivors Of Intimate Partner Violence In Southwest Nigeria: An Interdisciplinary Analysis, Tobi F. Oloyede

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Female survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) in Nigeria endure harsh and traumatic experiences that affect their rights as women and their well-being. As the phenomenon of IPV persists in Nigeria, it is not only a family problem but a critical social and psychological problem. This study examined Nigerian female survivors’ hidden strength, agency, and resilience, rather than their powerlessness and vulnerability. Analysis of survey questionnaires, interviews, and secondary scholarship reveals that some Nigerian female survivors of IPV are able to cope whilst navigating stressful and traumatic experiences. The results also show that survivors’ ability to thrive and cope under …

“When It’S Time To Come Together, We Come Together”: Reconceptualizing Theories Of Self-Efficacy For Health Information Practices Within Lgbtqia+ Communities, Alexander N. Vera, Travis L. Wagner, Vanessa L. Kitzie

Student Publications

This chapter addresses the shortcomings of current self-efficacy models describing the health information practices of LGBTQIA+ communities. Informed by semi-structured interviews with 30 LGBTQIA+ community leaders from South Carolina, findings demonstrate how their self-efficacy operates beyond HIV/AIDS research while complicating traditional models that isolate an individual’s health information practices from their abundant communal experiences. Findings also suggest that participants engage with health information and resources in ways deemed unhealthy or harmful by healthcare providers. However, such practices are nuanced, and participants carefully navigate them, balancing concerns for community safety and well-being over traditional engagements with healthcare infrastructures. These findings have …

Toward A Fluid Cinematic Spectatorship And Desire: Revisiting Laura Mulvey’S Psychoanalytic Film Theories, Taylor Ashton Mcgoey

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis project re-evaluates Laura Mulvey’s film theories regarding psychoanalysis and the “male gaze,” first found in her essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” (1975). By re-evaluating the limitations of Mulvey’s use of the Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalytic model this project seeks to understand the desires and processes of identification of cinematic spectators who reject the ideological imperative of the “male gaze”. As many critics have noted, Mulvey’s initial examination of cinema does not account for LGBTQ+ spectators and/or black spectators who occupy looking relations that reject cis-normative and heteronormative white Hollywood cinematic conventions. From this standpoint, we begin the …

A Retrospective Analysis Of Sex Education Messages Received By Lgb Youth, Jacqueline Bible, Alejandra Kaplan, Lisa D. Lieberman, Eva Goldfarb

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

Using focus groups, this qualitative study asked thirty-five gay, lesbian, and bisexual (LGB) young adults to reflect on messages they received about sex and sexuality around the time they first had sex. Focus groups were conducted, recorded, transcribed, and analyzed. Through thematic analysis, the authors identified two messaging sources identified by participants: (1) formal education sources (i.e., school and parents), and (2) informal education sources (e.g., internet, peers). Formal sources often included messages perpetuating heteronormative assumptions, emphasizing abstinence, pregnancy and HIV/STI prevention, or silence as a form of messaging. Informal sources consisted of LGB-specific information. These findings suggest informal sources …

Development Of A Minority Stress Preventive Intervention For Sexual And Gender Minority Youth And Young Adults, Natalie Holt

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Mental health disparities amongst sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals are spurred by exposure to minority stressors and sustained by mediators of problems with emotion regulation, social support, and cognitive processes. Emerging clinical research suggests empirically supported behavioral health treatments can be culturally adapted to address these mental health disparities, however less work has focused on the prevention of symptoms. The present study developed a brief preventive intervention targeting mediators of the minority stress model for SGM youth and young adults aged 17 to 26. Focus groups with 8 SGM participants informed development to ensure the content and delivery of …

Gendered Processes And Women’S Stunted Career Growth: An Exploratory Study Of Female Software Engineers, Sucharita Maji, Shikha Dixit

The Qualitative Report

In the present qualitative study, we explored to what extent gender has been an integral part of workplace experience and career growth among female software engineers in Indian Information and Technology sector. Following a purposive sampling strategy, data were drawn from twenty-one female software engineers. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted. A hybrid of theoretical and inductive thematic analysis was done to answer the research questions. For analyzing the data through theoretical thematic analysis, Acker's (1990) “Hierarchies, Jobs, Bodies: A Theory of Gendered Organizations” was used as the theoretical lens. The result revealed that four features of gendered processes in the …

“I Went Into This As One Person, And Then Came Out A Totally Different Person”: Native Lgbtq2s+ Young Adults’ Conceptions Of Trauma, Rachel M. Schmitz, Ruby Charak

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Intersecting sources of stigma influence harmful mental health outcomes for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and Two-Spirit (LGBTQ2S+) young adults (YA) of color as they must manage multiple oppressions. Experiencing both mental health challenges and victimization, LGBTQ2S+ YA of color struggle with distinctive psychological traumas. There is a critical need to determine how certain groups of LGBTQ2S+ YA of color’s marginalized social statuses shape trauma understandings. Native LGBTQ2S+ people in general endure diverse forms of oppression and trauma, such as histories of colonialism, contemporary racism, sexism, homophobia, and classism. Understanding the subjective interpretations of violence and trauma among Native LGBTQ2S+ …

Testing A Model Of Sexual Minority Orientation In Individuals With And Without The Broad Autism Phenotype, Lydia Ruth Qualls

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and the Broad Autism Phenotype (BAP) are more likely than individuals with typical development (TD) to report a sexual minority orientation (e.g., Bejerot & Eriksson, 2014; DeWinter et al., 2017; Qualls, Hartmann, & Paulson, 2018). There has been no research on how existing theories of sexual orientation might explain the development or increased likelihood of sexual minority orientation in these individuals. The aim of this study was to operationalize and test the fit of an existing model of sexual orientation (Worthington, Savoy, Dillon, & Vernaglia, 2002) in individuals with TD, BAP, and ASD.

Participants …

A Daily Diary Examination Of Microaggressions And Alcohol Use Among Emerging Adult Bisexual Women: The Role Of Alcohol Demand, Sarah J. Ehlke

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Bisexual women are at far greater risk for alcohol use, alcohol-related negative consequences, and alcohol use disorder than heterosexual or lesbian women. However, research on sexual minority women often combines lesbian and bisexual women into a single group. One possible explanation for the increased alcohol use and associated consequences among bisexual women relates to their experiences of discrimination or microaggressions that are daily insults and comments, intentional or unintentional, about their sexuality from both the heterosexual and sexual minority communities. Thus, it is possible that bisexual women drink to cope with microaggressions. Specifically, bisexual women may drink more and have …

A Multi-Dimensional Model Of Sexual Stigma And Relationship Satisfaction Among Female Same-Sex Couples: The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Of Rejection Sensitivity, Alexander Thomas Shappie

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Sexual stigma is associated with impaired relationship functioning among sexual minority couples and is associated with a variety of negative outcomes that result in an inequitable burden for members of this population. While there is considerable evidence that sexual stigma and minority stress are related to individual health outcomes, less research has examined relationship health. The present study provides an important contribution to the literature because it was the first to offer a dyadic model that tested the relatedness between all three individual-level manifestations of sexual stigma (i.e., enacted, internalized, and perceived sexual stigma) and relationship satisfaction among same-sex couples. …

University Crime Alerts: Do They Contribute To Institutional Betrayal And Rape Myths?, Alexis A. Adams-Clark, Carly P. Smith, Prachi H. Bhuptani, Jennifer J. Freyd

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Universities are mandated by the Clery Act (20 USC § 1092(f)) to publicize the occurrence of certain campus crimes. Many universities rely on “Crime Alert” emails to quickly and effectively communicate when a crime has occurred. However, communications of sexual crimes are often narrow (e.g., limited to stranger-perpetrated crimes) and misleading (e.g., containing safety tips that are not applicable to most types of sexual violence). The current paper presents the results of two studies that test the effects of reading crime alert emails on subsequent endorsement of rape myths and institutional betrayal. In Study 1, participants read a typical crime …

Memory And Stereotypes For Lesbian/Gay Characters, Amber Rose Williams

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Stereotype-consistency bias refers to the idea that people tend to remember stereotypical information about others better than non-stereotypical information (Fyock & Stangor, 1994). Limited research has examined how people may use stereotype-consistency bias when recalling information about LGBT characters in narratives (Bellezza & Bower, 1981; Clark & Woll, 1981; McGann & Goodwin, 2007; Snyder & Uranowitz, 1978). This line of research suggests that, instead of genuinely remembering stereotypical information better, participants tended to guess stereotypical answers to questions they do not know. In contrast to those studies, the experiment I conducted for this thesis suggests that heterosexual young adults tend …

Sexual Violence, Traumatic Memory, And Speculative Fiction As Action, Kate Rose

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Starhawk’s speculative novel City of Refuge (2015) depicts rape trauma and its consequences in a dystopian society that is the logical conclusion of patriarchy. French psychiatrist Muriel Salmona’s research on how traumatic memory contributes to inequality and how reconstructing narrative can heal survivors places her similarly at the intersection of story and activism. City of Refuge is a literary experiment focused on survivors of institutionalized sexual assault, while Salmona’s work maps consequences of traumatic memory linked to childhood sexual violence. The basic tenet of narrative medicine that life experience affects mental and physical health coincides with Salmona’s critique of how …

On Exiting From Commercial Sexual Exploitation: Insights From Sex Trade Experienced Persons, Andrea Heinz

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

As a woman who exited after seven years in licensed commercial sexual exploitation in Canada, I share my reflections on my experience, which led to the development of the Insights from Sex Trade Experienced Persons (InSTEP) Model. The model was constructed based on interviews with “service providers” in the sex trade. Twelve exited women share their experiences inclusively. InSTEP is geared toward a population of quasi-autonomous providers who have alternate economic options. Three levels are introduced in the InSTEP model to describe the continuum of agency among service providers; Level 1: trafficked/controlled; Level 2: quasi-autonomous; Level 3: autonomous. The InSTEP …

Well-Being In Trans And Gender Diverse Individuals: An Investigation Of Chosen Family Support, Kendal Cassidy

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Trans and gender diverse (TGD) individuals experience unique minority stressors that increase their experiences of psychological distress, and prior research has suggested social support may have protective factors for these unique stressors (Başar et al., 2016; Bockting et al., 2013; Clements-Nolle et al., 2006; Hull & Ortyl, 2018; Pflum et al., 2015; Lombardi et al., 2002; Staples et al., 2018; Tebbe & Moradi, 2016); however, little is understood about chosen family for TGD populations, and how chosen family might relate to minority stressors and mental health. It is also understood that mental illness and well-being reside on separate continuum, but …

Beauty Is Not Black And White: A Content Analysis Of Black Women’S Body Image In Television Media, Alexis Hubbard

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There are few bodies of literature that look at Black women’s body image in television media. When Black women were studied most research (Falconer & Neville, 2000; Jhally & Kilbourne, 2010; Smith, 2014; Shearon-Richardson, 2011;) compared them to White ideals. However, this study did a content analysis of Black women in predominantly Black or ethnically diverse television shows using qualitative studies that suggest a Black ideal. The researcher examined lead character(s) body shapes, comments about their body, hair texture and comments about their hair. This research looked at protective factors (aspects Black life that allow for more body satisfaction) like …

Womanism & Wellbeing: A Manuscript Dissertation Exploring The Effects Of Shame, Loss And Gender Issues, Christy Angelle-Vidrine Bauman

Education Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to contribute to the research on gender issues and psychological well-being across the adult lifespan utilizing qualitative research examining factors (e.g., societal influences, sexual objectification, shame, loss, meaning-making, and internal identity) in developing resilience and mitigating mental health issues. This paper discusses the importance of addressing well-being through expression of loss, meaning-making, and social impact. This manuscript style dissertation will review publications in such areas as sexuality, spirituality, grief, shame, intimacy, social, and interpersonal relationships. The exploration of biopsychosocial impacts as it relates to meaning-making, resilience, and communal involvement. The three publications will be …

Critically And Creatively Engaging With Trauma-Informed Mental Health Research And Treatment Of Lgbtqia+ Communities As Expressive Arts Therapists: A Literature Review, Kelli Lavallee

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Expressive Arts Therapists are uniquely situated as both artists and mental health counselors working in psychological pedagogy rooted in systems of oppression. Given the arts-based approaches to the therapeutic relationship, it can be unethical to offer these approaches without acknowledgement of the ways in which the arts intersect with social justice, and justice is only viable if practitioners critically review the clinical mental health education they are consuming from the institutions they learn in, specifically trauma-informed mental health research assimilation and treatment approaches for Expressive Arts Therapists in training, practice, and education. A review of the literature in this paper …

A Screenplay For Bystander Intervention For Sexual Harassment Scenarios For College Students, Shanti Herzog

Journalism

This project was developed to describe the drafting of a screenplay for an interactive, virtual reality sexual harassment training module for students of the California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo. The research began with the examination of the prevalent and persisting issue of sexual harassment within college campus communities, and how to present college students with the tools to intervene as bystanders, thus encouraging them to intervene when encountering sexual harassment scenarios. The resulting screenplay was written to provide college students at Cal Poly with strategies to identify and take action when encountering sexual harassment, especially in small group gatherings …

Interrupting Intergenerational Silences Between Indo-Caribbean Women And Gender Non-Conforming People Through Participatory Oral History And Digital Archiving, Arita Balaram

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study used participatory oral history and digital archiving to explore two interrelated questions: How do the stories that Indo-Caribbean women and gender non-conforming (GNC) people tell challenge dominant narratives of resistance to historical oppression which represent women and passive and non-confrontational, and fail to represent GNC people at all? How might oral history and digital archiving be used to work against the historical erasure of women and GNC people? In the first phase of the study, twelve Indo-Caribbean women and GNC people across generations participated in an oral history workshop where they were trained in oral history methods, co-created …

Twinks, Jocks, And Bears, Oh My! Differing Body Ideals Among Gay Male Subcommunities, Samuel Fogarty

Honors Theses

Recent studies have focused on disordered eating psychopathology among gay men, particularly when oriented towards thinness or muscularity. Gay men are at increased risk of eating disorder symptoms when compared to heterosexual men and exhibit similar rates to women (Feldmen & Meyer, 2007; Frederick & Essayli, 2016; Siconolfi, Halkitis, Allomong, & Burton, 2009). However, the results remain muddled surrounding the topic of thinness- or muscularity-oriented eating psychopathology; the current study provides a potential response in subcultural gay appearance ideals. The present study examined the relationship between three gay subcultural appearance identities (twinks, jocks, and bears) and disordered eating attitudes and …

Depressed & Dis-Eased: Storytelling, Melancholia And The Rhetorical Affordances Of Affect, Carlee Franklin

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Because racial oppression is often internalized, this thesis examines literature written by POC about protagonists of color struggling with depression. The pieces are Gwendolyn Brooks’ Maud Martha, Haruki Murakami’s “Tony Takitani,” and Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Using literary concepts informed by Black feminist theory, decolonial theory, and affect studies, as well as rhetorical frameworks of silence and listening, this thesis attempts to better understand how the relationship between depression and racial oppression work to color the life expectancy and perspectives of depressed people of color

Intermodal Art Method To Explore Personal And Cultural Narratives, Zoe Boucher

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

In this capstone thesis, art-based research (ABR) is examined through a critical, intersectional perspective to explore how it can be used as a method to reveal areas that impact transference and countertransference and thus to support supervision and emerging clinical practice. This heuristic study explored the benefits of poetry and response art within the home setting of a black biracial, Guadeloupean American, female-identifying cisgender individual, 31 years of age. Through qualitative, arts-based research, data was collected in the form of blackout poetry, painting, and journaling. A thematic analysis of the visual and textual data sources revealed three themes: an intermodal …

The Queer Expansion Of Role Theory: A Drama Therapy Intervention With Lgbtq+ Adults, Abigail Truax

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

There is currently a lack of information in understanding LGBTQ+ specific needs in mental health care, thus creating a marginalized space in which queer people are significantly more dissatisfied with mental health treatment as opposed to heterosexual and cisgender people seeking treatment (Avery, Hellman & Sudderth, 2001). This thesis will focus on the development of a method in which I will expand upon Robert Landy’s role theory and create a drama therapy role intervention crafted specifically for the queer population and their needs. Because of oppression within the LGBTQ+ community my focus will be on expanding role theory and its …