Psychology Commons^™

Team Member Hormone Profiles And Group Cohesion, David Webster

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Group cohesion in sport is associated with many positive outcomes for the team as a whole, as well as for the individuals. Hence, it is important to understand the antecedents of cohesion in various contexts, including sport. One antecedent that has yet to be examined in a sports context pertains to biological factors; specifically, the interaction of testosterone and cortisol levels. The dual-hormone hypothesis posits that testosterone levels are associated with status attainment for both individuals and groups, but only amongst those with low cortisol levels. Based on previous literature, a high testosterone-low cortisol hormonal profile should be associated with …

Older Adults’ Social Networks And The Role Of A Telephone Helpline Program, Harmanpreet (Preet) Chauhan

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Over the past century, advances in health care, higher levels of education, and improved living conditions have resulted in increased human life expectancy. However, with longer life expectancy comes potential challenges to quality of life, as individuals may face numerous transitions in older age: children leaving home, employment to retirement, or physical declines possibly leading to lack of mobility. As a result, older adults may experience social isolation and difficulty in building new relationships. This is problematic, as lack of social connection is a strong predictor of lower physical and mental health (Fiori & Jager, 2012; Fiori, Smith, & Antonucci, …

Is It Racism, Colorism, Or A Pigment Of Your Imagination? A Study On The Invisible Color Line, Yolanda Rodriguez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Participants were 324 self-identified ethnic/racial minority adults recruited from a southern university in the United States and an online community (MTurk workers) primarily ranging in age from 18-30 (78.4%). Participants completed a demographic questionnaire and a measure for each of the variables of interest. A moderated mediation analysis was conducted using PROCESS (Hayes 2013) model 8. It was hypothesized that acculturation modality (X) would predict skin lightening behaviors and attitudes (Y) through three mediators (M1: Discrepancy scores M2: Satisfaction with Skin Color and M3: Desire to Change Skin Color). Psychological well-being was predicted to be a moderator (W) of the …

The Effects Of Ses Stereotypes On Hurricane Decision Making, Alexandria D. Booth

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Despite the severe and often costly consequences associated with severe weather instances, there is a continuing problem with noncompliance to weather warnings. This issue is pervasive, and research has shown a number of factors that are related to weather response (Joslyn & LeClerc, 2013). Further, individuals of a low socioeconomic status (SES) are often disproportionately impacted by severe weather instances, such as hurricanes (Elliot & Pais, 2006). Past research has shown that individuals of a low education level do not understand some aspects (e.g., numerical uncertainty) of a weather warning, suggesting that weather warnings may not be accessible for all …

Juror Gender And Confession Evidence: An Exploratory Study Of Effects On Empathy And Trial Outcomes For Juvenile Defendants, Cynthia J. Najdowski, Jennifer N. Weintraub

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

Objectives: We explored how relations among juror gender, confession evidence, and empathy impacted verdicts for a juvenile defendant accused of a serious crime. Methods: Jury-eligible women and men (N = 128) participated in a mock trial involving a girl defendant who had either maintained her innocence, confessed voluntarily, or confessed under coercion. Participants reviewed case materials, received juror instructions, and reported their verdict and empathy for the girl defendant. A manipulation check ensured participants attended to details surrounding the confession and participants were grouped by whether they perceived the confession as voluntary or coerced. A logistic regression analysis examined main …

Victim Blaming And Natural Reactions To Trauma In Cases Of Sexual Assault And Natural Disaster, Ashley Nielsen

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

Past research has indicated that victim blaming in cases of sexual assault is a problem in today’s society (Bieneck & Krahe, 2011). The present study examined how natural reactions to trauma influence how much blame is assigned to the victim in situations of sexual assault and natural disaster. This study included 293 college students that attended a western Kansas university, with an average age of 19.71. Participants read a short scenario depicting either a victim of sexual assault or a victim of natural disaster, with the victim responding to the traumatic event by either freezing or fainting. They were then …

This Is America: Examining The Influence Of White Privilege And The Propensity To Make Attributions To Prejudice On The Acceptability Of Racial Microaggressions, Jordan A. Sparrow

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

The current study investigated the relationship between White privilege (WP) awareness and the acceptability of racial microaggressions among majority group members. Based on prior research, three potential mediators (i.e., the willingness to confront WP), the anticipated costs of addressing WP, and WP remorse) and one moderator (i.e., one’s propensity to make attributions to prejudice; PMAPS) were examined. A total of 202 participants were recruited from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Efforts were made to recruit participants from each of the five regions of the United States (Midwest = 24.1%, Northeast = 24.6%, Southeast = 17.8%, Southwest = 14.1%, West = 19.4%) to …

An Extension Of The Savoring Approach To Increasing Help-Seeking For Depression: Reducing Self-Focus Through A Writing Task And Savoring Psa, Tasha Straszewski

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Past depression mass media campaigns have been utilized to increase mental health literacy, decrease stigma, or a combination of the two. However, among these campaigns, some have not been effective, and some have resulted in iatrogenic effects (see Gulliver, Griffiths, & Christensen, 2010, for examples of both). In hopes of improving the effectiveness of depression campaigns, laboratory studies have utilized persuasion approaches to increase help-seeking among individuals with heightened depressive symptomatology. More recently, Siegel and Thomson (2016) turned to the utility of infusing individuals with positive emotion to increase help-seeking intentions (i.e., positive emotion infusions; PEIs) and found initial success …

Perceptions Of Online Cheating: Impact Of Age, Gender, And Sexual Preference, Rosanna Helen Kallay

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The current quantitative study examined perceptions of online infidelity using ANCOVA calculations to determine if significant differences existed between variables of gender, age, orientation. The study considered the applicability of sexual strategy theory (SST) in today's culture and whether it remains relevant in current to today's relationships. SST and previous research suggested a clear trend in differences in perceptions of infidelity based on gender and age, with more mixed results in differences based on sexuality. This study expanded previous research by surveying 148 younger and older demographics, as well as men and women who are in opposite-sex and same-sex relationships. …

Lived Experiences Of Hmong Refugees In America, Rocky Lo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Hmong refugees immigrated to the United States and have since experienced cultural differences that challenged their traditional way of living. The research problem for this study was Hmong refugees'€™ lived experiences in America because their experience was unknown and unexplored. Addressing this research problem was significant because it provided insight into their experiences and its impact on acculturation as well as distinct cultural experiences not acknowledged or noticeable with monolithic studies. The purpose of this study was to explore Hmong refugees'€™ lived experiences in America using Grove and Torbion's theory of sojourners as the theoretical …

Multivariate Relationships Of Binge Watching-Drinking-Eating With Depression, Anxiety, And Stress In College Students, Katina Letrice Clarke

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Binge eating and drinking have been studied with respect to stress, anxiety, and depression, but little is known about the emerging phenomenon of binge watching television programming. Guided by escape theory and the uses and gratification theory, this cross-sectional, correlational study addressed multivariate relations of binge drinking, binge eating, and binge watching with depression, anxiety, and stress among 102 college students ages 18 to 24. Multivariate canonical correlation results revealed that participants with low anxiety scores tended to have low scores on binge eating and drinking but high scores on binge watching. Participants with low stress scores and high anxiety …

Consumer Embarrassment – A Meta-Analytic Review And Experimental Examination, Alexander H. Ziegler

Theses and Dissertations--Marketing and Supply Chain

This dissertation consists of two essays that discuss the influence of embarrassment on consumers. In the first essay, I examine consumers’ coping responses to embarrassment in a meta-analytic review. In essay two, I utilize an experimental approach to investigate the impact of embarrassing encounters on unrelated consumers who merely observe the situation.

In the first essay, the meta-analysis is guided by findings in the literature that demonstrate embarrassment can both promote and detract from consumer well-being. However, despite being investigated for decades, little is known about how consumers cope with embarrassing situations, and when and why consumers respond in positive …

Suicide Attitudes And Terror Management Theory, Athena Kheibari

Theses and Dissertations--Social Work

Virtually every mental health problem carries stigma, but suicide appears to run so counter to our accumulative, achievement-oriented society, that it poses even greater threat of stigma. While suicide is inherently troubling in that it opposes the fundamental human instinct for self-preservation, the tendency to stigmatize and reject individuals affected by suicide appears to be counterproductive and excessive. Hence, the purpose of this three-manuscript dissertation is to gain a more nuanced understanding of suicide attitudes from an exploratory and terror management theory perspective. More specifically, this dissertation attempts to answer three general questions: (1) how do suicide attitudes differ from …

What Makes You Happy? Predicting Wellbeing In Nicaraguan Adolescents And Young Adults, Daniel A. Rodriguez

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

The present study sought to identify significant predictors of wellbeing within a sample of 2,764 high school and university students in Nicaragua, a country where significant stressful events and suicide are common. Ages ranged from 11-22 years (M = 16.63, SD = 2.85), and 60.3% identified as female. Measures used include the Personal Wellbeing Index, the Child and Youth Resilience Measure, the Patient Health Questionnaire-4, and demographic questions. Parent occupations were coded using the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-08). A multiple regression was conducted to identify five core variables that combined to predict approximately 30% of the variance of …

The Dogmatism Of Dissent: How Open-Minded Cognition Influences Protest Attitudes, Chad Osteen

Master's Theses

While protestors are often thought of and portrayed as dogmatic actors on the political stage, research has yet to empirically investigate the cognitive processes of protestors. While previous research has investigated how open-minded cognition relates to political party and ideology, its relationship to political activism has remained under studied. This study used a between subject's design to determine how priming system rejection may affect open-minded cognition and protest attitudes. The sample of 450 participants recruited through Amazon's Mechanical Turk is based off a power analysis with small to medium effect sizes (r2=0.25) and a power of .95. Using SurveyGizmo software, …

Perceived Appropriateness Of Sexual Misconduct In Hookup Culture: Roles Of Power And Motives, Milan Alexandra Tvardek

Master's Theses

This study used hypothetical depictions of hookup scenarios to assess the perceptions of 388 participants for whether specific interactions between third-party characters involved sexual misconduct and the perceived appropriateness and wrongfulness of those behaviors. The current research examined the role of three independent between-subject variables in perceptions of sexual misconduct perpetration: a) Sex Motive (Low, High); b) Chronic Power (Low, High); and c) Acute Power (Low, High, Control). Results showed that individuals high in sex driven motivation, compared to those who less often hookup for sex driven reasons, perceived some perpetrators to be more wrongful but also expected these perpetrators …

[Introduction To] Group Dynamics: Seventh Edition, Donelson R. Forsyth

Bookshelf

Learn how group dynamics theory applies in the real world with the help of this best seller. Group Dynamics, 7th Edition, covers all major theories and topics pertaining to group and team processes. Focus on what's most important with clearly organized chapters and highlighted key points, and see how to apply concepts to actual groups through extended case studies -- one in every chapter. The author draws on examples from a range of disciplines including psychology, management, law, education, sociology, and political science to help you develop a deeper understanding of each topic that you'll take with you …

Examining The Intersection Of Gender And Age In Victim Blaming, Jerin Lee

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Victim blaming refers to an attributional tendency in which some level of responsibility for a negative outcome is placed on victims (Maes, 1994). Many victims of crimes face stigmatization in the form of blame from friends, acquaintances, the criminal justice system, media, strangers, and even perpetrators of the crimes themselves (e.g., Cross, Parker, & Sansom, 2019; Gordon & Riger, 1991). Victim characteristics, type of crime, and observer characteristics all influence victim blaming tendencies. However, no studies to date have tested whether these factors in combination elicit differential reactions to victims of crimes. The present research tested how the intersection of …

The Development Of Social–Emotional Skills In Pre-Primary Children: A Comparison Of Parent, Teacher And Combined Coaching Programs, Nichola Lucia Webb

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The development of social–emotional skills is pivotal in generating positive outcomes for mental health and wellbeing throughout the childhood period and into later life (Hertzman, 2004; Moore, 2006; Sosna & Mastergeorge, 2005). While research has explored the effects of parent and teacher influences on young children’s social–emotional skills, most studies have either focussed on high-risk child populations, compared single influences with each other (e.g., parent versus teacher) or compared one combined group of influences with a control group. Few studies have directly compared the separate effects of parent, teacher and peer components to assess which are more successful in the …

Does Sharing Information With Friends And Family Cause Men To Adhere More Strongly To Masculine Norms?, Clint E. Johnson

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

It is clear that social influence can elicit conformity to norms (e.g., Asch, 1956). It remains unclear, however, how various relationships elicit differential conformity to masculine norms in particular. In this pre-registered experiment, I tested the hypothesis that when men are asked to reveal their responses on the Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory (CMNI; Mahalik et al., 2003), men conform more when sharing that identifiable information with others who know them (i.e., “public” conformity), namely friends and family, as compared to sharing that information anonymously with a random stranger (i.e., the anonymous “private” condition). My convenience sample consisted of participants …

Ego Depletion: Buffering Through Touch, Victoria E. Forgea

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Ego depletion theory states that self-control is tied to a limited resource and diminishes after repeated exertions; consequently, the current study sought to examine how to replenish self-control through touch. Due to the positive outcomes of touch, we expected touch to allow participants to persist longer on a geometric tracing puzzle task after becoming ego depleted. The current study implemented measures widely used in the ego depletion literature, and the experimenter implemented two brief touches to examine the effects of touch in the domain of self-control. We found that participants who received touch persisted significantly longer on the geometric tracing …

Ambivalent Prejudice In News Media: Does Social Hierarchy Threat Change How We View Reporters?, Rebecca E. Burchette

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Despite research demonstrating the importance of news media, there remains a gap in the literature on how the reporter influences the perception of the information. This current experiment aims to fill that gap by evaluating how reporter race and social hierarchy threat alters perceptions of both the reporter and the information. White participants read an article with content that indicated that the current racial hierarchy is either under threat or likely to continue; the article was written by either a Black or White reporter. Participants then completed measures of perceptions of warmth and competence of the reporter, acceptance levels towards …

Does Enhancing Mind Perception Affect Conspiracy Belief?, Jorge R. Noguera - Sepulveda

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of a novel mind perception manipulation. Mind perception is currently theorized to be an essential aspect of a number of human social psychological processes. Thus, a successful manipulation would allow for the causal study of those processes. This manipulation was created in an attempt to explore the downstream impact of mind perception on the endorsement of conspiracy theories. Conspiracy theories are steadily becoming more and more prominent in social discourse. Endorsement of conspiracy theories are beginning to show real world ramifications such as a danger to human health (e.g., in the anti-vaccination …

The Impact Of Language Complexity In Weather Warnings: Does It Matter?, Ryan E. Arflin

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This study examines how jargon and language complexity impact perceptions of tornado warnings. Protection motivation theory (PMT) asserts that as the readability and use of jargon in a warning and call to action increases, an individual’s ability to estimate threat and respond accordingly decreases. However, research had not examined how the use of complex language in a meteorological setting impact coping factors (self-efficacy, response efficacy, and response cost) and threat factors (vulnerability, fear, and severity). This study tested whether jargon in weather warnings and increased language complexity in calls to action affected PMT variables. Eighty-one participants viewed tornado warnings and …

A Book And Its Cover: The Effects Of Dynamic And Static Facial Expressions On The Perction Of Personality Traits, Jonathan Ojeda

All Master's Theses

This study used three dynamic and three static images of older adult men depicting either smiling, scowling, or neutral facial expressions to examine the influence of motion on emotion identification and stereotype activation, specifically the Halo Effect, in older adults (55-85 years). To that end, two hypotheses emerged: 1) older adults will be more accurate in identifying facial expressions when viewing dynamic facial expressions than static facial expressions, and 2) participants exposed to the dynamic stimuli would experience greater levels of the Halo Effect with the greatest levels in the smiling facial expression condition. A 2 (stimulus type: dynamic and …

Exploring Locus Of Control In Offender Cognition And Recidivism Paradigms, Anistasha Lightning, Danielle Polage

All Master's Theses

Working with four Washington State county jails to administer surveys to currently incarcerated inmates, we investigated locus of control and beliefs in the likelihood of continued legal involvement as possible antecedents to criminal recidivism. The surveys examined whether there was any connection between legal involvement frequency and the externalization of locus of control. We investigated external locus of control with specific respect to involvement with the law, the prospect of future incarceration, and feelings concerning the overall cause of original and/or sustained legal involvement utilizing the Revised Causal Dimension Scale (McAuley, Duncan, & Russell, 1992). We identified statistically significant interactions …

Our Ambivalent Stereotypes Of Sheep, Veronica Sevillano

Animal Sentience

Marino & Merskin’s target article contrasts our ambivalent social ideas about sheep with the empirical evidence of their complex capacities, particularly cognitive ones. To extend our understanding of human-sheep relations, I discuss human social perception of animals and structural variables that predict our stereotypes.

Why Factual Appeals About The Abilities Of Sheep May Fail, Sarah Gradidge, Magdalena Zawisza

Animal Sentience

Marino & Merskin (2019) express hope that providing people with positive information about the abilities of sheep (factual appeals) will improve perceptions of them and thus improve their welfare. However, these factual appeals can, and do, fail to change perceptions of animals. This commentary considers why and when factual appeals fail, and with whom they may be effective.

Just Preservation: From Vision To Reality, Rupu Gupta

Animal Sentience

Treves et al. propose a tangible shift in current discourse and practice related to the human relationship with other forms of nature. They aim to instill an ethical stance in human perspectives on nature, advocating the idea of trustees as advocates for non-human nature in consensus-building scenarios. This commentary raises questions about the practicality of a wide-scale culture shift in values towards non-human nature, and the power dynamics that are inevitable in multi-stakeholder settings.

The Effect Of Religion On Trait Priority In Potential Partners In Short And Long Term Relationships, Sara K. Glass

Honors Theses

This study builds upon previous research that demonstrates how various demographic characteristics, as well as relationship type, affects trait preferences for potential mate partners. This study also explores the potential effects of religious affiliation and religiosity on trait preferences, as no previous research explicitly tests how individuals’ religious affiliation or strength of religiosity influences their rank ordering of potential partner traits. Seven hypotheses were proposed, as well as four points of exploration regarding sexuality, relationship status, religious affiliation, and race were proposed. Hypotheses 1, which predicted that women will rank financial stability higher than men and that men will rank …