Digital Commons Network^™

Examining How Internally And Externally Motivated Individuals Choose When, How, And Why To Confront Racial Prejudice, Kristin Budziak

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Experiencing racism is associated with negative outcomes, including obesity and poor mental health (Berger & Sarnyai, 2015). Therefore, exploring strategies like interpersonal confrontation, which has been shown to reduce prejudice, is essential (Czopp et al., 2006; Paluck & Green, 2009). We examined what more internally (affected by personal values) and externally motivated (affected by social reward) people consider when deciding when confronting racism. White participants (n = 270) viewed hypothetical scenarios with a racist remark or non-racist remark. They decided whether to confront these scenarios and indicated their motivations, reasonings, and methods. Results showed that more internally and externally motivated …

Voluntary Intermittent Access To Combined Alcohol And Nicotine In Mice—Consumption And Withdrawal Effects, Alyssa M. Potts

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

The prevalence of alcohol and nicotine use is widely known, though the co-abuse of the two is often understudied. Studies have shown that nicotine dependence and daily nicotine consumption increase with higher levels of alcohol consumption1. Nicotine use has been shown to decrease the subjective effects of alcohol and increase alcohol craving. Previous studies using the intermittent access (IA) paradigm in C57BL/6J (B6) mice have shown that B6 mice readily increase or escalate consumption of alcohol in this paradigm. Still, there is little information on alcohol and nicotine co-consumption and withdrawal using the IA paradigm. The goal of this study …

Behind Bars, Behind Lies: The Role Of Jailhouse Informants In Juror Decision Making, Anna Pierce

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Jailhouse informant testimony is a leading cause of wrongful conviction, especially in severe cases (e.g., rape and murder) with severe punishments (Warden, 2005). The current study investigated the impact of multiple jailhouse informants’ testimonies upon juror decisionmaking, especially when providing consistent or inconsistent testimony. Participants (n = 102) read a murder trial summary with two informants - consistent statements, two informants - inconsistent statements, one informant, or no informant. Results indicated that the multipleconsistent condition had significantly higher guilty verdicts and higher perceptions of credibility than all other informant conditions. Inconsistent statements reduced guilty verdicts and perceptions of credibility, yet …

Is There A Limit? Honor Ideology And Perceptions Of Extremely Violent Responses To Threat, Alexandria Elise Archer

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Honor ideology revolves around the idea that men must obey strict masculine norms including toughness, bravery, and a lack of showing one’s emotions. These expectations contribute to stigma against mental illness and help seeking behavior due to perceptions that these behaviors are “unmanly”. Research has failed to examine who men who act in an honor consistent way (i.e., aggressive response to threat) but also struggle with mental health issues may be perceived within the framework of honor ideology. For this reason, we explored whether masculine honor ideology predicted differing perceptions of a man with schizophrenia versus a man without mental …

Temperament And Screen Time Into Adulthood, Kareem Barbis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The possible correlation between language skills, temperament, and screen time in adulthood is understudied. It was hypothesized that high effortful control scores and low childhood screentime would corelate with higher cognitive reflection scores and higher language skills. Using a correlational design, 162 participants were studied (M age = 19.17 years old, 80% female, 86% White, 6% Hispanic). Participants completed an adapted version of the Adult Temperament Questionnaire (Evans & Rothbart, 2007), Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT; Fredrick, 2005), the Cognitive Reflection Test 2 (CRT-2; Thompson & Oppenheimer, 2016), Thompson & Oppenheimer, 2016), a childhood screen time questionnaire, a bilingualism questionnaire, and …

A Systematic Literature Review Of Behavior Analysis In Psychiatric Inpatient Settings, Stephanie Henry, Robbie Hanson

Theses

Applied behavior analysis (ABA) may be best known for the treatment of individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities, such as those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, ABA also has a long history of effective outcomes with other populations, such as with individuals who are admitted to inpatient psychiatric facilities (Dougher, 2004; Harvey et al., 2009). In 2018, 187,877 individuals in the United States were reported as receiving treatment for mental health disorders (Lutterman, 2022). Given behavior analysis’ success implementing operant procedures with these populations, an updated review of the literature on the use of behavior analysis within these settings …

Fit To Stay: Understanding The Impact Of Person-Group Fit On Transfer Intentions In College Sports, Marlee Johnson

All Theses

NCAA policy changes in 2021 regarding student-athlete transfer and external compensation have brought attention to the issue of turnover in college sports. Organizational psychologists have been studying turnover intentions and psychological antecedents of turnover intentions for years; however, little is known about the psychological variables that lead student-athletes to develop transfer intentions. The aim of this study was to explore the influence of both perceived supplementary and complementary person-group (PG) fit on student-athletes’ transfer intentions. It also examined affective commitment as a mediator between supplementary PG fit and intention to transfer and perceived team performance as a moderator in the …

From Volunteer To Member Of The Church Body: How Meaningfulness, Self-Regulation, And Fairness Relate To Giving Of Time And Treasure, Billy J. Johnson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Churches rely almost exclusively on volunteers and committed members to fulfill their mission. With decreasing engagement and financial support among churchgoers, there is a need to understand what motivates volunteers to give their time and resources. This nonexperimental quantitative correlational study examined the relationships between church volunteers’ self-regulation, perceptions of meaningfulness, and fairness, with their reported level of internalization of the local church’s mission, evidenced by their giving behaviors. Utilizing data collected from 86 church volunteers on self-report measures, all validated from previous research and adapted to church context, correlational analyses showed no significant relationship between giving of time and …

Meaningfulness As An Avenue To Eudaimonic Well-Being In Remote Workers, Ashley Hofflander

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This quantitative study examined the relationship between the perception of meaningful work (MW) and eudaimonic well-being (EW) in remote workers, its predictive capacity, and the mediating roles of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Using the Work and Meaning Inventory (Steger et al., 2012), the Psychological Well-Being Scale (Ryff, 1989), and the Basic Psychological Needs at Work Scale (Ryan & Deci, 2000), data was collected and analyzed through Pearson correlation, simple regression, and mediation analysis using the PROCESS macro for SPSS. Results revealed a significant positive relationship between MW and EW (r = .56, p < .001), with MW significantly predicting EW (R² = .316, F(1,113) = 52.23, p < .001). Competence was found to mediate this relationship (β = .625, p < .001), while autonomy (β = .481, p = .425) and relatedness (β = .454, p = .274) did not demonstrate significant mediation effects. The study extends Ryff’s Psychological Well-Being Model and Self-Determination Theory by emphasizing competence as a key mediator in remote work settings. Practically, the findings highlight the importance of fostering MW through purpose-driven job design and providing remote workers with the necessary training, resources, and feedback to enhance competence and improve well-being.

Who Cares For The Caregivers? How Dance And Movement Can Benefit Caregiving Parents Of Children With Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities: A Literature Review, Haley E. Gilbert

Expressive Therapies Theses

Caregiver parents of people with intellectual/developmental disabilities (IDD) are not able to care for themselves as often as they should be able to for their own mental and physical wellness due to their caregiving responsibilities that often carry into adulthood. These can lead to anxiety, depression, grief, and dysregulation for the parent. Dance and movement practices have been found to relieve the symptoms of these experiences while helping the child with IDD and the parent connect more, building stronger relationships. This thesis will include a comprehensive literature review of body-based theories such as the Polyvagal Theory (Polyvagal Institute, 2025), Bowlby’s …

Use Cases For Art Therapy Intervention In Clinical Psychedelic Praxis, Kaitlin Maud

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Psychedelic medicine has existed for thousands of years as a traditional, sacred practice and is now in varying stages of legalization for clinical application in the United States. Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy uses specific psychoactive substances to facilitate altered states of consciousness in which clients have access to unconscious material and there is a greater cognitive openness to new perspectives and possibilities. Art Therapy is a modality of psychotherapy with decades of data to support its clinical efficacy in treating mental illness and other chronic conditions. A review of the literature shows a range of use cases for art in the context …

Navigating A Neurotypical World: The Relationship Between Perceptions Of Visible Vs Non-Visible Disabilities And Sense Of Belonging On A College Campus, Caroline Yager

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Disability is defined through social, historical, and functional perspectives, making the disability movement unique in its overall fight for increased acknowledgement, education, and rights (Robinson & Judge, 2017). Distinguishing the differences between visible and non-visible disabilities is important to provide a general understanding of the unique barriers and challenges that people with disabilities face on a daily basis. Both people with visible and non-visible disabilities encounter stigmas and discrimination that impact their employment or education, as well as misconceptions about their capabilities. This study utilized a diverse sample of undergraduate students recruited through the Prolific survey platform to ensure broad …

The Impact Of Bilingualism On Executive Functioning And Mathematical Abilities Throughout Development, Brenna Claire Mehringer

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Research suggests that a bilingual advantage is present for domain-general cognitive abilities, such as working memory (López, 2021), leaving it unclear whether an advantage exists for domain-specific abilities (e.g., mathematics abilities). Given the role of working memory and executive functioning in math achievement, this project explored the cognitive effects of bilingualism. It was hypothesized that participants who are bilingual, or who spoke a language other than English at home, would have enhanced performances on working memory and executive functioning tasks. It was further hypothesized that if an executive functioning bilingual advantage existed, then bilinguals would exhibit stronger math abilities. College …

The Identity Of “I’M Sorry”: Perceptions Of Apologies In False Confessions And The Influence Of Suspect Gender, Frances Anna Storgion

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Apologies serve as a mediator between victims and wrongdoers to promote forgiveness and enhance moral perceptions, while ostensibly reinforcing the guilt of the offender. These effects are further tempered by the gender of the apologizer. Paradoxically, content analyses show that apologies are not uncommon in false confessions and may reinforce false judgements of guilt. The current experiment aimed to elucidate the role that suspect gender and gender stereotypes of apologies play in shaping observer perceptions of coercion and guilt within confession contexts. This experiment conformed to a 2 (suspect gender: woman vs. man) x 3 (gender expectations of the apology: …

Cognitive And Social Vulnerabilities: Adolescents’ Pragmatic Inferences Of Leniency In Response To Minimization, Madelyn P. Stine

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

The current study expands upon Luke and Alceste’s (2020) experiments to explore the effects of minimization via pragmatic implication on adolescents compared to adults in the context of police interrogations. Adolescent and adult participants read a police report and were randomly assigned to one of the four conditions (control, minimization, direct promise, and honesty) to gauge how differing perceived implications of leniency in interrogation tactics impact one’s perceptions of suspect outcomes. Drawing on empirical research on the social and cognitive vulnerabilities of minors (e.g., Bettens & Normile, 2023; Kassin & McNall, 1991; Kostelnik et al., 2006), I hypothesized that adolescents …

Tidal Waves Of Mental Health Damage: Effects Of The 2024 U.S. Election, Mary Anne Layden

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Impacts Of Cognitive Workload On Veteran Driver Reaction Time: Predictive Modeling Using Bayesian And Machine Learning Methods, Kenneth Ofosu-Kwabe

All Theses

In high-demand environments, the ability to manage cognitive workload can mean the difference between optimal or safe performance and critical failure or accidents. Veterans face an elevated risk of fatal motor vehicle accidents due to post-deployment stress, combat-related injuries, and challenges readjusting to civilian driving. This study explores how cognitive workload affects reaction time performance using a driving simulator by collecting and analyzing subjective workload ratings (using the NASA-TLX survey), physiological signals from eye-tracking and performance data from a sample of 28 Veterans.

We examined how task difficulty, cognitive indicators and personal attributes influence reaction times across an interactive driving …

Maternal Emotion Socialization On Children's Social Competence, Alivia N. Dulaney

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Maternal emotion socialization plays a crucial role in children's social and emotional development (Chan et al. 2024). Previous studies have consistently shown that maternal emotion coaching is positively associated with children's social competence (Chan et al., 2024; Perkins et al., 2022; Rogers et al., 2016). However, less is known about how maternal emotional characteristics influence their emotion coaching and dismissing practices. The current study investigates whether maternal emotional clarity is associated with children's social competence through its relationship with maternal emotion coaching and dismissing behaviors. Mothers (N = 163) completed the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, Maternal Emotional Style Questionnaire, and the …

The Effects Of Starting Hormonal Contraceptive Use On Rumination, Abigail Brien

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Rumination, a cycle of repetitive dwelling on negative feelings and distress, is associated with mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. Although there is a substantial body of research on rumination and its association with depression and anxiety in women, there is a lack of studies specifically examining the role of hormonal fluctuation in this process. Changes in the menstrual cycle linked to estrogen and progesterone have been associated with mood regulation and susceptibility to depression, yet the impact of hormonal contraceptives (HCs) on rumination remains unexplored. The current study examined the role of HCs on rumination by comparing …

Poor Sleep Quality Is Associated With Decreased Structural Coherence Of Mesolimbic Dopamine Projections In Children, William A. Walker

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Insomnia is the second most common mental disorder that affects approximately 10% of the population. An additional one-third of the population experiences occasional symptoms of insomnia like difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep. Sleep quality is also a key indicator of overall mental and physical health; however, researchers have only begun to study the effects of the structure of the mesolimbic pathway on sleep cycle regulation and quality. Emerging research suggests that mesolimbic dopamine projections from the Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA) to the Nucleus Accumbens (NAcc) play a role in sleep-wake regulation. In this study, I analyzed data from the …

Perpetrator Nationality And Prescribed Punitiveness: The Effect Of Moral Disgust, Phoebe Fanning, Scott Eidelman, Emily Vance

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Does perpetrator nationality impact prescribed punitiveness, and is this relationship explained by moral disgust? White American participants (N = 243) read a fake news article about a physical assault. Perpetrator nationality was manipulated by indicating that the offender was an American citizen or in the U.S. illegally. Then, participants completed measures on prescribed punitiveness (e.g., minimum sentence for the offender), their emotional reactions toward the offender (e.g., disgusted), as well as exploratory items on patriotism, nationalism, identification with the U.S., and belief in a dangerous world. I predicted that participants in the illegal immigrant perpetrator condition would exhibit more …

Student Veterans' Attitudes Towards Mental Health Issues And Treatments, Elicia S. Ramu

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Mental health concerns with United States veterans have been a pervasive issue for decades. The changes and evolving nature of the mental health field, including terminology and diagnoses, are believed to discourage veterans from reaching out and asking for help when it is needed most. However, these are not the only reasons why veterans choose not to seek out treatment. It has been found that other reasons include the stigma towards mental health alongside financial, external costs, and hidden costs of treatment. The following study has been conducted to understand the various barriers that hinder student veterans with mental health …

Understanding Loneliness In The Digital Age: Implications Of Social Media Use, Ryan D. Shinazy

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Despite the promise of greater connectivity through digital platforms, loneliness remains prevalent among young adults. This study investigates the impact of different types of social media use on loneliness through an experimental design—an uncommon but needed approach in a field dominated by correlational studies. Participants (n=17) were randomly assigned to one of five conditions: active use with positive feedback, active use with negative feedback, broadcasting with positive feedback, broadcasting with negative feedback, and passive scrolling. Each participant interacted with a mock social media platform tailored to the University of Northern Colorado community. Loneliness was assessed using the Revised UCLA Loneliness …

Predictors Of Disordered Eating Among College Students: A Multimodal Approach, Michelle Grazioli

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This study investigated potential predictors and risk factors of disordered eating behaviors and attitudes among undergraduate college students, addressing the high prevalence of disordered eating on college campuses. The sample consisted of 85 female undergraduate students who completed self-report measures of impulsivity, emotion regulation difficulties, desire for a sense of control, eating disorder behaviors and attitudes, as well as behavioral (Go/No-go task) and physiological (antisaccade task) measures of impulsivity, using food-related stimuli. Correlational, linear regression, and discriminant function analyses revealed significant associations among the self-report independent variables with eating disorder risk. Detailed findings for specific subscales of eating disorder risk, …

Involvement Of The Mpfc In Narcissism And Celebrity: A Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Study, Sydney Ash

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Narcissism is typically characterized by extreme self-focus, lack of empathy for others, and emotional regulation deficits. Grandiose narcissism has been linked to an increased desire for fame, while vulnerable narcissism has been linked to an increase in celebrity worship. While there is a lack of research concerning the neural correlates of desire for fame and celebrity worship, narcissism has been correlated with the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in various studies. The current study aimed to identify relationships between grandiose and vulnerable narcissism, fame appeal, celebrity attitudes, need to belong, and self-esteem using six scales. We also targeted the mPFC with …

The Mechanisms Of Paid Memberships: Customer Entitlement, Power, And Status, Skye Burlew

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

The current study aimed to explore how paid memberships in the Warehouse Club Industry (e.g., Costco, BJ's, Sam's Club) influences customer entitlement, power, and status, which have been linked to customer aggression in retail settings. Prior research suggests that loyalty and reward programs can increase perceptions of entitlement and power, with membership identification (e.g., gold vs. silver) affecting status. Drawing on social exchange theory, I hypothesized that warehouse members, who are in social exchange with the warehouse by purchasing a membership, would (1) experience higher levels of entitlement and power, compared to status, (2) tier 1 members would have higher …

The Role Of Emotion Dysregulation In Adaptive Functioning Associated With Internalizing Symptoms Among Neurodiverse Youth, Emily Lynch

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Adaptive functioning (AF) refers to an individual’s ability to manage daily life demands and maintain personal independence. Deficits in adaptive functioning presents with higher challenges in overall quality of life, resulting in lesser abilities for social relationships, and is often associated with higher levels of internalizing symptoms. Emotion dysregulation (ED) is a key feature of several clinical disorders, can hinder self-care abilities, particularly in the presence of co-occurring internalizing conditions, and is significantly elevated in autistic youth. Given that ED may interfere with daily functioning, understanding how ED impacts AF could help identify intervention targets for neurodiverse youth. This project …

Phonetic Convergence And Speech Intelligibility, Kinza Nadeem Mughal

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Previous studies have indicated that phonetic convergence, in which a listener’s speech aligns with the speech of a talker they hear, can influence speech perception. The present study replicated and extended these findings by investigating whether phonetic convergence can facilitate speech intelligibility. A total of N = 140 participants, all aged 18 or older and native English speakers, completed a speech shadowing task, a speech intelligibility test, and perceptual similarity tests. This study examined whether individuals better understand their own speech compared to others’, whether shadowing improves speech intelligibility, and whether phonetic convergence is positively related to intelligibility. Results supported …

Online Racial Discrimination, Depression, Anxiety, And Sleep Disturbances Among Ethnoracially Minoritized Young Adults: The Buffering Role Of Family Support, Aamnah M. Ullah

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

There has been a surge in young adult exposure to online racial discrimination (ORD), which is associated with impaired sleep, greater anxiety, and depression. Evidence suggests that ethnoracially minoritized college students are at increased risk for exposure to ORD. Additionally, sleep disturbances (SD) may impact the link between ORD, depression, and anxiety. Thus, this study aims to explore whether increased SDs mediate the relationship between ORD, anxiety, and depression among ethnoracially minoritized college students. This study also aims to examine whether family support (FS) moderates the indirect effect of ORD on anxiety and depression. Participants were 495 (78.6% female, mean …

Who Falls For Online Misinformation: Examining The Cognitive Correlates Of Vulnerability To Misinformation, Sanjay Kumar Chhetri

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

As misinformation sweeps across the digital world, there is a need to better understand the psychological processes that underlie belief and susceptibility to online misinformation. The present study measured vulnerability to misinformation through a proxy construct of verifying online information. Using path modeling, we investigated how cognitive styles, as assessed by the Cognitive Reflection Test, predicted the extent individuals verify online information and content. The path model also investigated the mediating role of conspiracy mentality and pseudo-profound bullshit receptivity. Based on a U.S. sample of 194 adults, we found that the cognitive reflection test was positively related to verifying online …