Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Do Spontaneous Trait Inferences Influence Behavioral Intentions?, Jessica Renee Bray

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Character traits are spontaneously inferred from observing peopleâ??s behavior. This inference process is called a spontaneous trait inference. Although spontaneous trait inference effects are robust and well replicated, little research has examined what perceivers do with the inferences they make. A pilot study and two experiments examined whether spontaneous trait inferences led to differences in two behavioral intentions: friending and aggression. The savings in relearning paradigm was used to measure spontaneous trait inferences. Participants were exposed to trait implying descriptions or neutral descriptions of targets. After a filler task, participants completed a social media friending questionnaire and a modified voodoo …

Dinstinction Between Prejudice And Stereotyping For Negative In-Group Attitudes, Manal Aboargob

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

There are conflicting findings for disadvantaged group membersâ?? attitudes towards their group. Some studies suggest that disadvantaged groups have positive in-group attitudes, while other studies suggest they have negative in-group attitudes, or even outgroup favoritism. This may be in part due to the simultaneous measurement of stereotypic and prejudicial attitudes, and I suggest that studying their distinction might better explain the discrepancy found in the literature. Further, research has yet to look at how differences in personal attitudes versus perception of public attitudes is related to the differing results found in disadvantaged group attitudes. In the proposed study, it is …

The Effects Of Identity Conflict And Identity Salience On Job Satisfaction And Vocational Connectedness In Minority Law Enforcement Officers, Kityara James

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Law enforcement agencies are having trouble recruiting, hiring, and maintaining ethnic minority officers. Although the Department of Justice identified multiple issues minorities face while pursuing and engaging in the profession, there have been few efforts to determine the source of these problems and how to overcome them. In a stressful profession that doesn't historically align with being a minority, the difference between staying with that job or going to another one may lie in how connected to the job and how satisfied with that job minority law enforcement feel. The current study explores how ethno-racial and police identity salience and …

We Are All Green: Stereotypes For Female Soldiers And Veterans, Katherine French

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

As the number of females in the U.S. military continues to rise, the need for research concerning this cohort becomes increasingly important. In consideration of gender role theory, society may assume that soldiers and veterans are male, due to stereotypes. Thus, it was hypothesized that participants would be more likely to implicitly associate military (i.e. prior military or combat veteran) as male compared the neutral condition (i.e. prior Peace Corp volunteer). The current study (N = 174) used gender pronouns as implicit measures of gender assumptions. Participants were assigned to read six gender neutral scenarios; three focal scenarios (i.e. combat …

Critical Political Correctness In The Era Of Properness, Isaac Tapia Martinez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In an Era of Properness, opinions, beliefs, expressions, attitudes, and actions are suppressed through Repressing Situationalities with the ultimate goal of portraying an acceptable and mainstream proper personal display. Repressing situationalities are stances an individual takes that limits it from attempting or reaching their full potential on diverse objectives as they are disempowering states of mind and body linked to deterministic, fatalistic and conformist ideological frameworks. Inner motives and external pressures play a critical role in how decisions are made, especially those related to behavior. This Dissertation investigates and describes from an advocacy and participatory worldview, how mainstream Repressing Situationalities …

The Love Is Not Lost: The Reparative Function Of Romantic Nostalgia, Nicholas Daniel Evans

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Recent research has found that experiencing romantic nostalgia (i.e. nostalgia specific to one's romantic partner or relationship) can serve several emotional and experiential benefits to romantic relationships. Yet, research within this domain is still limited-specifically, how nostalgia can improve relationships during turmoil or conflict. Thus, in two studies, the current project investigates the reparative benefits of romantic nostalgia when experienced in the context of relationship turmoil. Study 1 (N = 245) investigated the links between trait romantic nostalgia, the conflict compromise style, and positive relationship experiences: closeness, commitment, and relationship satisfaction. Romantic nostalgia was positively linked to all three relationship …

Acculturation, Biculturalism, And Familistic Cultural Values' Relationship With Latino Mental Health, Nathalie Gonzalez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

As the Latino population increases in the United States, mental health professionals encounter mixed research findings on immigrant mental health. There seems to be an epidemiological paradox in relation to Latino mental health and the effect that acculturation has on anxiety and depression symptoms among this minority population. One discernible research limitation in the existing literature is that researchers measure acculturation as a unidimensional, rather than multidimensional, construct. The present study examined not only acculturation, but also biculturalism, as correlates of depression and anxiety symptoms in a Latino population. Additionally, the present study identified potential Latino cultural buffers against depressive …

El Pueblo Unido: Analyzing Group-Based Activism, Corin Ramos

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The United States is often known as The Land of the Free. This title, in large part, is reflective of our first constitutional amendment, guaranteeing freedom of speech, assembly, and the right to petition the government. Throughout history, social activist groups of all backgrounds have exercised their right to speak, protest, and gather in the interest of their group. The psychological basis of what motivates someone to engage in or support collective efforts has been studied. Several theories including the politicization of one's group identity, and the presence of others are discussed as predictors of collective action. The current research …

On Racial Barriers, Kayla Rachel Mehl

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

My Thesis examines: the nature of racial barriers, by what means racial barriers manifest in society, and the ways in which we can use racial barriers to evolve toward a more just society. I argue that within particular contexts a look of the Other will construct a racial barrier between racialized bodies. More specifically, when one perceives a threat from a look of the Other, one will undertake a particular-what social psychologists call-self-representation, in attempt to exhibit a particular type of persona they feel is called for in that context. Furthermore, I argue in my paper that racial barriers emerge …

Effects Of Gender Stereotypes On Judgments Of Career Tracks, Scott Frankowski

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Occupational gender role stereotypes may impact how others evaluate the career choices of women and men. Women more so than men are employed in occupations that are viewed as communal. Men more so than women are employed in occupations that are viewed as agentic. In the first experiment, participants evaluated the career paths of male and female targets when the targets were considering a career change to a gender role congruent, incongruent, or gender role neutral career path. Female targets' career choices were evaluated more favorably in gender role congruent versus incongruent career tracks. Female targets' career choices were also …

Black Police Uniforms Implicitly Increase Hostile Perceptions And Behavior, Amber Kristin Lupo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Use of excessive, and sometimes deadly, force by U.S. law enforcement officers is a critical and costly problem. An enclothed cognition framework suggests that clothing, such as a uniform, can implicitly affect cognitive processing and behavior of the wearer (Adam & Galinsky, 2012). Previous research demonstrated that darker clothing implicitly affects judgments and behavior in two ways. First, persons who wear darker clothing are perceived more negatively (Vrig, 1997; Vrig & Akehurst, 1997). Second, actors wearing darker colored clothing demonstrate greater aggressive behavior than actors wearing lighter colored clothing (Frank & Gilovich, 1988; Peña, Hancock, & Merola, 2009). The present …

Defining Moral Attitudes : An Examination Of The Structure And Consequences Of Moral Attitudes, Ciara Katelyn Kidder

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The goals of this Dissertation were to contribute to the literature on the structure of moral attitudes and explore the consequences of moral attitudes on person perception. The goal of study 1 was to replicate and extend previous research examining the automatic nature of moral objectivity and moral universalism. In Study 1, there was no support for the relationship between morality and objectivity and morality and universality. Instead, the study demonstrated that sequential priming may be an ineffective methodology for measuring these relationships. The goal of study 2 was to examine the relationship between the similarity of participant attitude to …

Is Torture Ever Justified? The Influence Of Group Membership, Interrogation Approach, And Success On Attributions Of Interrogator Behavior And Perceived Acceptability Of Torture, Julia Labianca

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of these three experiments was to determine what factors affect Americans' attitudes toward torture and the interrogators who engage in torture. Using theories of intergroup bias, fundamental attribution error, and cognitive dissonance, the three experiments investigated how people make behavioral attributions for an interrogator, as well as how people perceive the acceptability, ethicalness, effectiveness, and procedural justice of the technique used. Four variables were manipulated: group membership of the interrogator and detainee, outcome of the interrogation, and type of interrogation tactic used. It was expected that people would make attributional and attitudinal judgments in a manner that preserved …

Examining The Role Of Threat Processing In Memory Consolidation And Prejudice Formation, Stephanie Marie Reyes

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Memory is a flexible system that integrates new incoming information into existing memory representations (Stickgold & Walker, 2007). Through sleep and over time, memories become stable via consolidation processes (Payne, Stickgold, Swanberg & Kensinger, 2008). Prejudice formation can occur through the consolidation of stereotype schemas. In a previous study Latino participants learned positive and negative trait information about in-group and out-group members (Enge, Lupo & Zárate, 2015). At test, participants responded more quickly to out-group targets paired with negative traits than in-group pairings with these traits. Findings indicate that participants also responded more quickly to in-group targets paired with positive …

Religious Priming And Moral Reasoning As A Manipulation For Supporting Violence, Brandt A. Smith

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The present research tests the effects of religious priming and cued moral reasoning on support for violence against others. Further, the present research examined the effects of two individual difference measures, Social Vigilantism and the degree to which people accept religion as a social force research demonstrates that religious priming elicits greater compliance by acting as a cognitive distraction. The data show that lower levels of moral reasoning and religious priming lead to higher activism, radicalism, and extremism scores as well as higher agreement with a recorded message. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Perspectives On Feminine Cultural Gender Role Values From Latina Leaders And Community Residents, Nazanin Mina Heydarian

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Marianismo and machismo are gender values prescribed to women and men respectively within Latino cultures. Characteristics associated with these gender values can be pro- or anti-social. Individuals, regardless of their own sex, self-identify with characteristics prescribed to both genders. There is little research examining how Latinos conceptualize and self-identify with both marianismo and machismo. The present study contributes to the literature by classifying how Latina leaders and non-leader community residents describe characteristics associated with marianismo and machismo. I identified characteristics of marianismo and machismo and their associated pro- and anti-social dimensions by means of a thematic analysis. The following characteristics …

The Development Of The Barriers, Elizabeth Hagelsieb-Escalera

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Estimates of undiagnosed diabetics are as high as 50%. Early intervention and management can reduce the complications of diabetes; however, this is possible only after the disease has been diagnosed. A review of diabetes screening literature revealed a dearth of information regarding the diabetes screening behavior of individuals. Unlike barriers to cancer screening, little is known about barriers and facilitators to diabetes screening. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) is a logical theoretical framework to apply for the examination of screening intentions because it allows inference of behavioral predictors via survey item responses. Using the TPB framework, the Barriers and …

The Effect Of Religious References On Identity Salience And Social Behaviors, Jessica Marie Shenberger Trujillo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In the aftermath of 9/11 and other terrorist attacks on U.S. soil (e.g., the Boston bombings) researchers began to empirically investigate the conditions under which religion can lead to supporting or committing violence. The contradictory findings for the effects of religious references on both positive and negative behavior call for a closer examination of individual or contextual factors that influence the effect of religion on social behaviors. To address these contradictory findings and to identify the underlying mechanism involved, Study 1 examined the extent to which god-related or church-related religious references impact the salience of individual or group identities. Study …

Developing And Testing An Implicit Measure Of Moral Foundation Accessibility, Scott D. Frankowski

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Moral Foundations Theory provides a framework for understanding moral judgments and behavior. With the present research, I developed a word fragment task as an implicit measure of moral foundation accessibility. In an experiment, I used this measure as a predictor of moral attitudes and behaviors toward two moral violations. Responses on this implicit measure predicted moral attitudes; however, the priming conditions did not affect responses. The failure of the primes are discussed, as well as future directions.

What Makes It Moral? Measuring Differences Between Moral And Non-Moral Attitudes, Ciara Katelyn Kidder

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Moral attitudes have unique behavioral consequences. Theory predicts that moral attitudes are uniquely different than non-moral attitudes on a variety of dimensions. Of particular interest to the current study are two cognitive characteristics: objectivity, the belief that one's moral attitudes are factual and universality, the belief that one's moral attitudes ought to apply to everyone. These constructs have only been informally examined by a handful of studies. The aim of the current research was to examine the associations of morality to objectivity and universality using idiographic Implicit Association Tests. There were two primary hypotheses. The first hypothesis was that there …

Changing The Face Of American Culture: A New Perspective On Immigration, Stephanie Ann Quezada

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Immigration in the United States is currently a focal political and social issue. The nation's support for restricting immigration stems in part from the cultural threats made salient after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and from the recent influx of immigrants. The present research investigated the implications of perceiving immigration as voluntary or involuntary and permanent or temporary. Experiment 1, a pilot study, showed that U.S. citizens expect voluntary and permanent immigrants to assimilate to mainstream American culture. Experiment 1 also showed that U.S. citizens expressed greater anger toward immigrants who were permanently staying in the U.S., and greater …

The Effect Of Religious Imagery On Following Suggestions For Risk-Taking, Jessica Marie Shenberger Trujillo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Events such as "9/11" show that religion can be used to promote negative social behavior. The aim of the current study was to test whether religious imagery leads individuals to follow suggestions for increased risk-taking behaviors. The current study used culturally relevant positive and negative religious imagery primes (i.e., Virgin de Guadalupe and Santa Muerte) as well as positive and negative non- religious imagery primes (i.e., Frida Kahlo and La Malinche) and measured the extent to which individuals followed a confederate's suggestions to engage in risky behaviors on a Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART). Individuals varied in the number of …

Motivations For A Source To Resist An Interrogation: Consequences To The Self Versus Consequences To An Other, Julia Labianca

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The current research investigated the effect of situational and dispositional factors on a source's decision to confess guilty knowledge of another's actions to an interrogator. The extant literature suggests that potential consequences to the self are a major motivator for decisions to confess or resist an interrogation. Previous research also suggests that the potential consequences to the other person may also influence a source's motivations to confess guilty knowledge. Additionally, personality measures related to interdependence versus personal independence (collectivism and individualism) and individual loyalty may also influence a source's motivations to cooperate with or resist an interrogation. However, few experiments …

Guilty By Association: Time-Dependent Memory Consolidation And The Generalization Of Person-Specific Traits To Other Group Members, Luke R. Enge

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The following study investigated the extent to which time-dependent memory consolidation facilities the generalization of person-specific traits (individuated targets) to other, familiar social group members (familiar targets) Sixty-Nine (N = 69) participants learned to distinguish between two arbitrary groups, one positive and one negative. Participants learned the negative or positive information about a subset of the group members (individuated targets) and no individuating information about the familiar targets. Participants returned either without a time-delay containing sleep (2-6 hours after learning) or a time-delay with sleep (48 hours after learning). Results demonstrated that only after a time-delay containing sleep, negative information …

The Antecedents And Consequences Of Trust In Authorities For Protection Against Cartel Violence And Terrorism Threat, Nishad Jabeen

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The current study examined the effects of cartel violence and terrorism threat on people's judgments, emotions and behaviors in response to the threat. It was hypothesized that prior threat experience, perception of threat severity, negative emotions, and attitudes toward authorities would influence trust in federal and local authorities for protection against the threat of cartel violence and terrorism. It was also expected that trust in authorities would increase compliance to authority recommendations to prepare for the threat. The sample consisted of 592 University of Texas at El Paso Introduction to Psychology students and El Paso community members. Participants completed an …

An Intra-Individual Event-Related Potential-Based Concealed Attitude Test, David R. Herring

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The evaluative oddball is an implicit measure for detecting (concealed) attitudes. In evaluative oddball studies, low occurrence stimuli such as negative pictures are presented among high occurrence context stimuli such as positive pictures. Late positive potentials (LPPs) of the event-related potential (ERP) are larger to evaluatively incongruent stimuli such as negatives compared to congruent stimuli such as positives with the context (e.g., positives). In prior evaluative oddball paradigms, this evaluative congruity effect of the LPP was reduced when participants concealed compared to truthfully reported attitudes. Because prior evaluative oddballs have been focused on the group level analysis, it has been …

The Influence Of Case-Specific Expert Testimony On Juror Sensitivity To Confession Evidence, Skye Alani Woestehoff

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Research on the effect of expert testimony has resulted in incongruent findings. Expert testimony has been shown to lead to sensitivity, by educating participants about the evidence and facilitating the application of this knowledge, and skepticism, by causing jurors to distrust the evidence regardless of its quality. The current study explored the role of expert testimony in improving participants' evaluation of confession evidence. Data were collected from 352 students and 281 community members. Participants read a trial transcript that included a low-pressure, medium-pressure, or high-pressure interrogation. Participants also read expert testimony that was general, case-specific, or no testimony at all. …

Nostalgic Identities: A Study In The Interactive Process Of Mexican/ Mexican American Users In Facebook, Daniel Dominguez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Online social networking is a growing phenomenon. All over the globe people engage in disembodied interactions with one another taking for granted a compression of time and space. Most social analysis of online settings has been studied from a symbolic interactionist perspective in which the concept of multiple/pluralized identity helps explain how users identify themselves in disembodied contexts.

This paper intends to discover how the Mexican / Mexican American identity is presented, managed and produced by users in the Social Networking Site Facebook using the concept of nostalgia in how identity is presented in a disembodied context.

The Role Of Perceptual Processes In The Use Of And Willingness To Use Professional Health Care Services, Luis Omar Rivera

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

To better address ethnic health disparities, it is imperative that we understand the psychological processes that shape people's use of and willingness to use professional health care services. The current research proposes and tests a model in which people's attentional orientation toward context discourages them from seeking professional health care services because (a) attentional orientation toward context encourages people to attribute symptoms of illness to external/environmental factors and (b) attributing symptoms of illness to external/environmental factors is associated with less use of professional health care services. The results of two studies show mixed support for the proposed model. Consistent with …

Prejudice With A Conscience: How A Strong Moral Identity Relates To Greater Prejudice, Moira P. Shaw

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The present research investigated the effects of moral licensing on prejudice for participants with a strong moral identity. It predicted that, because people with a stronger moral identity are especially motivated to be moral, they would be strongly affected by moral licensing effects on prejudice. Three experiments tested this prediction by measuring moral identity, experimentally manipulating and measuring three sources of moral license (moral affirmation, moral superiority, and moral threat), and measuring inter-group prejudice. The results demonstrated that with moral affirmation and moral superiority, a strong moral identity relates to greater prejudice (Experiment 1), moral superiority moderates the relation between …