Personality and Social Contexts Commons^™

Impacting Audiences: Responses To Oral Histories Of Persons With Schizophrenia, Tracy Mcdonough, Lynda Crane, Kory Phelps, Sara Vice

The Qualitative Report

The current article focuses on the impact for listeners of oral histories of persons with schizophrenia, presented to 241 audience members. Post-presentation feedback was obtained. Findings from a mixed-methods design combining chi-square analyses with qualitative presentation of emerging themes present evidence to support new learning, emotional impact, and motivational inspiration in listeners.

Pulse - A Consultation, Barry J. Mauer

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

On June 12, 2016, Omar Mateen killed 49 people and injured 53 at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida. We may never know or understand what was in Mateen’s mind, but we can situate his attack within the history of eliminationism in America. Islamist terrorism is just part of a larger phenomenon: right wing eliminationism. But despite centuries of right wing eliminationist words and deeds in the U.S., there is little or no mainstream recognition of the phenomenon. Instead, we are treated to more denial, more distraction, more obfuscation. Until we look this problem squarely in the face ...

Embodying Rhythm Nation: Multimodal Hip Hop Dance As A Site For Adolescent Social-Emotional And Political Development, Lauren M. Roygardner

All Graduate Works by Year: Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This exploratory study employed qualitative methodology, specifically values analysis, to learn more about how being involved within Hip hop dance communities positively relates to adolescent development. Adolescence was defined herein as ages 13-23. The study investigated Hip hop dance communities in terms of cultural expertise (i.e. novice, intermediate and advanced/expert) to look specifically at dance narratives (i.e. peak experience narratives and “I dance because” essays) and hip hop dance performances. The primary purpose of this dissertation was to (1) explore how adolescents use multimodal Hip hop dance discourse for social-emotional development and critical consciousness, and to (2 ...

Why Some Take Pleasure In Other People’S Pain: The Role Of Attachment, Competition, And Cooperation On Schadenfreude, Alison Baren

All Graduate Works by Year: Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

When witnessing someone’s misfortune, some people may feel empathy and offer to help while others may feel schadenfreude (i.e., joy at other’s misfortunes) and not help. This research examined why people react to others with compassion while others respond more callously. I investigated how individual differences in attachment, empathy, personal distress, and schadenfreude, and the effects of competition versus cooperation, impacted prosocial behavior. As a novel contribution, I looked at attachment’s association with not only state schadenfreude but also trait schadenfreude. After developing a measure of trait schadenfreude (Study 1), I determined if attachment related to ...

Examining The Influence Of Demographic Differences On Children's Wisc-V Test Performance: A Canadian Perspective, Sarah E. Babcock

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Intelligence is a powerful correlate of human behaviours and characteristics, and has an important impact on many life outcomes including educational and career success, mental health, and longevity. Given the widespread influence, it is imperative that intelligence and intelligence tests are interpreted accurately. The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of demographic differences on the intelligence test scores of Canadian children using the WISC-V. Drawing from the WISC V^CDN standardization data, the results suggest that ethnicity and socioeconomic status are significant predictors of IQ scores, and that differences in these variables significantly affect test performance. Further ...

Psychopathy, Empathic Concern, And Emotional-Sentence Processing: An N400 Erp Study, Farren Larson

Student Theses

Using an undergraduate sample, the present study examined how psychopathic traits (assessed by the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised) and empathic concern (assessed by the Interpersonal Reactivity Index) affect emotional-information processing using event-related potentials (ERPs) and a sentential priming paradigm. Participants had their electroencephalogram (EEG) recorded while they silently read sentences with three types of endings: congruent, incongruent, and emotionally negative. We hypothesized that participants with high levels of psychopathic traits and participants with low levels of empathic concern would find the emotionally negative sentence endings less unexpected and disturbing (yielding a smaller N400), compared to participants with low levels of psychopathic ...

The Political Personality Of U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This working paper presents the results of an indirect assessment of the personality of U.S. vice president Mike Pence, from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon. Information concerning Pence was collected from biographical sources and media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with Axis II of DSM–IV.

The personality profile yielded by the MIDC was analyzed on the basis of interpretive guidelines provided in the MIDC and Millon Index of Personality Styles manuals. Pence’s primary personality pattern was ...

Down Syndrome, The Image Of God, And Personhood, Paris Webb

Dialogue & Nexus

People with Down syndrome help Christians understand what being made in the image of God truly means. After describing Down syndrome, we will examine the different views of the image of God and how these relate to people with Down syndrome. Another approach will be to define personhood in light of God’s image and relate it to Down syndrome. We will use the principles held by the L’Arche community as an exemplar in this discussion to demonstrate that those with Down syndrome encourage us to expand our understanding of the image of God. Consequently, Down’s persons allow ...

Overcoming Childhood Trauma: Long-Term Effects Of Early Maltreatment, Kellsey A. Hansen

Honors Theses AY 16/17

Child maltreatment is a worldwide problem, often overlooked by the general population. Each year in the United States of America, about 3.6 million referrals are made to Child Protective Services, reflecting 6.6 million individual cases of maltreatment. The short- and long-term effects of abuse and neglect have drastic consequences on individual children and society as a whole. In order to combat these outcomes, it is crucial for victims to demonstrate resiliency after the trauma has occurred.

The goal of this project was to review relevant literature pertaining to the subject of child maltreatment and resilience. After examining several ...

Personality And Online Behavior, Daniel Caffery

Senior Honors Theses

This study looked to find a connection between personality and online behavior. Internet trolling has been described as “the practice of behaving in a deceptive, destructive, or disruptive manner in a social setting on the Internet with no apparent instrumental purpose” by Buckels, Trapnell and Paulhus (2014), who suggested that trolling provides enjoyment for persons with certain “dark” personality traits. These traits included psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and especially sadism. While these traits give a sense of who trolls, they fail to provide an explanation for the underlying psychological processes that drive trolling. This study used Rose-Karsnor’s (1997) definition of social ...

Narcissistic Traits Of Police Officers In America, Paloma Moran

Themis: Research Journal of Justice Studies and Forensic Science

The narcissistic traits of police officers aged 17 to 78 in the United States affect American citizens in various degrees. Improvements made to pre-employment psychological evaluations, such as the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2), the L (Lie) Scale, and the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI), may detect and screen out police officer candidates with underlying Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). It is important that candidates with NPD be screened out as, if they become officers, they may commit acts of police misconduct, which greatly affect the safety and trust of the American people.

Assessing Behavioral Syndromes In Captive Red Pandas (Ailurus Fulgens) Using An Ethological Approach, Tyler C. Bray

School of Arts & Sciences Theses

Animal personality has a significant impact on an animal’s physiology and welfare. Eight captive red pandas were observed to determine if personality can be assessed in this species using an ethological approach. Analysis revealed two behavioral dimensions: 1) Active/Exploratory and 2) Maintenance. Age differences were found in the Active/Exploratory dimension.

What Do We Think About Birth Order?, Jessica Garcia

Student Research Posters

Stereotypical beliefs people have of personality traits that are expected from children in relation to their birth order has become a popular area of study. Parents can be consciously or unconsciously swayed to form impressions of their children based on birth order personality attributes formed by society and family. How parents act towards their children can impact a child’s cognitive and behavioral development (Eckstein & Kaufman, 2012). Using Adler’s psychological perspective theory, the present study hypothesized that there is a positive correlation between people’s perception of birth order traits and self-reported personality. Participants were 50 adults (84% female ...

Do Pinnipeds Have Personality? Coding Harbor Seal (Phoca Vitulina) And California Sea Lion (Zalophus Californianus) Behavior Across Contexts, Amber J. De Vere

Master's Theses

Personality has now been studied in species as diverse as chimpanzees (King & Figueredo, 1997) and cuttlefish (Carere et al., 2015), but marine mammals remain vastly underrepresented in this area. A broad range of traits have been assessed only in the bottlenose dolphin (Highfilll & Kuczaj, 2007), while consistent individual differences in a few specific behaviors have been identified in grey seals (Robinson et al., 2015; Twiss & Franklin, 2010; Twiss, Culloch & Pomeroy, 2011; Twiss, Cairns, Culloch, Richards & Pomeroy, 2012). Furthermore, the context component of definitions of personality is not often assessed, despite evidence that animals may show individual patterns of consistency (Kuczaj, Highfill & Byerly, 2012). The current study therefore aimed to assess underlying personality factors and consistency across contexts in two unstudied marine mammal species, using behavioral coding.

Two California sea lion and three harbor seal personality factors were extracted using exploratory factor analysis. Two factors were broadly similar across species; the first, Boldness, resembled human Extraversion, and to some extent Openness. The second factor was labeled Routine Activity, and contained some Conscientiousness-like traits. Excitable-Interest emerged as a third factor in seals, but had low reliability. Species-specific patterns were also identified for interactive behaviors across two contexts. However, there was substantial individual variation in the frequency of these behaviors, as well as some animals who did not conform to species-level trends. This study therefore provides novel evidence for broad personality factors and ...

Does Personality Similarity In Bottlenose Dolphin Pairs Influence Dyadic Bond Characteristics?, Kelsey R. Moreno

Master's Theses

Social structures are critical to the success of many species and have repercussions on health, well-being, and adaptation, yet little is known about the factors which shape these structures aside from ecology and life history strategies. Dyadic bonds are the basis of all social structures; however, mechanisms for formations of specific bonds or patterns in which individuals form which types of bonds have yet to be demonstrated. There is a variety of evidence indicating personality may be a factor in shaping bonds, but this relationship has not been explored with respect to bond components and is yet to be demonstrated ...

Students’ Attachment Styles To Their Professors: Patterns Of Achievement, Curiosity, Exploration, Self-Criticism, Self-Reassurance, And Autonomy, Lian H. Conrad

All College Thesis Program

This study explored whether professors for young adult college students could serve as caring and trustworthy attachment figures who fostered certain mindsets, perceptions of the self, and academic behaviors. A convenience sample of 89 first-year college students in introductory psychology courses completed an online survey. First, the study sought to replicate the established relationships between students’ achievement goal orientations and curiosity, exploration, self-criticism, and self-reassurance. Then, the study analyzed students’ attachment styles to their First-Year Seminar (FYS) professors in relation to achievement goal orientations to see if attachment style could then predict similar patterns of academic behaviors. Contrary to expectations ...

Presentation Of True­-Self, Motive And Life Satisfaction On Instagram Among College-­Aged Females, Jocelyn Apodaca

Graduate Research Symposium (GCUA)

With more than 300 million daily users, Instagram has rapidly become one of the most widely used social networking apps worldwide. This study investigates relationships between motivations for using Instagram, whether users are portraying their true­selves and how their usage affects life satisfaction and well­being. A quantitative survey was used to collect data from 200 students at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas students. Participants were asked to provide answers regarding their habits for using Instagram, whether their online portrayal of self reflected their true self and determine overall life satisfaction. The motives studied in this research ...

Is It Cheating?: Examining Parenting Styles And Attitudes Towards Infidelity, Ica Cabral

Scholarly & Creative Works Conference 2017

As one enters adolescence and emerging adulthood, the attitudes and identity formed by our earliest relationships come to the forefront. During this developmental stage, the attitudes and beliefs that we have internalized based on the relationships we observed in our early life may contribute to the health of a relationship. Successful maintenance of a monogamous relationship may be impacted by the behaviors and attitudes we have internalized from our earliest relationships.

Attitudes toward infidelity may be one such inheritance from our caregivers. Past studies suggest that attitudes toward infidelity are linked to both intentions to cheat, and cheating behaviors (Jackman ...

The Flaws Of Deterrence Theory, Hunter Oneal Cooley

Georgia College Student Research Events

In my paper, I discuss the means of the deterrence theory, and argue against its original intent and how in my views it is a failed and flawed theory. I discuss the notion of inherent “evil” in people, and how that the deterrence theory cannot simply go against and correct something that I argue is inherent in humans. I discuss the inherent trait to commit crime, or simply the evil nature that can lead to crime that I think is inherent in people. I give reasons for the failure and the flaws of the theory, I use one prime example ...

What’S In It For Me? The Impact To Social Exchange Dynamics Of Hispanic Males Serving As Mentors In Formal Youth Programs, Annica Meza Dawe

Dissertations

Purpose: The U.S. Hispanic population is on the rise and will continue to be an important thread in the fabric of American society as a whole. However, in the midst of this burgeoning group lies its male subpopulation which faces its own unique challenges. One outlet that has demonstrated success for minorities is mentoring. Mentoring can provide Hispanic males with numerous benefits in a social exchange paradigm. Unfortunately the majority of mentoring research has focused solely on the perspective of the protégé, thus leaving mentor perceptions, particularly those of Hispanic males, unexplored. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study ...