Social Psychology Commons^™

Modeling Social Learning: An Agent-Based Approach, Erika G. Ardiles Cruz

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Learning is the process of acquiring or modifying knowledge, behavior, or skills. The ability to learn is inherent to humans, animals, and plants, and even machines are provided with algorithms that could mimic in a restricted way the processes of learning. Humans learn from the time they are born until they die because of a continuous process of interaction between them and their environment. Behavioral Psychology Theories and Social Learning Theories study behavior learned from the environment and social interactions through stimulus-response. Some computer approaches to modeling human behavior attempted to represent the learning and decision-making processes using agent-based models. …

Utilization Of Lgbt-Specific Clinics And Providers Across Three Cohorts Of Lesbian, Gay, And Bisexual People In The United States, Adam W. Fingerhut

Psychological Science Faculty Works

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people navigate issues of stigma, discrimination, structural barriers, and a history of medical mistrust when seeking healthcare services. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)-specific clinics and providers offer alternative spaces where these issues may be avoided, but limited research is available on how LGB people utilize these resources. The current study analyzes data from a nationally-representative survey of 1534 LGB people across three age cohorts. Gender, sexual identity, income, proximity to LGBT community health centers, perceived health status, and the total number of lifetime diagnoses are each associated with past utilization of LGBT-specific clinics and …

The Psychology Of Pro-Environmental Support: A Global Problem In Need Of Global Solutions, Kimin Eom, Viki Papadakis, David K. Sherman, Heejung S. Kim

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

We review research that provides a sociocultural perspective on proenvironmental support. Despite the increasing volume of psychological research on proenvironmental action, there has been a relative dearth of consideration of sociocultural contexts, which poses critical theoretical and practical limitations to understanding and fostering proenvironmental actions across diverse populations. The sociocultural perspective posits that the primary motives driving action are context dependent. Building on this perspective, our research examines significant divergence in key determinants of proenvironmental support, focusing on several sociocultural variables, including national culture (individualism-collectivism), socioeconomic status, and religion. This program of research shows that personal environmental beliefs more directly …

Probabilistic Modeling Of Democracy, Corruption, Hemophilia A And Prediabetes Data, A. K. M. Raquibul Bashar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Parametric analysis of any real-world data is the most powerful tool to characterize the probabilistic behavior in social, economic, medical, epidemiological, and other areas of study. In the present study, we identify the theoretical Probability Distribution Function(PDF) for Democracy Index Scores (DIS) from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) database and estimate the maximum likelihood estimates of the theoretical PDFS. We also identify the individual PDFs for each of the clusters, Full Democracy, Flawed Democracy, Hybrid Regime, and Authoritarian Regime defined by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

A statistical model is a convenient instrument to predict the future value of any …

Why The Supreme Court Cares About Elites, Not The American People, Lawrence Baum, Neal Devins

Neal E. Devins

Supreme Court Justices care more about the views of academics, journalists, and other elites than they do about public opinion. This is true of nearly all Justices and is especially true of swing Justices, who often cast the critical votes in the Court’s most visible decisions. In this Article, we will explain why we think this is so and, in so doing, challenge both the dominant political science models of judicial behavior and the significant work of Barry Friedman, Jeffrey Rosen, and others who link Supreme Court decision making to public opinion.

Why States Should Ban Adolescent Driving (Cont'd), Vivian E. Hamilton

Vivian E. Hamilton

No abstract provided.

Why States Should Ban Adolescent Driving, Vivian E. Hamilton

Vivian E. Hamilton

No abstract provided.

Ceos Don't Wear Afros: Exploring The Justification-Suppression Of Prejudice Against Black Women In The Workplace, Bukun F. Adegbembo

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

There have been numerous cases where Black women have been disparaged for wearing their natural hair or Afrocentric hairstyles in the workplace. While some have argued that such mistreatment was due to racism, others have stated that it was a case of not adhering to a professional dress code. In line with the justification-suppression model of prejudice, this research investigated whether prejudice against Black women in the workplace is expressed when they wear Afrocentric hairstyles as this allows the bias to be justified under the guise of normative standards of professionalism. Our pilot and main study showed that the Black …

Conceptualizing Discursive Analysis As A Culturally Contextualized Activity, Stephen Baffour Adjei

The Qualitative Report

Discursive psychology recognizes the primacy of the social and relational nature of human life. Research participants whose discourses (empirical data) we analyze do not exist independent of material and social world. In this paper, I attempt to develop an understanding of discursive analysis of social and psychological phenomena as a culturally contextualized activity in which discursive researchers analyze and interpret participants’ discourses in the light of the cultural context in which the discourses are embedded. First, I provide a brief background to discursive psychology. Second, I discuss the cultural embeddedness of discursive analysis. I then conceptualize discursive data analysis as …

The Effects Of Health-Promoting Signs Encouraging Stair Use In Parking Structures, Fiona T. Tang, Vincent Berardi, Benjamin D. Rosenberg

Benjamin Rosenberg

This research study aims to promote physical activity by encouraging stair use rather than elevators using persuasive point-of-choice prompts. The current investigation is comprised of two sub-studies: pilot testing, which we have completed; and the main study, which will be conducted in the fall. While most studies in this area use observation to count pedestrian traffic, a novel component of the current research is that we will use a pressure mat to measure stair and elevator use. As such, before completing the main study, we completed two pilot studies to test the feasibility of the mat technology and the messaging …

Goal Disruption Theory, Military Personnel, And The Creation Of Merged Profiles: A Mixed Method Investigation, Benjamin Rosenberg, Joshua A. Lewandowski, Jason T. Siegel

Benjamin Rosenberg

The present study provides an example of the integrated data analysis technique of creating and interpreting merged profiles. By using this approach to merging data sources, we gained unique insight into goal disruption theory (GDT). Qualitative data suggest that military personnel harbor a wide range of desired end-states. Quantitative data support a component of GDT, suggesting that participants who have a strong need for desired end-state displayed greater purposive harm endurance. Interpretation of merged profiles revealed caveats to this relationship, in particular that not all end-states are equally motivating. Results illustrate the benefits of the integrated data analysis technique of …

A 50-Year Review Of Psychological Reactance Theory: Do Not Read This Article, Benjamin Rosenberg, Jason T. Siegel

Benjamin Rosenberg

Psychological reactance theory (PRT; Brehm, 1966) posits that when something threatens or eliminates people’s freedom of behavior, they experience psychological reactance, a motivational state that drives freedom restoration. Complementing recent, discipline-specific reviews (e.g., Quick, Shen, & Dillard, 2013; Steindl, Jonas, Sittenthaler, Traut-Mattausch, & Greenberg, 2015), the current analysis integrates PRT research across fields in which it has flourished: social psychology and clinical psychology, as well as communication research. Moreover, the current review offers a rare synthesis of existing reactance measures. We outline five overlapping waves in the PRT literature: Wave 1: Theory proposal and testing, Wave 2: Contributions from clinical …

The Effect Of Inconsistency Appeals On The Influence Of Direct-To-Consumer Prescription Drug Advertisements: An Application Of Goal Disruption Theory, Benjamin D. Rosenberg, Jason T. Siegel

Benjamin Rosenberg

Scholars across multiple domains have identified the presence of inconsistency-arousing information in direct-to-consumer (DTC) prescription drug advertisements, and have suggested that these appeals, which highlight differences between people’s actual and desired lives, may create psychological disequilibrium. However, experimental assessment of the distinct influence of inconsistency-arousing information in this domain is rare. Guided by goal disruption theory (GDT)—a framework that outlines people’s reactions to goal expectation violations—we created DTC advertisements designed to make people’s life inconsistencies salient. The influence of these ads on people’s perceptions of, and intentions to use, prescription drugs was then assessed. Results from an SEM analysis support …

The Value Of Pets To Public And Private Health And Well-Being, Leslie Irvine, Laurent Cilia

Leslie Irvine, PhD

This analysis reviews empirical studies of the health benefits of pet ownership published between 1980 and 2016 and collected in the database of the Human-Animal Bond Research Initiative, or HABRI. The analysis began with 373 titles and eventually encompassed a dataset of 151 full-text documents. Along with analysis of substantive content, each study received a score for methodological rigor. The number of studies has steadily increased, particularly since 2000, and methodological rigor has improved. The literature encompasses four topics, including cardiovascular, general, and psychosocial health, and physical activity. Overall, the research finds that pets benefit human health, although the available …

Heroic Consciousness, Scott T. Allison

Heroism Science

This article describes heroic consciousness – how heroes perceive, experience, and think about the world. I describe the transformation of consciousness from its pre-heroic state to its heroic state. Pre-heroic consciousness is characterized by nescient and maladaptive thinking, dualism, separation, mono-rationality, and a naïve sense of empowerment. Heroic consciousness is exemplified by nondualism, unity, transrationality, and the wisdom of tempered empowerment. Heroic consciousness is achieved via three routes: (1) traversing the hero’s journey, (2) effective use of specific spiritual practices, and/or (3) participation in hero training programs. I discuss the implications of heroic consciousness for individual and global well-being.

The Feedback Effect: Does Exposure To Interviewer Feedback Affect An Observer's Perception Of Veracity And Guilt?, Kayla A. Harrod

Student Theses

Historically, assessing deception has been rooted in the belief that a guilty suspect displays signs of anxiety. Based on a suspect’s physical demeanor and other behavioral cues presented during an interrogative session, law enforcement personnel (LEP) will utilize a set of techniques to elicit information about a crime. One such technique is the administration of feedback, which is the verbal assessment of a suspect’s guilt. The issue that stems from administering feedback lies not only in how it is given but also how it is received and interpreted by others. In a two-part study, the possibility of a “Feedback Effect” …

The Role Of Bilingual Interactional Contexts In Predicting Interindividual Variability In Executive Functions: A Latent Variable Analysis, Andree Hartanto, Hwajin Yang

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Despite a growing number of studies on bilingual advantages in executive functions (EF), their findings have been inconsistent. To shed light on this issue, we aimed to address both the conceptual and methodological limitations that have prevailed in the literature: failure to consider diverse bilingual experiences when assessing bilingual advantages or to address the task impurity problems that can arise with EF tasks. Drawing on the adaptive control hypothesis and control process model of code-switching, we adopted theory-driven and latent variable approaches to examine the relations between bilingual interactional contexts and EF. By administering 9 EF tasks to 175 bilingual …

Marker Of Difference: Historical Construction Of Stigmatization Toward Zainichi Koreans, Hyomin Lee

Scholarly Undergraduate Research Journal at Clark (SURJ)

Abstract

This paper explores the historical construction of stigmatization toward Zainichi Koreans in Japan, as well as the consequences of such stigmatization. Zainichi Koreans are a minority group of ethnic Koreans living in Japan as special permanent residents, a unique identity formed as a result of the history of Japanese war imperialism and post-war nationalism. Zainichi Koreans have been residing in Japan for many generations now, and are no different from Japanese except for their ethnicity, or lack of Japanese blood. The homogeneity of Japan that boasts of pure Japanese blood is constantly conflicted by the long-term presence of Zainichi …

Fashion Brand Love: Application Of A Cognition–Affect–Conation Model, Tae-Im Han, Dooyoung Choi

STEMPS Faculty Publications

A large numbers of studies have supported the crucial role of brand love in consumer–brand relationships; however, research that examines fashion brand love and its relationship with cognitive aspects and self-concept congruency remains limited. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify important factors that are associated with fashion brand love. A questionnaire in which participants provided self-reported responses was created to measure the constructs and structural equation modeling (SEM) and independent sample t-tests were conducted to test the hypothesized relationships. Our results indicated that consumers who know more about fashion brands are more likely to have stronger emotional …

Emotion Processing Deficits In Psychopathy: Does Cueing To Relevant Facial Features Increase Cognitive And Emotional Empathy?, Shawn E. Fagan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Psychopathy is a multifaceted disorder characterized by a lack of cognitive and emotional empathy. The traditional model of psychopathy divides the disorder into two factors: Factor 1 consists of the interpersonal and affective traits of psychopathy while Factor 2 measures antisocial behaviors and lifestyle choices. The attention-to-the-eyes hypothesis argues that psychopathic individuals have impaired emotion recognition (specifically for fear) due to deficits in orienting attention to salient facial features like the eyes. Psychopathic individuals also display blunted autonomic responding to emotional stimuli, though whether this is due to attention-orienting deficits remains to be clarified. The present project investigated whether empathy-related …