Psychology Commons^™

The Transformative Power Of Deliberate Creativity: Reflections Of A Priest Creativity Practitioner, Felix-Kingsley Nnamdi Obialo

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

The idea of creativity continues to gain global currency as the tool for growth and development, especially in our contemporary world. There is an emerging universal paradigm shift that promotes creativity as something that could be structured and deliberate as against the erstwhile belief that it is restricted and by chance. Nevertheless, some individuals, groups, and climes are yet to fully embrace creativity in all its ramifications. Creativity practice is one of the means to foster and sustain creativity in persons and groups. Consequently, nurturing creativity continues to impact people and contexts. Through four case studies, this project presents a …

Spiritual Transcendence As A Sixth Personality Factor In Russia : Cross-Cultural Generalizability And Influence On Psychosocial Outcomes., Ksenia Kopeikin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Previous research has suggested that Spiritual Transcendence (ST), which is the ability to stand outside one’s own immediate experience, to see unity in nature and to feel connection with the rest of humanity and the spirits, is a universal human experience. Research also suggests that ST may form a sixth personality factor, operating in a manner similar to, but separately from the Big Five personality traits. That is, ST may be a source of intrinsic motivation and influence human behavior and psychosocial outcomes similar to the Big Five. Previous research has established the incremental validity of ST over and above …

Validation Of The Young Adult Relational Aggression Scale, Caitlin M. Clark

Dissertations

Relational aggression has been associated with a host of negative correlates in previous studies of children, adolescents, and emerging adults. Further research is necessary for the purposes of identifying prevention and intervention strategies; however, research on relational aggression among emerging adults has been complicated by the lack of available psychometrically sound measures, particularly those that capture the proactive and reactive functions of relational aggression. The present study extended previous efforts to develop a new self-report measure of relational aggression for emerging adults called the Young Adult Relational Aggression Scale (YARAS). A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed using a sample …

The Public Health Harms Of Pornography: The Brain, Erectile Dysfunction, And Sexual Violence, John D. Foubert

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Twisting Masculinity: Harms Of Pornography To Young Boys And Men, Gabe Deem

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Two Questions, The Same Answer: The Role Of Demand In Prostitution And Sex Trafficking, Shamere Mckenzie

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Second-Language Acquisition And Motivation: A Literature Review, Pat Goodridge

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

This literature review traces the development of motivation in second-language acquisition, a field that has evolved from basic associations between affective factors and second-language performance to nuanced approaches of how motivation is shaped by a learner’s subjective cognition. With this review, we see that motivation’s role has always been central to language learning, and the development of our understanding of this role has mirrored the development of our understanding of second-language acquisition’s psychological and cognitive aspects. Such understanding contributes to many areas of second-language pedagogy, developmental psychology, and applied linguistics, all of which are relevant to our practical research goals …

I Love Myself! The Effects Of Positive Self-Talk On Behavior, Martmargret Charles, Rachel Huesman, Sharon Benton

Celebration of Student Scholarship Poster Sessions Archive

No abstract provided.

Impacting Audiences: Responses To Oral Histories Of Persons With Schizophrenia, Tracy Mcdonough, Lynda Crane, Kory Phelps, Sara Vice

The Qualitative Report

The current article focuses on the impact for listeners of oral histories of persons with schizophrenia, presented to 241 audience members. Post-presentation feedback was obtained. Findings from a mixed-methods design combining chi-square analyses with qualitative presentation of emerging themes present evidence to support new learning, emotional impact, and motivational inspiration in listeners.

Pulse - A Consultation, Barry J. Mauer

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

On June 12, 2016, Omar Mateen killed 49 people and injured 53 at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida. We may never know or understand what was in Mateen’s mind, but we can situate his attack within the history of eliminationism in America. Islamist terrorism is just part of a larger phenomenon: right wing eliminationism. But despite centuries of right wing eliminationist words and deeds in the U.S., there is little or no mainstream recognition of the phenomenon. Instead, we are treated to more denial, more distraction, more obfuscation. Until we look this problem squarely in the face, it will …

Embodying Rhythm Nation: Multimodal Hip Hop Dance As A Site For Adolescent Social-Emotional And Political Development, Lauren M. Roygardner

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This exploratory study employed qualitative methodology, specifically values analysis, to learn more about how being involved within Hip hop dance communities positively relates to adolescent development. Adolescence was defined herein as ages 13-23. The study investigated Hip hop dance communities in terms of cultural expertise (i.e. novice, intermediate and advanced/expert) to look specifically at dance narratives (i.e. peak experience narratives and “I dance because” essays) and hip hop dance performances. The primary purpose of this dissertation was to (1) explore how adolescents use multimodal Hip hop dance discourse for social-emotional development and critical consciousness, and to (2) understand how values …

Why Some Take Pleasure In Other People’S Pain: The Role Of Attachment, Competition, And Cooperation On Schadenfreude, Alison Baren

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

When witnessing someone’s misfortune, some people may feel empathy and offer to help while others may feel schadenfreude (i.e., joy at other’s misfortunes) and not help. This research examined why people react to others with compassion while others respond more callously. I investigated how individual differences in attachment, empathy, personal distress, and schadenfreude, and the effects of competition versus cooperation, impacted prosocial behavior. As a novel contribution, I looked at attachment’s association with not only state schadenfreude but also trait schadenfreude. After developing a measure of trait schadenfreude (Study 1), I determined if attachment related to schadenfreude (Study 2) and …

A Time For Creativity: How Future-Oriented Schemas Facilitate Creativity, Brandon Yuan Rui Koh

Dissertations and Theses Collection

According to the creative cognition approach, the infrequent generation of truly creative ideas could be due to the pervasive reliance on schemas during creative ideation. People tasked to generate creative ideas tend to anchor on accessible schemas, thus many of these ideas predictably conform to pre-existing exemplars or concepts. It is reasonable to argue that suppressing the reliance on conventional schemas coupled with activating unconventional schemas could broaden the sources of inspiration and facilitate creativity. Grounded in social schema research, I hypothesize that people tend to project high societal change in the future, and that future construal will activate these …

Psychopathy, Empathic Concern, And Emotional-Sentence Processing: An N400 Erp Study, Farren Larson

Student Theses

Using an undergraduate sample, the present study examined how psychopathic traits (assessed by the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised) and empathic concern (assessed by the Interpersonal Reactivity Index) affect emotional-information processing using event-related potentials (ERPs) and a sentential priming paradigm. Participants had their electroencephalogram (EEG) recorded while they silently read sentences with three types of endings: congruent, incongruent, and emotionally negative. We hypothesized that participants with high levels of psychopathic traits and participants with low levels of empathic concern would find the emotionally negative sentence endings less unexpected and disturbing (yielding a smaller N400), compared to participants with low levels of psychopathic …

Impulsivity, Communication, And Marital Satisfaction In Newlywed Couples, Kenneth Tan, Amber M. Jarnecke, Susan C. South

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The authors used a vulnerability–stress–adaptation framework to examine how and why impulsivity affects communication and marital satisfaction in a sample of 100 newlywed couples. We specifically examined the links between impulsivity and perceptions of conflict communication patterns and their associations with marital satisfaction. Using an actor–partner interdependence framework, the results demonstrated that impulsivity was negatively associated with one's own and partner's marital satisfaction. Impulsivity was also negatively associated with constructive communication and positively associated with destructive communication. Furthermore, mediation analyses showed that communication patterns mediated the impulsivity–satisfaction link. Taken together, these findings suggest that impulsivity is likely to lead to …

The Political Personality Of U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This working paper presents the results of an indirect assessment of the personality of U.S. vice president Mike Pence, from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon. Information concerning Pence was collected from biographical sources and media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with Axis II of DSM-5.

The personality profile yielded by the MIDC was analyzed on the basis of interpretive guidelines provided in the MIDC and Millon Index of Personality Styles manuals. Pence’s primary personality pattern was found to …

Down Syndrome, The Image Of God, And Personhood, Paris Webb

Dialogue & Nexus

People with Down syndrome help Christians understand what being made in the image of God truly means. After describing Down syndrome, we will examine the different views of the image of God and how these relate to people with Down syndrome. Another approach will be to define personhood in light of God’s image and relate it to Down syndrome. We will use the principles held by the L’Arche community as an exemplar in this discussion to demonstrate that those with Down syndrome encourage us to expand our understanding of the image of God. Consequently, Down’s persons allow us to apply …

Narcissistic Traits Of Police Officers In America, Paloma Moran

Themis: Research Journal of Justice Studies and Forensic Science

The narcissistic traits of police officers aged 17 to 78 in the United States affect American citizens in various degrees. Improvements made to pre-employment psychological evaluations, such as the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2), the L (Lie) Scale, and the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI), may detect and screen out police officer candidates with underlying Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). It is important that candidates with NPD be screened out as, if they become officers, they may commit acts of police misconduct, which greatly affect the safety and trust of the American people.

Girls Are Us: A Collection Of Oral Histories From The Jmu Community, Anne M. Sherman

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

On a campus where women make up a majority of the student population, it is especially important that female voices are heard and given a platform on which they can control their own narrative. I wanted to give those female-identifying voices that platform. I conducted a series of interviews to examine how college-aged female-identifying students feel about their identity and how they construct that identity within the climate of the JMU community. I was particularly interested in the intersections of gender, race, ethnicity, class, sexual preference, and ability. I asked each person to share their stories of times when they …

The Roles Of Race And Empathy On Contagious Yawning, Daroon M. Jalil

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Social Psychologists often consider race to be a marker of in-group or out-group status. When looking at race, implicit bias can take forms that are more subtle than outwards racism. Two research questions were asked in this study to better understand the psychology behind racial issues. The first question was if the number of contagious yawns (CY) a person experiences depends on the race of the stimuli being viewed. Contagiously yawning more to in-group members is a phenomena seen in chimpanzees, but has not been studied in humans in a racial context. Black and white males and females were recruited …

Assessing Behavioral Syndromes In Captive Red Pandas (Ailurus Fulgens) Using An Ethological Approach, Tyler C. Bray

Theses and Dissertations

Animal personality has a significant impact on an animal’s physiology and welfare. Eight captive red pandas were observed to determine if personality can be assessed in this species using an ethological approach. Analysis revealed two behavioral dimensions: 1) Active/Exploratory and 2) Maintenance. Age differences were found in the Active/Exploratory dimension.

Narcissism And Short-Term Mating Attempts, Rebecca E. Burchette

Honors College Theses

The purpose of this research is to measure the behavioral choice of narcissists when presented with an opportunity for short-term or long-term mating in an online simulation. Participants were randomly assigned to either a short-term mating (STM) or long-term mating (LTM) condition in which they saw women that were interested in “casual” or “lasting, loving” relationships. Participants had the option of emailing as many women as they liked. However, there was no significant moderation found.

An Examination Of Goal Orientation Between Genders – An Exploratory Study, Amanda M. Boyd

Honors College Theses

Goal orientation is defined as the perceptual-cognitive frameworks that determine how an individual approaches, interprets, and responds to achievement situations (Janssen & Van Yperen, 2004). Goal orientation refers to the reasons an individual engages in an activity and the goals he or she sets to define success (D’Lima et al., 2014). Research has shown that there are gender differences when examining goal orientation. However, little research has been found that has examined this within the millennial generation. The purpose of this exploratory study is to examine the differences between male and female millennial college students on goal orientation. The …

What Do We Think About Birth Order?, Jessica Garcia

Student Research Posters

Stereotypical beliefs people have of personality traits that are expected from children in relation to their birth order has become a popular area of study. Parents can be consciously or unconsciously swayed to form impressions of their children based on birth order personality attributes formed by society and family. How parents act towards their children can impact a child’s cognitive and behavioral development (Eckstein & Kaufman, 2012). Using Adler’s psychological perspective theory, the present study hypothesized that there is a positive correlation between people’s perception of birth order traits and self-reported personality. Participants were 50 adults (84% female) 18 to …

Do Pinnipeds Have Personality? Coding Harbor Seal (Phoca Vitulina) And California Sea Lion (Zalophus Californianus) Behavior Across Contexts, Amber J. De Vere

Master's Theses

Personality has now been studied in species as diverse as chimpanzees (King & Figueredo, 1997) and cuttlefish (Carere et al., 2015), but marine mammals remain vastly underrepresented in this area. A broad range of traits have been assessed only in the bottlenose dolphin (Highfilll & Kuczaj, 2007), while consistent individual differences in a few specific behaviors have been identified in grey seals (Robinson et al., 2015; Twiss & Franklin, 2010; Twiss, Culloch & Pomeroy, 2011; Twiss, Cairns, Culloch, Richards & Pomeroy, 2012). Furthermore, the context component of definitions of personality is not often assessed, despite evidence that animals may show …

Does Personality Similarity In Bottlenose Dolphin Pairs Influence Dyadic Bond Characteristics?, Kelsey R. Moreno

Master's Theses

Social structures are critical to the success of many species and have repercussions on health, well-being, and adaptation, yet little is known about the factors which shape these structures aside from ecology and life history strategies. Dyadic bonds are the basis of all social structures; however, mechanisms for formations of specific bonds or patterns in which individuals form which types of bonds have yet to be demonstrated. There is a variety of evidence indicating personality may be a factor in shaping bonds, but this relationship has not been explored with respect to bond components and is yet to be demonstrated …

Future Directions In Personality, Occupational And Medical Selection: Myths, Misunderstandings, Measurement, And Suggestions, Eamonn Ferguson, Filip Lievens

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper has two objectives: (1) presenting recent advances in personality theory whereby personality traits are conceptualized within a framework that focuses on the dynamic interactions of behaviour, biology, context, and states, and (2) discussing the implications of these developments for measurement and medical selection. We start by presenting evidence that traits are no longer regarded as stable deterministic predictors of behaviour. Instead, traits are found to change across generations, the life span, and in response to environmental contingencies. Thus, there is an urgent need to explore how traits change as function of medical education. Second, drawing on recent theory …

The Relationship Between Parenting Styles And Self-Esteem For Successive Generations, Molly A. Bee

Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between parenting styles and self-esteem across three generations: Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y. The researchers hypothesized that parenting styles from Baby Boomers to Generations X and Y have shifted from authoritarian to permissive, so a decrease in authoritarian parenting behaviors and an increase in permissive parenting styles were expected across the three generations. Further, we expected a decrease in self-esteem across the three generations, and speculate that this hypothesized change in parenting styles might relate to the decreases in the self-esteem of each generation. A total of 111 …

Students’ Attachment Styles To Their Professors: Patterns Of Achievement, Curiosity, Exploration, Self-Criticism, Self-Reassurance, And Autonomy, Lian H. Conrad

All College Thesis Program, 2016-2019

This study explored whether professors for young adult college students could serve as caring and trustworthy attachment figures who fostered certain mindsets, perceptions of the self, and academic behaviors. A convenience sample of 89 first-year college students in introductory psychology courses completed an online survey. First, the study sought to replicate the established relationships between students’ achievement goal orientations and curiosity, exploration, self-criticism, and self-reassurance. Then, the study analyzed students’ attachment styles to their First-Year Seminar (FYS) professors in relation to achievement goal orientations to see if attachment style could then predict similar patterns of academic behaviors. Contrary to expectations, …

Breaking The Prejudice Habit: Mechanisms, Timecourse, And Longevity, Patrick S. Forscher, Chelsea Mitamura, Emily L. Dix, William T.L. Cox, Patricia G. Devine

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

The prejudice habit-breaking intervention (Devine et al., 2012) and its offshoots (e.g., Carnes et al., 2012) have shown promise in effecting long-term change in key outcomes related to intergroup bias, including increases in awareness, concern about discrimination, and, in one study, long-term decreases in implicit bias. This intervention is based on the premise that unintentional bias is like a habit that can be broken with sufficient motivation, awareness, and effort. We conducted replication of the original habit-breaking intervention experiment in a sample more than three times the size of the original (N = 292). We also measured all outcomes every …