Other Psychology Commons^™

How Demographics Influence Self-Image, Stephanie Yu, Amy Whitmarsh, Leyla Rakshani, Aaron Schurger

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

When creating psychological research surveys, demographics are typically recorded at the end of the primary survey. Psychologists suggest placing demographic questions at the end to omit any biases from the participants (Hughes et al., 2016). Does the placement of these types of questions influence people without them knowing? How does this apply across different ethnic groups? Can demographic question placement prime individuals in their self-rating of attractiveness and the overall impact of demographic placement on survey results? After an initial round, we wanted to see if ethnic groups would be primed differently when viewing people of the same race. We …

Validation Of The Short Version (Tls-15) Of The Triangular Love Scale (Tls-45) Across 37 Languages, Marta Kowal, Piotr Sorokowski, Bojana M. Dinić, Katarzyna Pisanski, Biljana Gjoneska, David A. Frederick, Gerit Pfuhl, Taciano L. Milfont, Adam Bode, Leonardo Aguilar, Felipe E. García, S. Craig Roberts, Beatriz Abad-Villaverde, Tina Kavčič, Kirill G. Miroshnik, Izuchukwu L. G. Ndukaihe, Katarína Šafárová, Jaroslava V. Valentova, Toivo Aavik, Angélique M. Blackburn, Hakan Çetinkaya, Izzet Duyar, Farida Guemaz, Tatsunori Ishii, Pavol Kačmár, Jean C. Natividade, Ravit Nussinson, Mohd Sofian B. Omar-Fauzee, Ma. Criselda T. Pacquing, Koen Ponnet, Austin H. Wang, Gyesook Yoo, Rizwana Amin, Ekaterine Pirtskhalava, Reza Afhami, Alexios Arvanitis, Derya Atamturk Duyar, Théo Besson, Mahmoud Boussena, Seda Can, Ali R. Can, João Carneiro, Rita Castro, Dimitri Chubinidze, Ksenija Čunichina, Yahya B. Don, Seda Dural, Edgardo Etchezahar, Feten Fekih-Romdhane, Tomasz Frackowiak, Nasim Ghahraman Moharrampour, Talia Gomez Yepes, Simone Grassini, Marija Jovic, Kevin S. Kertechian, Farah Khan, Aleksander Kobylarek, Valerija Križanić, Samuel Lins, Tetyana Mandzyk, Efisio Manunta, Tamara Martinac Dorčić, Kavitha N. Muthu, Arooj Najmussaqib, Tobias Otterbring, Ju Hee Park, Irena Pavela Banai, Mariia Perun, Marc Eric S. Reyes, Jan P. Röer, Ayşegül Şahin, Fatima Zahra Sahli, Dušana Šakan, Sangeeta Singh, Sanja Smojver-Azic, Sinem Söylemez, Ognen Spasovski, Anna Studzinska, Ezgi Toplu-Demirtaş, Arkadiusz Urbanek, Tatiana Volkodov, Anna Wlodarczyk, Mohd Faiz Mohd Y. Yaakob, Mat Rahimi Yusof, Lindsay Zumwalt, Marcos Zumárraga‑Espinosa, Kelly Zupan, Maja Zupančič, Robert J. Sternberg

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Love is a phenomenon that occurs across the world and affects many aspects of human life, including the choice of, and process of bonding with, a romantic partner. Thus, developing a reliable and valid measure of love experiences is crucial. One of the most popular tools to quantify love is Sternberg’s 45-item Triangular Love Scale (TLS-45), which measures three love components: intimacy, passion, and commitment. However, our literature review reveals that most studies (64%) use a broad variety of shortened versions of the TLS-45. Here, aiming to achieve scientific consensus and improve the reliability, comparability, and generalizability of results across …

Body Appreciation Around The World: Measurement Invariance Of The Body Appreciation Scale-2 (Bas-2) Across 65 Nations, 40 Languages, Gender Identities, And Age, Viren Swami, Ulrich S. Tran, Stefan Stieger, Toivo Aavik, Hamed Abdollahpour Ranjbar, Sulaiman Olanrewaju Adebayo, Reza Ahfami, Oli Ahmed, Annie Aimé, Marwan Akel, Hussam Al Halbusi, George Alexias, Khawla F. Ali, Nursel Alp-Dal, Anas B. Alsalhani, Sara Álvares-Solas, Ana Carolina Soares Almaral, Sonny Andrianto, Trefor Aspden, David A. Frederick

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

The Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2) is a widely used measure of a core facet of the positive body image construct. However, extant research concerning measurement invariance of the BAS-2 across a large number of nations remains limited. Here, we utilised the Body Image in Nature (BINS) dataset – with data collected between 2020 and 2022 – to assess measurement invariance of the BAS-2 across 65 nations, 40 languages, gender identities, and age groups. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis indicated that full scalar invariance was upheld across all nations, languages, gender identities, and age groups, suggesting that the unidimensional BAS-2 model has …

For The Love Of Teaching: Pre-Service Teachers’ Experience Of Moral Education, Anne Marie Foley Ruiz

Doctoral Dissertations

Moral aspects of teaching arise each and every day, yet we lack information about how prepared teachers feel about this critical aspect of teaching. This multi-case study explores perceptions of five pre-service teachers in an elementary teacher education program in Western Massachusetts. A series of interviews explore their histories prior to the program and their experiences in the program as related to the pre-service teachers’ orientations to the moral work of teaching. Research questions address the awareness and self-efficacy of student teachers in implementing the moral aspects of teaching. Using Thematic Analysis (Braun & Clark, 2006), this study explores beliefs …

Taiwanese International Students In Clinical Supervision: A Phenomenological Study, Joey Chiao-Yin Hsiao

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The population of international students has continued to grow in the past two decades and become an important segment of U.S. university enrollment (Ng & Smith, 2001). Altogether, there is limited literature that is devoted to international students’ experience in clinical supervision and merely any international students studies specifically focused on the Taiwanese international student subgroup. This study examined the experiences of Taiwanese international students in clinical supervision. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to extract the phenomenon of participants’ lifeworld and qualitative data were collected from individual semi-structured interviews with Taiwanese international students (N=6). Data analysis led to four …

Mediumship And Mental Health: Investigating Spirit Communication And The Importance Of Integration, Daniel A. Seda Ph.D.

Journal of Conscious Evolution

Sensitivity to paranormal phenomena can be a source of emotional, mental and psychospiritual stress for individuals demonstrating verified mediumistic abilities, yet integrating these anomalous experiences in a healthy, affirming manner can reduce distress and potentially deflect egodystonic diagnoses of pathology. Because mediums can relay information which appear to be otherworldly from meditation, during trance, or by automatic writing and painting, health professionals have diagnosed mediums with mental disorders such as dissociative identity disorder and schizophrenia. This overreliance on pathology to explain anomalous experiences is troublesome and can cause severe distress to individuals demonstrating extrasensory capabilities. This paper was written to …

Historical Trauma: Literary And Testimonial Responses To Hiroshima, Mariam Ghonim

Theses and Dissertations

The concept of trauma is controversial in literature. While one may be able to come up with ways to describe trauma in fiction, representing historical trauma is a hard task for writers. Some argue that trauma can not be described through those who did not experience it, while others claim that, provided some elements are added, one can represent trauma to the reader. This thesis focuses on twentieth-century historical traumas related to a nuclear catastrophe and explores the different literary and testimonial responses to the catastrophic man-made event of Hiroshima (1945). In this thesis, Kathleen Burkinshaw’s historical fiction The Last …

Mental Illness And Ethnic Identity And Their Relationship With Internalized Stigma Among Individuals Identifying As Latinx And Diagnosed With A Mental Illness, Melissa V. Martinez

Student Theses

Identity plays a key role in all matters regarding mental health, especially in experiences of stigma. Stigma, a term used to describe the processes of labeling and stereotyping of particular groups, has been shown to be a major contributor to mental health outcomes. Internalization of stigma, is an emotional and behavioral response that further affects an individual’s functioning beyond the effects of a mental disorder. The relationship between stigma and certain identities, such as gender, have been clearly demonstrated in prior research. However, identity is a complex concept that varies in meaning between individuals. The significance of a particular identity …

Dance/Movement Therapy Used As An Intervention To Heal Racial Trauma Within The Black Community: A Literature Review, Jennifer Noboise

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The history of dance within the black community has served an important role while living through a racist and discriminatory society. Dance has been used to express anger, grief, and joy during hardships and moments of rejoicing from the black experience. African American people have endured years of trauma and abuse from oppressive systems. Research has been conducted to demonstrate that dance/movement therapy has been effective in treating those who have experienced a form of trauma since the trauma is stored in the body. Examining trauma symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and substance use, the research found these symptoms diminished …

Transcendence: Exploring The Connections Between Transgender/Gender Non-Conforming Identities And Experiences Of Nature Through Art, Mc Jackson

Undergraduate Theses

“Transcendence: Exploring the connections between transgender/gender non-conforming identities and experiences of nature through art” is the written portion of a creative thesis revolving around an immersive art installation and short film. Transcendence, the installation, was created to promote connection by exploring the overlap between transgender and gender non-conforming (GNC) experiences and experiences of nature. Part of this installation is a short film of interviews conducted with transgender and GNC individuals about nature, their gender experiences, and the transcendent nature of the two. The written thesis analyzes existing literature on nature as a restorative, therapeutic, spiritual setting, offers insight into …

Experiences Of Covid-19-Related Racism And Impact On Depression Trajectories Among Racially/Ethnically Minoritized Adolescents, Sabrina R. Liu, Elysia Poggi Davis, Anton M. Palma, Hal S. Stern, Curt A. Sandman, Laura M. Glynn

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Purpose

In 2020, racially/ethnically minoritized (REMD) youth faced the “dual pandemics” of COVID-19 and racism, both significant stressors with potential for adverse mental health effects. The current study tested whether short- and long-term trajectories of depressive symptoms from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic differed between REMD adolescents who did and did not endorse exposure to COVID-19-era-related racism (i.e., racism stemming from conditions created or exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic).

Methods

A community sample of 100 REMD adolescents enrolled in an ongoing longitudinal study of mental health was assessed before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants were 51% girls, mean …

Adolescent Psychological Assets And Cardiometabolic Health Maintenance In Adulthood: Implications For Health Equity, Farah Qureshi, Anne‐Josee Guimond, Elaine Tsao, Scott Delaney, Julia K. Boehm, Laura D. Kubzansky

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Background

Positive cardiometabolic health (CMH) is defined as meeting recommended levels of multiple cardiometabolic risk factors in the absence of manifest disease. Prior work finds that few individuals—particularly members of minoritized racial and ethnic groups—meet these criteria. This study investigated whether psychological assets help adolescents sustain CMH in adulthood and explored interactions by race and ethnicity.

Methods and Results

Participants were 3478 individuals in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (49% female; 67% White, 15% Black, 11% Latinx, 6% other [Native American, Asian, or not specified]). In Wave 1 (1994–1995; mean age=16 years), data on 5 psychological assets (optimism, …

Is Biological Death Final? Recomputing The Drake-S Equation For Postmortem Survival Of Consciousness, Adam J. Rock, James Houran, Patrizio E. Tressoldi, Brian Laythe

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies Advance Publication Archive

This participatory team science project extended Laythe and Houran’s (2022) prior application of a famous probabilistic argument known as the ‘Drake equation’ to the question of postmortem survival. Specifically, we evaluated effect sizes from peer-reviewed, empirical studies to determine the maximum average percentage effect that ostensibly supports (i.e., "anomalous effects") or refutes (i.e., "known confounds") the survival hypothesis. But unlike the earlier application, this research included a study-specific estimate of the hypothesized variable of ‘living agent psi’ via a new meta-analysis of empirical studies (N = 17) with exceptional subjects vs participants from the general population. Our updated analysis found …

Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy: Equity Through Contextual Frameworks, Emanuel Hermosillo

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

Psychedelic assisted psychotherapy (PAP) is a psychotherapeutic modality in which the non-ordinary states of consciousness that result from the consumption of psychedelic medicines are utilized to facilitate therapeutic healing. A wide range of cultures have used a variety of these psychotropic substances as medicines since ancient times, and there has been a resurgence of interest in their beneficial properties across many disciplines including psychology. Given that there are extra dimensions of vulnerability in using these medicines therapeutically, increased attention needs to be given to diversity, equity, and inclusion across psychedelic research and clinical practices. This paper focuses on how internal …

Two Dimensions Of A Bodhisattva, Douglas Duckworth

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies Advance Publication Archive

This paper presents two dimensions of a bodhisattva, the ideal of Maha- ya- na Buddhism. One dimension involves contemplative practices that disclose a pure nature that is always already present; this reality is unveiled after the obscurations that cloud it are removed. I refer to this as a “top-down” approach because it is based on qualities of awakening that are already there, yet lie beyond an ordinary being’s comprehension. The second dimension, which I refer to as a “bottom-up” approach, involves directed training and discipline. Unlike the top-down approach, this is not about “going with the flow” or simply letting …

Authentic Mindfulness Within Mindfulness-Based Interventions: A Qualitative Study Of Participants' Experiences, Supakyada Sapthiang, Edo Shonin, Paul Barrows, William Van Gordon

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies Advance Publication Archive

There are concerns that participants of some modern mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) are receiving a superficial form of mindfulness training. However, empirical investigation of this issue according to participants’ first-hand experiences has been limited. Thus, this qualitative study aimed to capture the first-hand perspectives relating to authentic mindfulness of participants who had recently attended an MBI in the UK. Ten adults completed a recorded, online semistructured interview. Based on a thematic analysis, the following four master themes were identified: (a) authentic mindfulness as a construct, (b) positive aspects of the training, (c) something missing, and (d) recommendations for authenticity. Although all …

Mindfulness Traps And The Entanglement Of Self: An Inquiry Into The Regime Of Mind, Richard Dixey, Ronald E. Purser

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies Advance Publication Archive

Mindfulness meditation can provide salutary therapeutic benefits, as well as lead advanced practitioners to states of calm and equanimity. In this paper, we argue that such forms of meditation may subtly entrap practitioners in circular, self-reflexive feedback loops. Because these meditation traps fail to clearly discern the operations of mind, they offer a temporary oasis of peace within an unaltered dualistic realm of mind that leaves the root delusion of self-identity intact. Drawing upon Tarthang Tulku’s seminal book Revelations of Mind, we present what he refers to as the “regime of mind,” the processes of cognition, identification and re-cognition in …

Cognitive Illusion, Lucid Dreaming, And The Psychology Of Metaphor In Tibetan Buddhist Dzogchen Contemplative Practices, Michael R. Sheehy

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies Advance Publication Archive

A classic set of eight similes of illusion (sgyu ma’i dpe brgyad) are employed recurrently throughout Indian and Tibetan Buddhist literature to illustrate the operations of cognition, its correlative perceptions, and experiences that emerge. To illustrate a Buddhist psychology of metaphor, the fourteenth century Tibetan scholar and synthesizer of the Dzogchen (rdzogs chen) or Great Perfection system, Longchen Rabjam Drimé Ödzer (1308-1363), composed his poetic text, Being at Ease with Illusion. This work on illusion is the third volume in Longchenpa’s Trilogy of Being at Ease (Ngal gso skor gsum) in which he presents a series of Dzogchen instructions on …

Cognitive Assessment Of Latinx/E Bilinguals In The United States: A Fictitious Case Study, Vanessa Magro

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

Despite a growing body of literature and best-practice guidelines and considerations, assessment providers working with Latinx/e populations are left with numerous questions about how to translate these ideas into practice. This paper is meant to begin to answer some of these questions for Spanish-speaking providers administering cognitive tests to bilingual Latinx/e clients in the United States. The basis for these answers is a comprehensive literature review and my experience providing culturally-responsive assessment services to a bilingual Latinx/e population in the United States. A fictitious case study is included so that providers can get a concrete idea of how to bring …