Psychology Commons^™

Social Relations, Health Behaviors, And Health Outcomes: A Survey And Synthesis, Louis Tay, Kenneth Tan, Ed Diener, Elizabeth Gonzalez

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The primary goal of this paper is to summarise current evidence on social relations and health, specifically how social integration and social support are related to health behaviors and health outcomes, using results from published reviews. Our analysis revealed that social relations are beneficial for health behaviors such as chronic illness self-management and decreased suicidal tendency. The salutary effects of general measures of social relations (e.g. being validated, being cared for, etc.) on health behaviors (e.g. healthy diet, physical activity, smoking, alcohol abuse) are weaker, but specific measures of social relations targeting corresponding health behaviors are more predictive. There is …

Why States Should Ban Adolescent Driving (Cont'd), Vivian E. Hamilton

Popular Media

No abstract provided.

Why States Should Ban Adolescent Driving, Vivian E. Hamilton

Popular Media

No abstract provided.

Rising Income And The Subjective Well-Being Of Nations, Ed Diener, Louis Tay, Shigehiro Oishi

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

We explored whether rising income in nations is associated with increasing subjective well-being (SWB), with several advances over earlier work. Our methods are improved in that across time, the same well-being questions were asked in the same order, and we employed broad and equivalent representative samples over time from a large number of nations. We also assessed psychosocial factors that might mediate the relation of income and SWB. We found that changes in household income were associated with concomitant changes in life evaluations, positive feelings, and negative feelings. The effects of gross domestic product (GDP) change were weaker and significant …

Horizontal Workplace Aggression And Coworker Social Support Related To Work-Family Conflict And Turnover Intentions, Sarah Elizabeth Van Dyck

Dissertations and Theses

Horizontal workplace aggression is a workplace stressor that can have serious negative outcomes for employees and organizations. In the current study, hierarchical regression analyses were used to investigate the hypotheses that horizontal workplace aggression has a relationship with turnover intentions, work-to-family conflict and family-to-work conflict. Coworker social support was investigated as a potential moderator in these relationships. Surveys measuring these constructs were administered to a group of 156 direct-care workers (specifically, certified nursing assistants, or CNAs) in a long-term assisted living facility corporation in the Northwestern United States. Results indicated that horizontal workplace aggression had a significant and positive relationship …

Mimicry And Just World Beliefs: Mimicking Makes Men View The World As More Personally Just, Marielle Stel, Kees Van Der Bos, Su-Hsien Samantha Sim, Sonja Rispens

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

People's just world beliefs are related to how they feel and behave towards others: the stronger people hold beliefs that the world treats them fairly, the more they feel and act pro-socially towards others. It is conceivable, therefore, that pro-social feelings and behaviours towards others can strengthen people's personal belief in a just world, especially when people expect these positive feelings to be returned. Because mimicry enhances pro-social feelings towards others, we argue that mimicry may strengthen peoples’ personal just world beliefs via positive feelings for the mimicked person and the expectation that these positive feelings are returned. Moreover, we …

The Beast Had To Marry Balinda: Using Story Examples To Explore Socializing Concepts In Ugandan Caregivers’ Oral Stories, Valeda Dent, Geoff Goodman

Brooklyn Library Faculty Publications

Within the context of storytelling as oral tradition, this paper uses a grounded theory approach to explore a single research question about the socializing concepts found in examples of stories told to young children by their mothers and grandmothers in a rural Ugandan village. These story examples were gathered during the implementation of a socio-educational intervention project. The aims of this paper are to provide a descriptive analysis of the emergent themes and constructs in these story examples against the backdrop of a relevant theoretical framework and life in this rural Ugandan village.

Traumatic Brain Injury: The Relationship Of Psychosocial Variables And Location Of Injury To Post-Injury Depression, Alicia L. Smith

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) affects nearly 1.4 million people in the United States annually, and of these, 10% to 77% will experience post-injury depression. Psychosocial variables such as previous substance and alcohol abuse, prior mental illness, low educational attainment, and poverty have been identified as possible risk factors. Additionally, the location of injury appears to play a key role particularly if the injury occurs in the left hemisphere. This study examined archival data from brain-injured patients in an effort to better understand the factors related to post-TBI depression. Past medical records of brain-injured adults (N = 52) were reviewed …

The Importance Of Female Choice: Evolutionary Perspectives On Constraints, Expressions, And Variations, David Frederick, Tania A. Reynolds, Maryanne L. Fisher

Psychology Faculty Books and Book Chapters

This chapter introduces the reader to some of the influential perspectives on female mate choice in human evolutionary biology, including parental investment theory. We then present two key theories in evolutionary psychology that have been applied to understand variations in women’s mating preferences and choices: sexual strategies theory and strategic pluralism theory. Although the importance of female choice has gained widespread acceptance in the biological sciences, the influence that female choice has on mating systems can be limited by many factors, such as control over mating decisions by parents and men’s control over women’s sexuality. Despite these constraints on female …

Parental Behavior Control As A Moderator Between Close Friend Support And Conduct Problems, Gabriel C. Watson, Sarah K. Sifers, Daniel Houlihan

Psychology Department Publications

Objective: Potential moderating effects between parental control and close friend support on youth conduct problems have not been investigated. Goals of this study were to investigate for a possible curvilinear relationship between parental behavioral control and child conduct issues, as well as the potential that parental control will moderate the relationship between friend support and those behaviors.

Design: Surveyed 101 youth and their parents in a small Midwestern United States metropolitan area.

Results: Through hierarchical regression, the current study shows a curvilinear main effect for parent control on conduct problems. Additionally, close friend support is a protective agent only for …

Word Of Mouth And The Forecasting Of Consumption Enjoyment, Stephen He, Samuel Bond

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

The digital era has permitted rapid transfer of peer knowledge regarding products and services. In the present research, we explore the value of specific types of word-of-mouth information (numeric ratings and text commentary) for improving forecasts of consumption enjoyment. We present an anchoring-and-adjustment model in which the relative forecasting error associated with ratings and commentary depends on the extent to which consumer and reviewer have similar product-level preferences. To test our model, we present four experiments using a range of hedonic stimuli. Implications for the provision of consumer WOM are discussed.

Improving Self-Esteem Through Art For Incarcerated Youth, April Murphy, Jeff Beaty, James Minnick

Social Work Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Societal Norm Manipulation And Presentation Order On Perceived Relationship Satisfaction, Tina Rene Negley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While many studies have examined the effects of persuasion on attitudes, few studies have focused on using norms to change perceived satisfaction. This study addressed the need for literature assessing the effects of societal norms on perceived relationship satisfaction. Participants in this study were randomly provided with one of two surveys: one with a set of normative statements regarding an "average couple" that were over-exaggerated, the other with understated norms. Analyses looked to identify whether individuals presented with the high norms were more likely to rate their relationship satisfaction lower, after controlling for demographic and personality characteristics. Hierarchical regression revealed …

Analyzing The Determinants Of Group Identity Among Alevis In Turkey: A National Survey Study, Cigdem Sirin

Selected Works Temporary Series

This study systematically explores the factors that affect collective identity associations within the Alevi community in Turkey by employing the social identity approach and examining survey data collected through fieldwork. The results show that Kurdish Alevis express lower levels of attachment to their religious identity as compared to Turkish Alevis. The results also indicate that personal experiences of discrimination tend to increase one's prioritization of Alevi identity. Last, no significant differences are observed regarding group identity between Alevis who reside in urban areas and those who live in rural areas.

Finding Still Waters And Green Pastures: Understanding And Reducing Stress In Urban Church Planting, David R. Dunaetz

Selected Faculty Publications

The work of urban church planters is often hindered by high levels of stress. Stress may be viewed as a process that involves stressors and an individual’s perceptions of both the level of threat and his or her ability to deal with the threat. The long term and the short term consequences of stress can be attenuated through appropriate coping strategies such as problem solving, prayer, and seeking social support. Recent empirical evidence indicates that exposure to nature is also very effective, a strategy that might be especially beneficial to urban church planters and their ministries. Several practical applications are …

Everyday Confrontation Of Discrimination: The Well-Being Costs And Benefits To Women Over Time., Mindi D. Foster

Psychology Faculty Publications

Taking action against discrimination has positive consequences for well-being (e.g., Cocking & Drury, 2004) but most of this research has focused on collective actions and has used methodologies assessing one point in time. This study therefore used a diary methodology to examine how women’s everyday confrontations of discrimination would affect measures of subjective and psychological well-being, and how these relationships would change over time. In a 28-day online diary study, women indicated their daily experience of discrimination, described their response, and completed measures of well-being. Results showed that at the beginning of the study, using indirect confrontation predicted greater well-being …

Child And Family Predictors Of Bullying In Middle School Students, Rene Michele Nota

Wayne State University Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the shared variables that contribute to direct and indirect aggression, specifically bullying and to explore the role of family context, and adolescent personality characteristics on predicting bullying behavior. The theoretical framework of this study was based on evidence that no specific element can describe why some individuals are at risk for behaving aggressively and other are more resilient. The study included 259 middle schools students in grades six through eight. The students were enrolled at a single middle school located in a suburban area. The largest group of students was African American, …

Cognitive Systems For Revenge And Forgiveness, Michael E. Mccullough, Robert Kurzban, Benjamin A. Tabak

ESI Publications

Minimizing the costs that others impose upon oneself and upon those in whom one has a fitness stake, such as kin and allies, is a key adaptive problem for many organisms. Our ancestors regularly faced such adaptive problems (including homicide, bodily harm, theft, mate poaching, cuckoldry, reputational damage, sexual aggression, and the infliction of these costs on one's offspring, mates, coalition partners, or friends). One solution to this problem is to impose retaliatory costs on an aggressor so that the aggressor and other observers will lower their estimates of the net benefits to be gained from exploiting the retaliator in …

Diversity And Motivations Among Volunteers In Nonprofit Youth Development Programs, Emily Thielmann

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

Portland, Maine, has a variety of programs that connect volunteers with youth based on particular risk factors. While there are many criteria that affect the outcomes programs yield for youth, the quality and reach of many of these small nonprofit programs is dependent on their volunteer capacity. The goals of this descriptive research project were to identify: nonprofit youth development program volunteer characteristics compared with local populations and volunteers nationally; motivations or benefits such volunteers associate with volunteering; and factors associated with volunteers’ overall satisfaction and longevity.

The Enemy Within: Sexual Assault And Rape In The Us Armed Forces, Dahlia D'Arge

Lewis Honors College Capstone Collection

This paper follows my personal journey in learning about this problem, its legal repercussions for individual soldiers, its history within the United States, the actions which are being taken to remedy it, and its cost to the US military as a whole. By taking a more personal approach and by using my personal experience as an intern as a US Army Judge Advocate Corps office, this paper intends to educate the wider college populace about this issue and its current handling by the US Army from the perspective of an insider.

The Concept Of Time In Rehabilitation And Psychosocial Adaptation To Chronic Illness And Disability: Parts I And Ii, Hanoch Livneh

Counselor Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

Human fascination with the concept of time can be traced to antiquity. Time has been viewed as fundamental to all human experience, and efforts to understand its nature, structure, and relationship to the human experience have generated a burgeoning body of literature, over the past two millennia, among philosophers, astronomers, physicists, and more recently psychologists. Yet, the field of rehabilitation counseling has been rather silent on the role of time and especially its place in understanding psychosocial adaptation to chronic illnesses and disabilities. In the first part of this article, the author seeks to (a) provide a brief review of …

Knowledge Of Juvenile Sex Offender Registration Laws As A Predictor Of Adolescent Sexual Behavior, Cynthia J. Najdowski, Margaret C. Stevenson, Tisha Ra Wiley

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

Because juveniles can now be registered as sex offenders, we conducted a pilot study to investigate awareness of these policies and sexual behavior histories in a convenience sample of 53 young adults (ages 18 to 23, 79% women). These preliminary data revealed that 42% percent of participants were unaware that youth under the age of 18 can be registered as sex offenders, and when informed that they can be, participants were unaware of the breadth of adolescent sexual behavior that warrants registration. Furthermore, those unaware of juvenile registration policies, compared to those who were aware, were marginally more likely to …

Race, Gender, And Leadership Promotion: The Moderating Effect Of Social Dominance Orientation, Chelsea Chatham

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The current study aims to examine the effects that applicant race and gender have on ratings of promotability for a leadership role. The current study will also investigate the role that Social Dominance Orientation, an individual difference variable that reflects attitudes towards intergroup relations being equal or not, plays in attitudes towards a candidate's promotability. 213 participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions in a 2 (candidates race: Caucasian vs. African-American) × 2 (candidates gender: male vs. female) factorial design and asked to assess the promotability of the candidate based on a brief work history and interview responses. …

The Big-5 And The Perceived Effectiveness Of Love Acts, T. Joel Wade

Faculty Journal Articles

!e present research was implemented in order to determine whether or not the Big-5 personality dimensions relate to the perceived effectiveness of love acts discovered in prior research. An internet based questionnaire was utilized and college undergraduates and as well as non-college students were included in the sample. !e Big-5 dimensions of Agreeableness, Openness to Experience, and Emotional Stability were expected to be related to the perceived effectiveness of the Love acts. Additionally, men and women were expected to rate Love acts signaling commitment and exclusivity as most effective. !e results obtained were consistent with the hypotheses and are discussed …

Examination Of Presenter Characteristics On Satisfaction And Learning In A Treatment Readiness Program, Haley M. Siler

Master's Theses

Determining factors that encourage thinking and attending to information is an important aspect of working to help people learn more effectively. Characteristics of presenters have been found to be cues for information processing, related to the results of those being presented to. It was found that both client's liking and perceived expertise of the presenter were related to both program satisfaction and learning of educational materials. Determining factors that encourage thinking and attending to information is an important aspect of working to help people learn more effectively. Characteristics of presenters have been found to be cues for information processing, related …

Testing The Boundary Conditions Of Justice Climate Effects: The Moderating Role Of Moral Identity And Corporate Social Responsibility, Meghan Ann Thornton

Open Access Theses

While the lion's share of organizational justice research focuses on individual perceptions, researchers have recognized the value of group perceptions in understanding justice phenomena. Justice climate (i.e., shared perceptions of fairness among workgroup members) has often been studied using facet-specific and source-specific justice climates (e.g. procedural justice climate, supervisor justice climate) demonstrating the predictive power of group level perceptions of fairness. However, little research has explored the boundary conditions of justice climate effects. In this study, I propose that overall justice climate has a significant impact on group prosocial and deviant behaviors. I also propose that group perceptions of corporate …

Assessing Tourist Experience Satisfaction With A Heritage Destination, Yuan Yao

Open Access Theses

The research is concerned with understanding the relationships among heritage motivation, travel experience, and overall satisfaction. It attempts to uncover how tourist motivation, destination attribute performance, and tourist emotional involvement interact and, at the same time, contribute toward a satisfying heritage tourism experience. The empirical research was conducted at the city of Nanjing, China, as a case of a heritage destination. People who were visiting Nanjing were randomly and voluntarily selected to participate in the self-administrated survey. A total of 282 valid questionnaires were collected with a response rate of about 55%. Factor analysis and mediation analysis were conducted by …

Evaluating And Controlling For Reactivity Following Supervisor Training And Feedback, Nicole Minard

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study evaluated self-monitoring and feedback procedures with preschool teachers and reactivity that occurred in a preschool classroom due to a supervisors' presence. Preschool teachers' positive interactions following the implementation of a self-monitoring and feedback procedure only slightly increased without the presence of a supervisor. Reactivity was identified with the presence of the supervisor as accurate reporting increased most in the supervisor's presence. Following the identification of reactivity, positive interactions remained at high levels during the reactivity control and maintenance conditions.

Effects Of Construal Level On The Reliance On Affect Versus Substance, Ellen O'Malley

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The influence of construal level on judgment and decision-making is often seen in consumer research. However, the effect of construal level on preferences for evaluative inputs rather than final products is less explored. Two experiments were conducted to examine whether construal level affects the degree to which individuals rely on either affective or substantive information when making evaluative judgments; specifically, that abstract construals increase reliance on affective information, whereas concrete construals increase reliance on substantive information. Experiment 1 provided evidence for a relative preference for affective versus substantive information when engaged in abstract and concrete construals, respectively. Experiment 2 replicated …

The Case For Character : A Reply To Situationism, Brandon Lee

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The notion of character is a familiar and prominent part of ethical theorizing, and of our everyday discourse. Character is used to explain how people act, to predict what they will do, to judge whether they ought to be trusted, and utilized in a multitude of other ways. A camp of philosophers dubbed the "Situationists", however, argue that research in social psychology shows the notion of character as we traditionally understand it is empirically unsupported, and consequently that all our discourse and ethical thought involving character is gravely mistaken. Instead, these philosophers contend that what influences and informs our perception …