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Interpersonal relations

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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Laughing Through The Pain: An Analysis Of Dark Humor In Trauma-And-Crisis-Centered Occupations, Zoe R. Potter Jun 2023

Laughing Through The Pain: An Analysis Of Dark Humor In Trauma-And-Crisis-Centered Occupations, Zoe R. Potter

University Honors Theses

The use of dark, or "black" humor by professionals in trauma-and-crisis-centered occupations is common, with fields such as healthcare, crime, emergency response, and social work reporting frequent use of dark humor on the job. Using a literature review approach, peer-review articles were examined to understand the function that dark humor plays in trauma-and-crisis-centered fields. The findings suggest that dark humor acts as a coping mechanism, and contributes to various group dynamics between colleagues. The literature was also reviewed for the effects that dark humor has on patients or people in contact with trauma-and-crisis personnel. While some preliminary findings point to …


Does Experiencing Spousal Support And Strain Impact The Quality Of Family-Based Support That Supervisors Provide To Employees?, Joseph Alvin Sherwood Jul 2021

Does Experiencing Spousal Support And Strain Impact The Quality Of Family-Based Support That Supervisors Provide To Employees?, Joseph Alvin Sherwood

Dissertations and Theses

Relying on previously collected data from the Work, Family and Health Study (WFHS), and drawing from a sample of 75 supervisors working in the extended healthcare industry, this research investigation empirically tested propositions of the Work-Home Resources Model to explore antecedents of family-supportive supervisor behaviors (FSSB). To explore these relationships a longitudinal, multi-level structural equation model (MSEM) was used to examine how supervisor contextual resources (spousal support) and demands (spousal strain) in the home domain impacted employee perceptions of these supervisors' FSSB through gains in personal resources (psychological distress) across three time points. Results from the MSEM model confirmed one …


Returning To Rejection: Outcomes And Boundary Conditions Of Mental Illness Stereotypes, Stefanie Fox Mar 2021

Returning To Rejection: Outcomes And Boundary Conditions Of Mental Illness Stereotypes, Stefanie Fox

Dissertations and Theses

Mental illness is a common condition in the United States, with over 20% of working age adults managing a mental illness condition in a given year. Disclosure of mental illness is often required for workers to take advantage of employer-provided resources (e.g., accommodations), yet use of resources is exceedingly low (less than 10%). Negative stigma-related outcomes are a top reason for which individuals delay the use of resources. Using an experimental design in an online data collection of 242 participants over two time points, the current study builds on existing organizational diversity literature to examine the stereotypes associated with mental …


Toward A Definition Of Adult Sibling Resilience, Cheyenne R. Drover May 2020

Toward A Definition Of Adult Sibling Resilience, Cheyenne R. Drover

University Honors Theses

The sibling relationship is considered one of the longest lasting connections an individual will have to another person. Despite this, it is a consistently understudied population in family research and, when studied, siblings are primarily examined during adolescence and often only in the context of conflict and rivalry. Additionally, much of this research does not examine the effects of sibling relationships on the larger family system. This thesis seeks to address this gap in the literature by understanding how the adult sibling literature presents and defines dimensions of sibling relationships. In doing so, it also seeks to examine whether these …


Exploring How Community College Transfer Students Experience Connection In A Commuter University, Christa Michelle Zinke Jan 2020

Exploring How Community College Transfer Students Experience Connection In A Commuter University, Christa Michelle Zinke

Dissertations and Theses

Over the last 40 years, the expansion of the U.S. community college system resulted in a growing number of students choosing to begin their undergraduate education at a two-year institution and then transfer to a four-year institution. However, many students struggle to establish connection after transferring, especially if they transfer into a commuter university. For many college students, feelings of engagement and connection influence their persistence decisions. Using Tinto's (1975; 1993) and Astin's (1984) theories of student persistence as a framework, the purpose of this in-depth interview study is to explore how commuter community college students who transfer to Portland …


Support From Inside Out: Exploring Whether Various Social Supports Assist In Reducing Prison Rule Violations, Sarah Renee Lazzari Nov 2019

Support From Inside Out: Exploring Whether Various Social Supports Assist In Reducing Prison Rule Violations, Sarah Renee Lazzari

Dissertations and Theses

Scholars argue that prison rule violations are a way to assess whether individuals are engaging in prosocial behaviors. Individuals who engage in prosocial behaviors, during periods of incarceration, are less likely to engage in behaviors that result in official rule violations. Decreasing rule violations is one way to work towards a safer prison environment, while also preparing individuals for release. The current study uses cross-sectional data form the 2004 Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Facilities, in order to examine whether multiple types of prisons programs, which will be framed as various types of social supports, influence the frequency …


Concerted Cultivation, Academic Achievement, And The Mediating Role Of Non-Cognitive Factors, Bryant Carlson Mar 2019

Concerted Cultivation, Academic Achievement, And The Mediating Role Of Non-Cognitive Factors, Bryant Carlson

Dissertations and Theses

Previous research has focused on the role concerted cultivation has played as a pathway to academic achievement and cognitive skill acquisition, but there has been little to no attention given to the potential role concerted cultivation plays as a pathway to non-cognitive factors that shape academic achievement in school. There is substantial evidence that non-cognitive factors significantly determine educational and economic mobility, but we know relatively little about the specific role that parenting style, and concerted cultivation in particular, plays in shaping non-cognitive factors. The work of Bourdieu provides a rationale to hypothesize that the pathway connecting concerted cultivation to …


Adult Children Of Divorce : How Do Attachment Insecurity And Interparental Conflict Contribute To Romantic Relationship Satisfaction?, Hannah Muetzelfeld Jan 2019

Adult Children Of Divorce : How Do Attachment Insecurity And Interparental Conflict Contribute To Romantic Relationship Satisfaction?, Hannah Muetzelfeld

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Research has shown that children of divorce who are exposed to high levels of interparental conflict tend to have worse adult outcomes than individuals not so exposed (e.g., Gager, Yabiku, & Linver, 2016), including damage to their romantic relationships (Cui, Fincham, & Durtschi, 2011; Feeney, 2006). The present study investigated the contributing role of adult attachment insecurity (i.e., attachment avoidance and attachment anxiety) to the relation between recollections of interparental conflict during childhood and adult romantic relationship satisfaction. A convenience sample of 678 U.S. participants (319 men, 345 women) whose parents had divorced prior to their reaching age 18 completed …


Detecting Deception: The Accuracy Of The Good Judge, Amanda Warner May 2018

Detecting Deception: The Accuracy Of The Good Judge, Amanda Warner

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Recent research has demonstrated that the good judge, the individual who tends form accurate impressions of others, are skilled in the detection and utilization of social cues (Rogers & Biesanz, in press) though this skill is only evident when interacting with a good target, the individual who tends to be understood by others. Given this ability to detect and use cues, this study sought to determine whether good judges of personality are also skilled at detecting deception, as individuals typically are inaccurate in their judgements of deception due to focusing on irrelevant cues (Vrij, Granhag, & Porter, 2010). A sample …


Capturing Peers', Teachers', And Parents' Joint Contributions To Students' Engagement: An Exploration Of Models, Justin William Vollet Jul 2017

Capturing Peers', Teachers', And Parents' Joint Contributions To Students' Engagement: An Exploration Of Models, Justin William Vollet

Dissertations and Theses

Building on research that has focused on understanding how peers contribute to students' engagement, this dissertation explores the extent to which peer group influences on students' engagement may add to and be contextualized by qualities of the relationships they maintain with their teachers and their parents. To focus on how each of these adult contexts work in concert with peer groups to jointly contribute to changes in students' engagement, the two studies used data on 366 sixth graders which were collected at two time points during their first year of middle school: Peer groups were identified using socio-cognitive mapping; students …


The Effects Of Interpersonal Relations In The Workplace On Cognitive Performance: Does Working With Irritating People Decrease Your Performance?, Kristin Skritek Apr 2017

The Effects Of Interpersonal Relations In The Workplace On Cognitive Performance: Does Working With Irritating People Decrease Your Performance?, Kristin Skritek

Undergraduate Honours Theses

The present study examined how individuals’ emotions from interpersonal interactions in the workplace influenced their cognitive performance. Fifty-two participants were randomly assigned to either think about a coworker who has made them feel content or a coworker that has made them feel irritated. The findings showed that participants who thought about an irritating coworker not only felt more irritated and less content than their counterparts, but they also ruminated more about the coworker, felt that it would more difficult to work with the coworker, and experienced more negative affect. However, the results showed that there were no differences on cognitive …


Small Jazz Ensembles And Ideals Of Urban Social Interaction, Kaori Otera Chen Jan 2016

Small Jazz Ensembles And Ideals Of Urban Social Interaction, Kaori Otera Chen

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

There is general consensus in urban theory that "community" is good. Nevertheless people in communities may or may not interact to a significant extent with one another nor engage in intertwined social lives, yet tend to claim within-group unity and harmony. A musical model of interaction and engagement may offer a new perspective on the dynamics of community. By listening closely I explore how musicians in small jazz ensembles interact with one another and function during their collective music-making processes and find a set of musical behaviors that exhibits an ideal model for human interaction and engagement in the social …


Check-In Frequency With Friends On Location-Based Social Networks: A Look At Homophily And Relational Closeness, Jacqueline H. Vo Dec 2015

Check-In Frequency With Friends On Location-Based Social Networks: A Look At Homophily And Relational Closeness, Jacqueline H. Vo

Dissertations and Theses

This study examines factors associated with the frequency with which users of location-based social networks (LBSNs) "check-in" with their "friends." In addition to a variety of control factors (i.e., sex homophily, race homophily, geographic proximity, length of friendship, and "friendship" type, including non-romantic friend, romantic partner, and family), the central factors of interest were users' background and attitude homophily with, and relational closeness to, their "friends." Results demonstrate that relational closeness and "friendship" type (i.e., romantic partner) were significantly, positively associated with "check-in" frequency.


The Multilevel Effects Of Supervisor Adaptability On Training Effectiveness And Employee Job Satisfaction, Joseph Alvin Sherwood Jun 2015

The Multilevel Effects Of Supervisor Adaptability On Training Effectiveness And Employee Job Satisfaction, Joseph Alvin Sherwood

Dissertations and Theses

The present study explored the multilevel effects of supervisor learning adaptability on training effectiveness, and post-training employee job satisfaction in a work-family and safety-based intervention aimed at increasing family supportive supervisor behaviors (FSSB) and safety behaviors. Using a sample of 291 municipal public works field workers from two independent organizations, it was hypothesized that supervisor adaptability positively relates to post-training FSSB and employee job satisfaction. Specifically, it was hypothesized that learning adaptability prepares those supervisors to be more inclined to engage actively in training, thereby increasing employee reported FSSBs more significantly for those supervisors and leading to intervention target results, …


"Breaking Up Is Hard To Do": An Analysis Of Parasocial Relationships And Breakups Among "How I Met Your Mother" Viewers, Sara Montes De Oca May 2015

"Breaking Up Is Hard To Do": An Analysis Of Parasocial Relationships And Breakups Among "How I Met Your Mother" Viewers, Sara Montes De Oca

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The study of one-sided mediated interactions, commonly known as parasocial interactions, have generated significant investigations which have examined both mediated relationships through television, the Internet, other media, and the discontinuation of these relationships (also known as parasocial breakups). These studies have specifically identified certain trends in which respondents have tended to form strong emotional connections with subject(s) within narrative fictional depictions. This study examines the relationship between parasocial breakup and the dissolution of a viewer following the end of primetime series, How I Met Your Mother. The following measures were used in the survey; 1) age, gender, and ethnicity; 2) …


Relationships That Appear To Contribute To The Development Of An Earned- Secure Attachment, Abby E. Feinberg Jan 2015

Relationships That Appear To Contribute To The Development Of An Earned- Secure Attachment, Abby E. Feinberg

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This study was undertaken to explore what relationships appear to contribute to the development of an earned- secure attachment with a specific focus on the type and quality of the relationship. Well over 1,000 people received the study through social media requesting participation in a SurveyMonkey survey consisting of 3 screening questions, 14 demographic questions, 6 multiple choice questions, and 4 open ended questions. The screening and demographic questions allowed the 1,035 participants to be categorized by attachment style. The survey items assessed most important current relationship type and quality. The findings of this research corroborated with previous studies that …


Expectations In Committed Relationships, Amanda R. White Jan 2015

Expectations In Committed Relationships, Amanda R. White

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This study sought to identify trends in American expectations regarding commitment, marriage, monogamy, cohabitation, child rearing, and domestic responsibilities in committed relationships and explored the ways expectations differed based on gender, generation, income, and US region. A committed relationship was defined as an interpersonal romantic relationship based upon a mutually agreed-upon commitment to one another regarding certain behavior and lifestyle choices. The different generations that were compared fall into the following year brackets: Boomers (1943-1960), Generation X (1961-1981), and Millennials (1982-2004). Two hundred and ninety-four participants completed an online, anonymous survey that collected basic demographic information including gender, sexual orientation, …


A Study Of How Love Is Experienced Over Time In Non-Heterosexual Relationships, Michelle Okun Jan 2015

A Study Of How Love Is Experienced Over Time In Non-Heterosexual Relationships, Michelle Okun

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This study explored how love is experienced in long-term non-heterosexual relationships. This study used the Triangle of Love Scale to assess how reported levels of passion, intimacy, commitment, and relationship satisfaction are experienced at different stages within relationships. In addition, individuals self-reported on factors that potentially impact relationship satisfaction and reported levels of intimacy, passion, and commitment. A sample of 185 non-heterosexual participants who reside in the US, are over the age of 18, and have been in a relationship for two or more years, was obtained. Participants completed an online survey and provided demographic information, completed the Triangle of …


Gang Stalking : Internet Connectivity As An Emerging Mental Health Concern, Elizabeth E. Dietrich Jan 2015

Gang Stalking : Internet Connectivity As An Emerging Mental Health Concern, Elizabeth E. Dietrich

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This study examines emerging concerns about small online social communities that purport to support their members, but which in actuality exacerbate mental health issues. Here, the author focuses on one such community that has gone unstudied: The Gang Stalking community. Here, individuals who seem to suffer from Delusional Disorder come together and discuss their experiences of being stalked by a multitude of people in concert with the sole aim of creating terror in their lives. These people call themselves Targeted Individuals. The support that these individuals find on gang stalking websites soothes their amorphous anxiety about being watched, but in …


Young Adult Friendship : The Portrayal Of Cross-Gender And Cross-Race Friendship On Television, Nichole Suzanne Daegele Jan 2015

Young Adult Friendship : The Portrayal Of Cross-Gender And Cross-Race Friendship On Television, Nichole Suzanne Daegele

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Friendships across race, class and gender have been studied in the past using a variety of theoretical perspectives; however, less often using an intersectional approach. While the study of cross-category friendship has gained more attention in Sociology, gender and race continue to be studied independently of each other. The current study will utilize an intersectional approach to examine how friendships across race and gender are portrayed on television.


Supervisee Avoidant Attachment And Supervisors' Use Of Relational Behavior : Contributions To The Working Alliance, Katharine Suzanne Shaffer Jan 2015

Supervisee Avoidant Attachment And Supervisors' Use Of Relational Behavior : Contributions To The Working Alliance, Katharine Suzanne Shaffer

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Supervision research has demonstrated the importance of a strong supervisory working alliance in the context of clinical training. However, little is known about what specifically occurs in clinical supervision that contributes to a strong supervisory working alliance. The present study of counselor trainees was designed to investigate relations among their avoidant attachment style, perceptions of relational behaviors used by their supervisors in the most recent supervision session, and the supervisory working alliance. Competing hypotheses stated that greater use of relational behavior on the part of supervisors would either mediate or moderate the inverse relationship between trainees' avoidant attachment style and …


Exploring Mental Dungeons And Slaying Psychic Dragons : An Exploratory Study, Michael S. Sargent Jan 2014

Exploring Mental Dungeons And Slaying Psychic Dragons : An Exploratory Study, Michael S. Sargent

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This qualitative study examined the experiences of participants with table-top roleplaying and with the gaming community. Specifically this study asked: In what ways do fantasy play and participation in the role-playing community benefit participants? This study aimed to address the lack of social work literature regarding the emotional and social benefits that roleplaying games provide consumers. Data were collected from interviews with six individuals who regularly engage in tabletop role-playing games. The study asked open ended questions regarding participants' experiences with the role-playing community, thematic and emotional content experienced within the fantasy setting, and benefits participants felt they'd gained from …


Feminist Identification In Heterosexual Encounters : Exploring The Relationship Betweeen Women's Personal Values And Their Experiences Of Verbal Sexual Coercion, Shawna M. Hershberger Jan 2014

Feminist Identification In Heterosexual Encounters : Exploring The Relationship Betweeen Women's Personal Values And Their Experiences Of Verbal Sexual Coercion, Shawna M. Hershberger

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

Verbal Sexual Coercion by men is a common experience for young women that can lead to both physical and psychological harm (Byers and Glenn, 2012; Faulkner, Kolts and Hicks, 2008; Katz and Myhr, 2008). Clinicians who treat these young women may benefit from a deeper understanding of the role that personal values and beliefs about gender plays in the experiences of this common type of sexual coercion. The present study surveyed n=217 women between the ages of 21 to 30 about their gender role ideology, feminist identification and experiences of verbal sexual coercion to determine if there is a relationship …


Links Between Friendship, Psychological Symptoms, And Academic Adjustment In An Emerging Adulthood Sample, Lisa Sample Jan 2014

Links Between Friendship, Psychological Symptoms, And Academic Adjustment In An Emerging Adulthood Sample, Lisa Sample

Honors Theses

It is well established that peer relationships, including friendships, have an important influence on children’s adjustment in school (Buhs & Ladd, 2001; Guay, Boivin, & Hodges, 1999). Friendship might contribute to success in school because this relationship often serves as a source of social and emotional support for the child. When a child feels comfortable in his or her environment, he or she is more readily able to participate in his or her learning (Buhs & Ladd, 2001).


Perception And Communication Of Nonverbal Emotion: In Close Relationships, Christine F. Norris 14 Jan 2014

Perception And Communication Of Nonverbal Emotion: In Close Relationships, Christine F. Norris 14

Honor Scholar Theses

This paper addresses the perception and communication of nonverbal emotion in close relationships. It reviews research in the area as well as includes case studies that demonstrate different aspects of the research. Specifically it examines emotional recognition and perception, empathic accuracy, accuracy and bias in the perception of emotion, the influence of personality and emotional intelligence, as well as communication of emotion in close relationships. Depending on the situation all of these aspects affect communication differently and the paper explores the ways and situations in which these differences occur. Subsequently it addresses the influence of blindness, deafness, and modern day …


Female Tenure-Track Professors And Their Perceived Satisfaction Levels In Romantic Relationships, Brianna N. Meehan Sep 2013

Female Tenure-Track Professors And Their Perceived Satisfaction Levels In Romantic Relationships, Brianna N. Meehan

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This empirical study surveyed seventy-six female professors who hold tenure-track positions at eleven eastern Pennsylvania colleges and universities. The participants ranged in age from 20's to 60's and varied in race. While there is literature regarding women's relationship satisfaction and job satisfaction, there is a lack of literature about the personal lives of this specific population in relation to their career demands. The study was designed to investigate this population's perceived satisfaction levels in romantic relationships and to determine the relationship statuses of the group that was surveyed. Grounded theory methodology was used in order to generate an understanding of …


How Do Mental Health Clincians Using Feedback Informed Treatment Methods Create A "Cultural Of Feedback" With Clients?, Alexander H. Tew Sep 2013

How Do Mental Health Clincians Using Feedback Informed Treatment Methods Create A "Cultural Of Feedback" With Clients?, Alexander H. Tew

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This study was undertaken to explore how mental health clinicians using feedback informed treatment (FIT) interventions attempt to increase the likelihood of receiving genuine feedback from their clients. Furthermore, the study explores clinicians' perceptions about the ways in which interpersonal power dynamics, including race/ethnicity dynamics, influence the feedback process. An anonymous online survey was posted on two Internet forums for FIT practitioners. A final sample of thirty licensed mental health clinicians completed the mixed methods survey, answering five demographics questions (age, gender, race/ethnicity, years using FIT methods, and nationality) and three open-ended questions. The open-ended questions asked respondents to discuss …


The Self Care Experience Among Medical Social Workers, Chelsey Diane Davis Jan 2013

The Self Care Experience Among Medical Social Workers, Chelsey Diane Davis

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study was to examine the self-care experience among social workers in a medical setting. The findings from this study indicate that self-care strategies among social workers enable these workers to improve their well-being and increase their service effectiveness as professionals.


Csa Survivors: What Heals And What Hurts In A Couple Relationship, Laura S. Smedley Dec 2012

Csa Survivors: What Heals And What Hurts In A Couple Relationship, Laura S. Smedley

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is a significant trauma that affects a person's self-concept and the ability to form healthy intimate relationships later in adulthood. Approximately 20% of adults who experience childhood sexual abuse go on to evidence serious psychopathology in adulthood (Harway & Faulk, 2005). Besides individual disturbances, CSA survivors struggle with many relational difficulties. These difficulties are usually most pronounced among their intimate partners (Reid, et al., 1995). According to attachment theory, attachment injuries are best healed in the context of a healthy, intimate relationship (Kochka & Carolan, 2002) (MacIntosh & Johnson, 2008). Conversely, the couple relationship may be …


Relationship Competence: Can Trainee Interpersonal Skills Be Measured Reliably And Do They Predict Clinical Effectiveness?, Jacqueline Camp Aug 2012

Relationship Competence: Can Trainee Interpersonal Skills Be Measured Reliably And Do They Predict Clinical Effectiveness?, Jacqueline Camp

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Traditional evaluation and assessment procedures in professional psychology programs have long been criticized for inadequately attending to the set of interpersonal skills that are important to professional functioning in the field of psychology. The present study was exploratory and focused on examining the reliability and validity of an evaluation tool designed to capture a set of interpersonal skills that are clinically relevant and grounded in the empirical literature on psychotherapy outcome. Toward this end, the Facilitative Interpersonal Skills (FIS) task (Anderson, Patterson, & Weiss, 2006) was administered to a sample of trainees (n = 19) enrolled in a clinical psychology …