Psychology Commons^™

Enhanced Views, Phoebe C. Ellsworth

Reviews

Cognitive dissonance has become one of those scientific terms that everyone knows and uses so freely and loosely that its original meaning has been obscured. We speak of cognitive dissonance when we find our glasses in the kitchen instead of the bedroom, when oestrogen replacement turns out to be unhealthy rather than healthy, whenever we are less than pleasantly surprised. In Leon Festinger's original theory, cognitive dissonance arises when a person is forced to entertain two mutually inconsistent ideas, which creates an unpleasant tension that motivates the person to engage in various mental gymnastics to minimize the dissonance, usually by …

Investigation Of Social Connectedness In A College Population And Its Relationship To Perceived Stress And Health Symptoms, Sanya Sholetta Whittaker

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The present study investigated factors related to social connectedness and social support in a college population. Participants in the study were 486 volunteer students at the University of North Florida. All data were collected through a world wide web surveying program that allowed each participant to complete surveys on computers from any location. The surveys administered were the Social Connectedness Scale, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), the Perceived Stress Scale 10, the Patient Health Questionnaire 15 (PHQ15), and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale- Revised (CESD-R) along with a demographics questionnaire. Results show that participants in …

An Examination Of Variables Influencing Undergraduate Hospitality Management Majors' Moral Reasoning, Tamantha L. Brooks

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Identifying factors that facilitate moral reasoning among hospitality management majors are important since it provides insight into their capacity for ethical decision making. This study examines if the variables of age, education level, gender, ethics coursework, or supervisory experience influence hospitality majors' moral reasoning. Participants (n=449) included students taking required hospitality management courses from five Midwestern universities in the United States. The Defining Issues Test II (DIT2) instrument and a demographic supplement were used to collect data. Results showed that there was no correlation between age and moral reasoning; the level of education did not influence moral reasoning; moral reasoning …

Police In Peril: Determining The Work-Induced Stressors Affecting Officers And The Subsequent Use Of Individualized Coping Strategies, Ami Möller

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Identifying what stressors affect an officer and how he or she copes is essential in maintaining psychologically healthy officers. Studies have found that police officers consider the organizationally based aspects of the job to greatly influence their level of stress. The present research used the Police Stress Survey and COPE Inventory to identify common stressors and coping strategies among forty-five officers in the state of Indiana. The study attempted to determine whether or not a chronic overall stress -produced by frequent organizational stressors existed, and if this stress led to an increased use of maladaptive coping strategies. Results indicated a …

Law's War With Conscience: The Psychological Limits Of Enforcement, Eric Fleisig-Greene

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

An Observational Analysis Of Psychosocial Behaviors And Caregiver Responses In The Durban Children’S Home, Sarah Young

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In South Africa, many children find themselves in at risk situations arising from issues like HIV, abuse, and poverty, which highly impact their mental well being by forcing them into unlivable situations. The Durban Children’s Home, located in Glenwood, Durban, works to tackle this problem, providing facilities, meals, and care for 75 homeless, abused, terminally ill, and/or poverty stricken children. Yet in coming from situations where children no longer have support of their primary caregiver or environment, these children require quality psychosocial attention in the Home. However when basic needs of so many children must be met in an institutional …

The Soft Embodiment Of Culture: Camera Angles And Motion Through Time And Space, Angela K. Y. Leung, Dov Cohen

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Cultural assumptions about one's relation to others and one's place in the world can be literally embodied in the way one cognitively maps out one's position and motion in time and space. In three experiments, we examined the psychological perspective that Asian American and Euro-American participants embodied as they both comprehended and produced narratives and mapped out metaphors of time and space. In social situations, Euro-American participants were more likely to embody their own perspective and a sense of their own motion (rather than those of a friend), whereas Asian American participants were more likely to embody a friend's perspective …

Are There Personality Factors That Can Undermine Moral Judgment Development?, Nathan A. Kerr

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Research in moral psychology has focused on understanding what factors assist in the development of moral action and decision making. Examples of these research factors include educational experiences (Rest et al, 1986), intelligence (Rest, 1979), and social networking (Derryberry & Thoma, 2000). Personality factors facilitating moral judgment have also receive attention in recent years with Damon and Hart (1988) exploring self-understanding as a possible factor in moral judgment and Baumeister and Exline (1999) proposing that exercising self-control is often characteristic of those who often employ prosocial behavior. Pizarro (2000) suggested that those who fail to utilize empathy may think about …

Social Influence Effects On Romantic Relationships Of College Students, Christine Mary Banach

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Social influence is defined as "the influences that people have upon the beliefs and behavior of others" (Aronson, 2004, p. 5). A theoretical model that highlights the importance of social influence pressures and in particular, variability in response to these pressures is known as social identity theory. Social identity is defined as "that part of an individual's self-concept which derives from knowledge of membership of a social group (or groups) together with the value and emotional significance attached to that membership" (Harris & Cameron, 2005, p. 159). The current study explored the potential importance of social groups, especially peers, on …

Evaluating The Immediate Impact And Short-Term Therapeutic Effects Of The “Internalized-Other” Interviewing With Couples, Shai M. Brosh

Dissertations

The present study examined empirically the immediate and short-term therapeutic effects of the internalized-other interview (Tomm, 1996) with couples during a single session and compared it with the standard method of interviewing couples (i.e., treatment as usual). Thirty-two married couples (N = 64 participants) were randomly assigned into one of two conditions (internalized-other versus standard interviewing). Couples attended an initial interview session and two follow-ups (one and four-weeks respectively). Self-reported measures of session impact were taken immediately after the session, while self-reported measures of marital satisfaction, intimacy, closeness and empathy were taken at baseline (before the session) and during …

The Importance Of Gender And Readiness To Change In The Prediction Of Drinking And Negative Consequences Of First-Year Student Drinkers, Margot E. Ackermann

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

College drinking is widespread, and binge drinkers can experience serious consequences. The present study examined the effectiveness of two interventions, expressive writing and behavioral monitoring, as well a combined condition, in reducing drinking and negative consequences associated with drinking. Gender differences and differences in readiness to change binge drinking were also assessed. Participants (N = 97) completed a pretest, eight weekly intervention activities, and a posttest during their first semester of college. An ANOVA tested the hypothesis that individuals higher in readiness to change binge drinking participated in more of the weekly intervention activities; this hypothesis was not supported. A …

The Depiction Of Alcohol Tobacco And Other Substances In Children's G & Pg-Rated Animated Films Post 2000, Lindsay F. Graham

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

This study will analyze the depiction of alcohol, tobacco, and other substances in G and PG-rated animated films from November 1, 2000 to December 31, 2005. These films will include those released in theaters and video in English, at least 60 minutes in length, and of the animated genre during this five-year window. There is evidence that due to recent societal pressures facing the Motion Picture Association of America and their rating guidelines, the presence of alcohol and tobacco in children's animated Grated films has lessened. These incidents of exposure have since moved up the rating totem pole to receive …

College Students Online: An Exploration Of The Benefits And Risks Of Social Networking Sites, Catherine Blair Parker Butler

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the benefits and risks of social networking sites. College students' general use of social networking sites was described and the relationship between social networking sites and friendship development, disclosure, social intimacy, and cyberstalking was explored. Also, whether or not university personnel discussed the sites with students was determined. Of the 612 participants, 498 students were social networking site members. Frequency data showed that students' most often logged onto the sites from a personal home computer and typically logged onto the sites multiple times a day. Frequency data also revealed that the number …

Struggling With Race: A Grounded Theory Study Of The Developing Of Awareness Of Racism, Shawn Victoria Macdonald

Dissertations

White counselors and psychologists need to have a strong understanding of racism and white privilege for effective therapeutic work with people of color. However, many white counselors struggle in various ways with multicultural training. The phenomenon of white counselors in training struggling with awareness of racism and white privilege is well-recognized but not fully understood.

A constructivist grounded theory study was conducted to explore the phenomena of "struggle" among white counselors in training who were engaged in multicultural training. 33 interviews were conducted with 17 participants who were students in master's and doctoral level counseling, counseling psychology, and related programs. …

Children's Use Of Race In Drawing Inferences Based On Their Understanding Of Race Constancy, Casey A. Dawson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Children’s understanding of race constancy and their subsequent use of race as a means of drawing inductive inferences were investigated. Race constancy was determined by children’s tendency to say that people could change category membership by changing their outside appearance. A second phase of the study measured how many race-based inferences children made relative to other social categories such as age or sex. The results indicated that children who had a better understanding of race constancy were also more likely to use race as a means of drawing inductive inferences. These findings support a developmental progression of race constancy and …

The Effects Of Attachment Relationships On The Development Of Effects Of Empathy Or Depersonalization In Adolescence, John Lamanna

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Research on attachment theory supports the notion that our early attachment relationships are integral to empathic development, and that early negative attachment relationships can promote depersonalization rather than empathy. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of separations from one’s primary caregiver(s) on the development of empathy or depersonalization in adolescence. Adolescents who have been separated from their biological parent(s) due to abuse and/or neglect were expected to differ on self-reported levels of empathy, dissociation, hostility, and depression when compared to adolescents who have not had such involuntary separations in their life. After performing descriptive, correlational, …

Moral Emotion Regulation: The Case Of Abortion Attitudes, Steven Nydick

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

With regard to moral judgments. Lawrence Kohlberg claimed that reason and logic lead to answers about right and wrong. By contrast, Jonathan Haidt proposed an “emotivist” theory of morality in which feelings take center stage. I tested Haidt’s theory of moral judgment by showing 59 college undergraduate participants an abortion video while instructing them to increase, decrease, or make no attempt to change their level of emotion during the video. I found that the video succeeded at both increasing negative emotions (particularly disgust) and changing abortion attitudes to a more pro-life stance. Furthermore, the moral views of participants asked to …

The Influence Of Hunger On Attitudes: Does It Go Beyond Foods?, Euiyoung Kate Min

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

The purpose of this research was to investigate the influence of hunger on attitudes (self-reports and corresponding reaction times) toward foods and non-foods (people). Participants rated their attitudes toward pictures of foods and pictures of people (older and younger males and females) along several evaluative scales (global attitudes and attitudinal bases) while reaction times were recorded. This was done twice (once when hungry, once not), in sessions separated by one week. Consistent with previous research, hunger differentially impacted ratings of the information underlying attitudes. For example, for foods, ratings of negative affect information changed more as a function of hunger …

The Media’S Influence In Everyday Life On Women’S Perception Of Body Image, Sarah Christian

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Many women are not satisfied with their current body figures and frequently attempt to improve their figure. Body image discrepancies occur when a comparison between “actual” self to either “ought” or “ideal” selves don’t match up. If there is a difference between these two self-guides then a discrepancy exists. According to a national survey, half of women report negative evaluations of their appearance and worry about being or becoming overweight. One of the strongest socio-cultural pressures that women face with their body image is the media, such as magazines and television. Studies have shown that when exposed to thin body …

The Relationships Among Interracial Friendship, Personality, And Racial Attitudes, Paula A. Suchy

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Previous research indicates: that openness and agreeableness positively correlate with racial attitudes, and the importance of interracial friendship on reducing racial bias ( e.g.,Jackson & Poulsen, 2005). Hypotheses included: 1) individuals high on openness and/or agreeableness will report more positive racial attitudes, 2) positive racial attitudes will increase as the quantity and/or quality of interracial friendship increases, and 3) interracial friendship is a moderator between personality and racial attitudes. Participants (n = 217) completed an online survey containing the Big Five Inventory (2001 ), Brigham's ( 1993) Racial Attitudes Scale, a modified interracial contact questionnaire (Tropp and Pettigrew, 2005), Altemeyer's …

Perceived Desirability Of Given Names: Identifying A Relationship Between Given Names And Associated Personality Traits, Ellen D. Parks

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

This study was designed to determine whether participants would have better recall for names with phonetic properties that matched a paired personality trait. In other words, phonetically attractive names paired with positive traits and phonetically unattractive names paired with negative traits should have higher rates of recall than names whose phonetic properties did not match a paired personality trait, such as phonetically attractive names paired with negative traits or phonetically unattractive names paired with positive traits. Given names were deemed to be phonetically attractive or unattractive based on the number of sonorants (soft consonant sounds such as l, m, n, …

Tornar-Se Negro & Thinking Beautiful, Ayana Hosten

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In 1990, the census reported that Brazilian’s population was 55.3 percent branco, 39.3 percent parda, 4.9 percent negro, and 0.5 percent Indio. In response to complaints that these racial identities were not sufficient, the IBEG conducted a survey where they asked people “Qual é sua cor?” This survey resulted in a list of 134 different racial identities that reflect the complexities of race in Brazil due to a history of miscegenation. At the two extremes of this racial spectrum is branco and negro. These two extremes have cultural and historical significance that I examine through scholarly research. In the field, …

Beauty Ideals & Body Image: Suva, Fiji, Melissa Kong

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Fiji is a country rich with traditions and culture. For many decades, the two dominant ethnic groups in Fiji- Indo-Fijians and Indigenous Fijians- have maintained their distinct cultural values and practices. As a country that is currently experiencing westernization, technological advancement, and the influx of mass media, cultural traditions, lifestyles, and ideals are changing rapidly. One such change from the traditional past is the emergence of a new body ideal and different beauty standards. In this research project, connections will be made between the past and present in regards to body and beauty ideals in Fiji. The differences and commonalities …

Authoritarianism, Hostility Toward Women, Attitudes Toward Violence, Rape Myth Acceptance, And Sexual Aggression, Gina M. Bondi

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Almost one out of every five women has been, or will have been, the victim of sexual aggression and/or rape in their lives (National Institute of Justice, 2000). This staggering statistic exemplifies the importance of speculating which traits are related to, or are predictive of, sexually aggressive behavior. Based on previous research, the current study investigated relationships between authoritarianism, hostility toward women, attitudes toward violence, and rape myth acceptance, as related sexual aggression in undergraduate men It was projected that authoritarianism, hostility toward women, attitudes toward violence, and rape myth acceptance would significantly and positively predict all dimensions of sexual …

College Students' Concerns Regarding Prison Rape, Laura A. Rapp

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Abstract unavailable.

Causes & Perceptions: An Exploratory Study Of Suicide In Indo-Fijian & Fijian Youth, Marcie L. Grambeau

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In a culture that is extremely religious, traditional and conservative, one may not first assume that suicide is one of Fiji’s leading causes of death amongst its youth population. However, the number of suicides today is one of the highest in the world and is rising at alarming rates. This study was designed to understand the underlying pressures that directly affect Indo-Fijian and indigenous Fijian youths, both the majority race in Fiji. The study focuses mainly on interviews conducted in the urban area of Suva but includes references to the rural areas, where a large number of suicides occur. The …

Future Promise For Women In Science, Christine Armett-Kibel

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article examines possible reasons why women are still not making it to the top in the hard sciences in academia. It considers two major difficulties that women face. The first concerns the psychological nature of women, which is alleged to be unsuited to the competitive and aggressive mindset considered necessary for scientific achievement. The second concerns the childbearing and child-nurturing roles of women, which make it difficult for them to conform to the intense, time-consuming demands of an academic career in science. The article argues that many of the qualities associated with the female stereotype are actually human characteristics …

The Effects Of Social Network Centrality On Group Satisfaction, Peter M. Choi

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to identify how various social network centralities affect a person’s satisfaction level. Simple degree centrality has been utilized to specify an individual’s location in a network by measuring the number of direct links with other members in the organization (Brass & Burkhardt, 1992, 1993). This study examines how location in friendship, task, and avoidance networks affect an individual’s satisfaction with the group. To determine the relationship between social network centrality and work group satisfaction, a longitudinal field study was conducted on 440 active duty enlisted military members in a leadership development training course. While …

What Do People Desire In Others? A Sociofunctional Perspective On The Importance Of Different Valued Characteristics, Catherine A. Cottrell, Steven L. Neuberg, Norman P. Li

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Humans, as discriminately social creatures, make frequent judgments about others' suitability for interdependent social relations. Which characteristics of others guide these judgments and, thus, shape patterns of human affiliation? Extant research is only minimally useful for answering this question. On the basis of a sociofunctional analysis of human sociality, the authors hypothesized that people highly value trustworthiness and (to a lesser extent) cooperativeness in others with whom they may be interdependent, regardless of the specific tasks, goals, or functions of the group or relationship, but value other favorable characteristics (e.g., intelligence) differentially across such tasks, goals, or functions. Participants in …

The Moderating Effects Of Rituals On Commitment In Premarital Involvements, Kelly Campbell, James J. Ponzetti

Psychology Faculty Publications

This study examined how rituals were associated with commitment, and to what extent rituals moderated the investment model variables (i.e., satisfaction level, investment size, and alternatives) on commitment. Although rituals promote commitment in marital and family relationships, the salience of rituals to commitment in premarital involvements has not been investigated. University students (N=100) who agreed to participate were in a couple relationship but not married. Findings indicated that rituals were significant predictors of commitment; however, no unique variance was accounted for once investment model variables were taken into consideration. Rituals significantly moderated the relationship between alternatives and investments, and commitment. …