Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Examining The Associations Of Racism, Sexism, And Stressful Life Events On Psychological Distress Among African-American Women, Danelle Stevens-Watkins, Brea Perry, Erin L. Pullen, Jennifer Jewell, Carrie B. Oser

Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology Faculty Publications

African-American women may be susceptible to stressful events and adverse health outcomes as a result of their distinct social location at the intersection of gender and race. Here, racism and sexism are examined concurrently using survey data from 204 African-American women residing in a southeastern U.S. urban city. Associations among racism, sexism, and stressful events across social roles and contexts (i.e., social network loss, motherhood and childbirth, employment and finances, personal illness and injury, and victimization) are investigated. Then, the relationships among these stressors on psychological distress are compared, and a moderation model is explored. Findings suggest that racism and …

The Safety Of Women On College Campuses: Implications Of Evolving Paradigms In Postsecondary Education [October 2014], Carol E. Jordan

Psychology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Safety Of Women On College Campuses: Implications Of Evolving Paradigms In Postsecondary Education [July 2014], Carol E. Jordan

Psychology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Individual Differences In Personality Predict Externalizing Versus Internalizing Outcomes Following Sexual Assault, Jessica L. Combs, Carol E. Jordan, Gregory T. Smith

Office for Policy Studies on Violence Against Women Publications

For some women, the experience of being sexually assaulted leads to increases in externalizing behaviors, such as problem drinking and drug use; for other women, the experience of being assaulted leads to increases in internalizing distress, such as depression or anxiety. It is possible that preassault personality traits interact with sexual assault to predict externalizing or internalizing distress. We tested whether concurrent relationships among personality, sexual assault, and distress were consistent with such a model. We surveyed 750 women just prior to their freshman year at a large public university. Consistent with our hypotheses, at low levels of negative urgency …

Everything Is Permitted? People Intuitively Judge Immorality As Representative Of Atheists, Will M. Gervais

Psychology Faculty Publications

Scientific research yields inconsistent and contradictory evidence relating religion to moral judgments and outcomes, yet most people on earth nonetheless view belief in God (or gods) as central to morality, and many view atheists with suspicion and scorn. To evaluate intuitions regarding a causal link between religion and morality, this paper tested intuitive moral judgments of atheists and other groups. Across five experiments (N = 1,152), American participants intuitively judged a wide variety of immoral acts (e.g., serial murder, consensual incest, necrobestiality, cannibalism) as representative of atheists, but not of eleven other religious, ethnic, and cultural groups. Even atheist …

Who Is Most Vulnerable To Social Rejection? The Toxic Combination Of Low Self-Esteem And Lack Of Negative Emotion Differentiation On Neural Responses To Rejection, Todd B. Kashdan, C. Nathan Dewall, Carrie L. Masten, Richard S. Pond Jr., Caitlin Powell, David Combs, David R. Schurtz, Antonina S. Farmer

Psychology Faculty Publications

People have a fundamental need to belong that, when satisfied, is associated with mental and physical well-being. The current investigation examined what happens when the need to belong is thwarted—and how individual differences in self-esteem and emotion differentiation modulate neural responses to social rejection. We hypothesized that low self-esteem would predict heightened activation in distress-related neural responses during a social rejection manipulation, but that this relationship would be moderated by negative emotion differentiation—defined as adeptness at using discrete negative emotion categories to capture one's felt experience. Combining daily diary and neuroimaging methodologies, the current study showed that low self-esteem and …

Parenting Styles And Adjustment Outcomes Among College Students, Keisha M. Love, Deneia M. Thomas

Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology Faculty Publications

Research has demonstrated that parenting styles partially explain college students’ academic adjustment. However, to account for academic adjustment more fully, additional contributors should be identified and tested. We examined the fit of a hypothesized model consisting of parenting styles, indicators of well-being, and academic adjustment among 315 college students. The model demonstrated a close fit to the data and contained several significant paths.

Academic Predictors And Characteristics Of Self-Reported Juvenile Firesetting, Carrie Howell Bowling, Hatim A. Omar

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

The main purpose of this study was to address gaps in existing research by examining the relationship between academic performance and attention problems with juvenile firesetting. Two datasets from the Achenbach System for Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA) were used. The Factor Analysis Dataset (N = 975) was utilized and results indicated that adolescents who report lower academic performance are more likely to set fires. Additionally, adolescents who report a poor attitude toward school are even more likely to set fires. Logistic regressions were run to determine if attention problems predicted firesetting and the findings indicated that attention problems are predictive …

Diaphragmatic Breathing And Its Effect On Inhibitory Control, Matthew Russell

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Evidence suggests that slow paced diaphragmatic breathing (DB) can significantly affect prefrontal cortex functions through increasing an individual’s physiological self-regulatory capacity. The current research demonstrates the effects of paced DB on inhibitory control, which is considered to be a reliable measure of behavioral self-regulation. Eighty healthy participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions (20 males and females each). Participants were instructed on either DB at a pace of six-breaths per minute (BPM) or instructions on environmental awareness and asked to breathe at 12 BPM. Following training, all participants completed a computer-based task designed to examine inhibitory processes. Physiological …

Acute Effects Of Alcohol On Simulated Driving Performance And Self-Perceptions Of Impairment In Dui Offenders, Nicholas A. Van Dyke

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Licensed drivers arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol have increased rates of vehicle crashes, moving violations, and traffic tickets (Evans, 2004). To date, no research has examined specific self-regulatory mechanisms of the DUI driver under a dose of alcohol that might underlie risky driving behavior. The present study examined the degree to which DUI drivers display an increased sensitivity to the acute impairing effects of alcohol on driving performance and overestimate their driving fitness following alcohol consumption. Adult drivers with a history of DUI and a demographically-matched group of control drivers without a DUI were tested following …

Trauma, Personality, And Behavior: A Longitudinal Study Predicting Adverse Outcomes After Sexual Assault From Personality Prior To The Assault, Jessica L. Combs

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Exposure to sexual assault results in ongoing harms for women. After an assault, some women engage higher levels of externalizing behaviors, such as drinking problems and drug use, and others experience higher levels of internalizing dysfunction, such as clinical anxiety and clinical depression. In a longitudinal sample of 1929 freshman college women assessed across three time points, I found the following. Pre-assault negative urgency (the tendency to act rashly when distressed) interacted with assault exposure to predict increased subsequent drinking and initiation of drug use. Pre-assault trait anxiety/depression interacted with assault exposure to predict increased subsequent clinical anxiety and depression. …

Awareness Of Privilege And Oppression Scale-2: Construction And Initial Validation, Michael J. Mcclellan

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

The purpose of this study was to revise the Awareness of Privilege and Oppression Scale (Montross, 2003) and to improve upon the psychometric properties of the original instrument. The APOS-2 is a diversity training outcome measure that is designed to measure the social justice-related construct awareness of privilege and oppression. I retained 26 items from the original APOS (Montross, 2003) and utilized an expert focus group to generate new test items for the APOS-2. Feedback from an expert rater group was solicited and then incorporated into the APOS-2 to help reduce the number of items, improve item content, and evaluate …

Not Just A Women’S Issue: How Male Undergraduate Students Understand Their Development As Social Justice Allies For Preventing Men’S Violence Against Women, Alexandra M. Minieri

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

Men’s violence against women includes acquaintance rape, intimate partner violence, sexual assault, and partner stalking and occurs at particularly high rates on college campuses (Fisher, Cullen, & Turner, 2000). Although men are increasingly becoming involved in efforts to prevent these forms of violence, little is known about their motivation and the processes that lead to their involvement. The purpose of this project was to examine how undergraduate male students become social justice allies involved in preventing men’s violence against women. The theoretical frameworks of this study included transformative learning theory (Mezirow, 1997, 2000) and feminist theory (Worell & Remer, 2003). …

Do We Know Who We Are By Knowing Who We Are Not?: The Effects Of Including Disliked Others In The Self-Concept, Stephanie B. Richman

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

People include other people in their self-concept. Research has examined the causes and effects of including liked, but not disliked others into the self-concept. Liked others are included because of a motivation to affiliate and get closer to the other person. The current investigation examined whether disliked others are included as a result of a motivation to differentiate and distinguish oneself from the other person. It also examined how self-concept inclusion of disliked others affects self-concept clarity. First, I tested whether people include disliked others into their self-concepts by showing a memory bias for disliked others similar to that of …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Three Interventions Designed To Enhance Pre-Service Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Sexual Minorities, Jamye Banks

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

Sexual minority students’ encounters with discrimination and harassment are increasing in school settings. Per the research, the discrimination and harassment they experience partly stems from teachers’ negative attitudes toward sexual minorities and a lack of understanding of the needs of these individuals, which can negatively impact students’ psychological well-being and create an unwelcoming environment (Dessel, 2010; Mudrey & Medina-Adams, 2006; Riggs, Rosenthal, & Smith-Bonahue, 2011). Teachers are responsible for ensuring a safe environment for students that promotes mental and physical health (Larrabee & Morehead, 20’10; Mudrey & Medina-Adams, 2006; Riggs et al., 2011). Therefore, it’s vital to determine ways to …

“You Can Stay If You Want” -- Women’S Experiences Providing Rape Crisis Medical Advocacy, Chandra N. Strange

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

Many survivors of sexual trauma describe the forensic rape exam as a second rape (Campbell et al., 1999; Parrot, 1991). Rape crisis medical advocates (RCMAs) assist survivors through this process, a time of particular vulnerability to retraumatization (Resnick, Acierno, Holmes, Kilpatrick, & Jager, 1999), by providing emotional support, education, and advocacy for comprehensive and respectful services. Campbell (2006) stated that the primary role of the RCMA is to reduce victim-blame, or the tendency to blame the victim of a crime for the crime or the circumstances leading up to it. The literature has consistently shown that survivors who worked with …

Negative Urgency, Pubertal Onset And The Longitudinal Prediction Of Alcohol Consumption During The Transition From Preadolescence To Adolescence, Lauren Helena Boyle

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Alcohol use in early adolescence is associated with numerous concurrent and future problems, including diagnosable alcohol use disorders. The trait of negative urgency, the tendency to act rashly when distressed, is an important predictor of alcohol-related dysfunction in youth and adults. The aim of this study was to test a model proposed by Cyders and Smith (2008) specifying a puberty-based developmental increase in negative urgency, which in turn predicts subsequent increases in early adolescent drinking. In a sample of 1,910 youth assessed semi- annually from spring of 5th grade through spring of 8th grade, we found support for this model. …

The Effect Of Therapist White Privilege Attitudes On Client Outcomes And The Therapist-Client Relationship, Kristin M. Miserocchi

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

Counseling Psychology has emphasized the importance of using multicultural and social justice frameworks in psychotherapy to avoid reenacting in session the privilege and oppression dynamics that exist in larger society. People of Color have historically underutilized psychotherapy services and have higher attrition rates when they do attend therapy, even though they have been more likely to face more sources of psychological distress (Kearney, Draper, & Baron, 2005; Sue & Sue, 2008). Additionally, White therapists have been over-represented in professional and training settings (Fouad & Arredondo, 2007; Hays & Chang, 2003). Add to that the fact that therapists have been trained …

Long-Term Trends Of Participation In Physical Activity During Adolescence With Educational Ambition And Attainment, Frances Jillian Priesmeyer

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

Insufficient physical activity is a serious concern for the youth of this nation. In 2008, more than one third of children and adolescents could be classified as either obese or overweight (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011). Poor nutrition and lack of physical activity are two major factors contributing to this epidemic. A physically active lifestyle during youth not only improves physical health, but has also been shown to improve emotional health, behavior, and academic performance. It is important that this area of research is continued and expanded so appropriate educational policies that support the health and well-being of …

A Mixed Methods Study Of Technological Influences On Communication And Media Exposure In Military Children Experiencing Parental Deployment, Rebecca Goodney

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

Military children have been a population of interest and research speculation for several decades. Despite the research base built studying this population, many questions remain regarding their specific experiences and mental health outcomes. To accommodate the nation's needs when fueling the armed forces by the all volunteer force currently comprising the service branches, many military personnel have found themselves in circumstances including multiple deployments and deployments of lengths approximately equal to one year. With family relationships now a more prominent issue for military members, the necessity of considering the effects of deployment on these family members has become especially pertinent. …

Predictors Of Academic Success Among African American College Students, La Toya Bianca Smith

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

African American students are graduating from high school and enrolling in higher educational institutions at greater rates than in previous years (U.S. Department of Education, 2009). Yet, they have not achieved the same level of academic success as their racial counterparts (American Council on Education, 2010; Ross, 2012). Ultimately, this disparity has resulted in only 17.7% of the African American population 25 years of age and older having at least a Bachelor’s degree (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2012). Many researchers have employed comparative study designs to explore this disparity. Additionally, researchers commonly study academic success through the exploration of intrapsychic …

Referral Decisions Of Teachers And School Psychologists For Twice-Exceptional Students, Jennifer Marie Hoffman

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

The accurate and timely referral and identification of twice-exceptional students remains a challenge. In a statewide study, the referral decisions for both special education and gifted programming evaluations made by four participant groups (i.e., general education teachers, special education teachers, gifted education teachers, and school psychologists) were compared. Participants were randomly assigned to read one of three identically described students in a vignette that differed only in the presence of a diagnostic label—autism spectrum disorder (ASD), specific learning disability (SLD), or no diagnostic label. In all, special education teachers made the most special education referrals, while gifted education teachers made …

Developing A Method For Measuring "Working Out Loud", Dennis E. Pearce

Theses and Dissertations--Finance and Quantitative Methods

Enterprise social network software platforms (ESNs) are increasingly being deployed in firms across almost every industry as a means of fostering employee collaboration. Although benefits in increased productivity, innovation, and employee engagement are highly touted, there is a high failure rate of these deployments. This often occurs because (1) there is a misapplied focus on technology adoption rather than adoption of the employee behaviors that are ultimately required to obtain those benefits, and (2) it is unclear what those behaviors are and how to measure them.

“Working Out Loud” is one possible framework for understanding and measuring the behaviors necessary …

A Multivariate Analysis Of Consumers’ Beliefs, Attitudes, And Behaviors Associated With Locally Produced Food And Farmers’ Market Patronage, Sara Williamson

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

While farmers’ market vendors rely on loyal and frequent patrons to purchase their products, it is unclear how the intrinsic differences among farmers’ market shoppers serve as indicators of potential shopping frequency at farmers’ markets. The objectives of this thesis are to identify consumers’ intrinsic values associated with characteristics of local foods, examine how these values are reflected in consumption behaviors among farmers' market shoppers, and explore the relationship between consumption activities and shopping frequency at farmers' markets. Results suggest that the differences between frequent and infrequent farmers’ market shoppers could be explained by the individual’s levels of high and …

Using Inoculation Messages To Protect “Stay In The Market” Beliefs During Financial Crises, Lindsay Lyles Dillingham

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

This paper focuses on the problem of collapsed “stay in the market” (SIM) beliefs during financial crises. The primary purpose of this investigation was to ascertain whether or not inoculation messages represent a viable communication strategy to preemptively protect SIM beliefs during forthcoming financial crises. Ancillary purposes of this study were to further investigate the role of print and video crises, explicit instructions regarding post-inoculation talk (PIT), and gain and loss frame inoculation messages on the inoculation process. This study used a between subjects factorial design (3 x 2 plus four additional conditions) to explore ten hypotheses. Data collected from …

Facial And Body Emotion Recognition In Infancy, Leah Oberst

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Adults are experts at assessing emotions, an ability essential for appropriate social interaction. The present study, investigated this ability’s development, examining infants’ matching of facial and body emotional information.

In Experiment 1, 18 6.5-month-olds were familiarized to angry or happy bodies or faces. Those familiarized to bodies were tested with familiar and novel emotional faces. Those habituated to faces were tested with bodies. The 6.5-month-old infants exhibited a preference for the familiar emotion, matching between faces and bodies.

In Experiment 2, 18 6.5-month-olds were tested with faces and bodies displaying anger and sadness. Infants familiarized to faces showed a familiarity …

Effects Of Coaching In The Detection Of Malingered Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder In A College Sample, Maryanne Edmundson

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

College students may feign symptoms of ADHD to gain access to stimulant medications and academic accommodations. Research has shown that it can be difficult to discriminate malingered from genuine symptomatology, especially when evaluations are based only on self-report. The present study investigated whether the average student given no additional information could feign ADHD as successfully as those who were coached on symptoms. Similar to Jasinski, Harp, Berry, Shandera-Ochsner, Mason, & Ranseen (2011) and other research on feigned ADHD, an extensive battery of neuropsychological, symptom validity, and self-report tests was administered. Undergraduates with no history of ADHD or other psychiatric disorders …

Eating Disorder Onset In Young Girls: A Longitudinal Trajectory Analysis, Carolyn M. Pearson

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

To investigate whether there are different patterns of development for binge eating and purging behavior among pre-adolescent and early adolescent girls, I conducted trajectory analyses of those behaviors in 938 girls across eight waves of data from the spring of 5^th grade (the last year of elementary school) through the spring of 9^th grade (the first year of high school). Analyses revealed four separate developmental trajectories for binge eating behavior (labeled none, increasing, decreasing, and high steady) and three separate developmental trajectories for purging behavior (labeled none, dabble, and increasing). Fifth grade scores on risk factors that were …

The Ffoci, And Other Measures And Models Of Ocpd, Cristina M. Pinsker

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

The Five Factor Obsessive Compulsive Inventory (FFOCI) was developed in part to facilitate a shift from the categorical classification of personality disorder to a dimensional model; more specifically, the five-factor model. Questions though have been raised as to whether obsessive-compulsive personality disorder can be understood as a maladaptive variant of FFM conscientiousness. The purpose of the present study was to provide a further validation of the FFOCI, as well as to compare and contrast alternative measures and models of OCPD. A total of 380 participants, including 146 oversampled for OCPD traits, were recruited from introductory psychology courses at the University …

Examining The Vulnerability Of Inhibitory Control To The Impairing Effects Of Alcohol, Melissa A. Miller

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

There is growing evidence that acute changes in fundamental mechanisms of impulse control contribute to the transition from social drinking to abusive drinking. One component of impulsivity concerns the ability to inhibit maladaptive behaviors (i.e., inhibitory control). Inhibitory mechanisms are reliably shown to be sensitive to the impairing effects of alcohol, and studies have begun to show that this impairment fails to recover at the same speed as other aspects of behavior. However, the degree to which inhibitory control develops tolerance to alcohol has only been examined under limited conditions. This dissertation consists of three studies examining contexts in which …