Psychology Commons^™

Book Reviews: Recent Books On Pornography: From Discussions Of Harm To Normalization, Robert Brannon

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Nine books addressing the specific harms linked to adults’ viewing of heterosexual pornography are examined. All were published since 2010, and range from some that are opposed to all pornography, to others that approve of pornography. The books differ considerably in scope, quality, and scientific rigor. Several include discussions of the feminist anti-pornography movement, in the U.S. and worldwide, from 1975 to the present. These accounts range from criticism of the anti-pornography movement to praise and appreciation. This collection of books provides a useful view of the remarkable diversity of thought about all issues connected with pornography’s effects on adult …

The Behavioral Effects Divorce Can Have On Children, Wanda M. Williams-Owens

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

According to a statistical study (Cherlin et al. 1991) 40% of children who live in the United States will experience parental divorce before they reach the age of 18. Consequently, many children are affected by the process of divorce and its finalization. When my daughter was just nine years old, she asked incredulously why my husband and I were the only married couple in our neighborhood? After twenty-two years of marriage, I realized long-term marriages in my community are not conventional. When parents’ divorce, children often face the loss of one parent's constant presence and economic stability; as a result, …

From Targets To Agents: Women's Perceptions Of Their Vulnerability And The Strategies They Use To Resist, Alexis Halkovic

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Women in the U.S. are sexually victimized at high rates and are socialized to believe they are unable to defend themselves. While there is ample evidence that women can successfully fight off assailants using physical force (Clay-Warner, 2002; Ullman, 2007), women’s self-defense training initiatives are not funded by the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) or any national anti-violence organizations (Carlson, 2014). The NRA, on the other hand, tailors programs to instruct women to use guns for self-defense leaving them as the only national organization promoting women’s right to defend themselves (Carlson, 2014). This project interrogates how women think about their …

The Effects Of Social Power Bases Within Varying Organizational Cultures, Ayanna Cummings

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study focuses on social power in the context of organizational culture and how this relationship impacts outcomes of follower compliance and trust. Power is the ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or a course of events (Handgraaf, et al., 2008). There are six different types of social power, including informational, referent, legitimate, coercive, rewarding, and expert (Fontaine & Beerman, 1977). Each type of social power may lead to varying psychological outcomes, such as compliance, satisfaction, and agreement. To date, the empirical literature has not fully addressed the issue of whether one type of power is more …

Walking As Ontological Shifter: Thoughts In The Key Of Life, Bibi (Silvina) Calderaro

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

With walking as ontological shifter I pursue an alternative to the dominant modernist episteme that offers either/or onto-epistemologies of opposition and their reifying engagements. I propose this type of walking is an intentional turning towards a set of radical positions that, as integrative aesthetic and therapeutic practice, brings multiplicity and synchronicity to experience and being in an expanded sociality. This practice facilitates the conditions of possibility for recurring points of contact between the interiority perceived as ‘body’ and the exteriority perceived as ‘world.’ While making evident the self’s at once incoherence with it-self, it opens to a space beyond the …

Sex Trafficking Survivor, Pro-Life Advocate, Darlene Pawlik

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

I was conceived by rape. I was mentally, physically and sexually abused as a child. I endured four years of juvenile sex trafficking. These experiences shaped my views on abortion and pro-life issues. Drawing from my personal experience and the experiences of others, as well as referring to empirical evidence, I set forth the position that children conceived through sexual violence are no less deserving of protection than those conceived in loving relationships. Preserving the health and dignity of sexual abuse survivors is important and supportive help is needed.

Sexual Conflict In Mating Strategies, Norman P. Li, Jin Chuan Yong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Why do men and women come into conflict over mating and sex? This chapter examines the adaptive reasons, which trace back to key differences in minimum obligatory parental investment (Trivers 1972). Reflecting these differences, men tend to be relatively eager for casual sex, whereas women are relatively more cautious, requiring their sexual partners to be of higher quality or committed for a longer duration. As each side strives for its own reproductive interests, the other side’s strategy is often interfered with, resulting in conflict.

Tackling The Health Gap: The Role Of Psychosocial Processes, Nancy E. Adler, Jacinth J. X. Tan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In The Health Gap, Michael Marmot describes how, starting even before birth, social conditions set individuals on trajectories that eventuate in inequities in health and longevity. In addition to race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status linked to income and education plays a major role in determining health trajectories. The effects emerge not only at the very bottom of the socioeconomic spectrum, but across the whole range.1 The fact that health effects persist at levels where resources are more than adequate to fulfill material needs suggests that the health gap is not due only to material privation associated with poverty, but also …

His, Hers, Or Theirs? Coparenting After The Birth Of A Second Child, Patty X. Kuo, Brenda L. Volling, Richard Gonzalez

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

This study examined changes in coparenting after the birth of a second child. Mothers and fathers from 241 two-parent families reported on their spouse’s coparenting cooperation and conflict with their firstborn child before (prenatal) and four months after the birth of a second child. Parents completed questionnaires (prenatal) on gender role attitudes, marital satisfaction, and firstborn children’s temperamental characteristics. Parents also reported on the secondborn infant’s temperament at 1 month following the birth of the second child. Coparenting conflict increased across the transition, whereas cooperation decreased. Couples in which fathers reported greater marital satisfaction were more cooperative 4 months after …

The Construction Of “Discomfort Psychological”: An Exploration Of Italians Teachers' Reports, Antonio Iudici, Matteo Fabbri

The Qualitative Report

Although there are several studies on youth problems in school, there are few studies on how teachers report psychological discomfort of the students and on what criteria does their procedure. Considering that schools increasingly make such reports to social or neuropsychiatry services, we wanted to find out whether it is flawless (bias, etc.) and how it can affect a student's career. This research presents an investigation on how the practice of signaling "psychological discomfort" at school is set up. Objects of the survey are the procedures used by the teachers to submit the psychological problems. The research subjects were Secondary …

Restorative Justice: A Look At Victim Offender Mediation Programs, Katie L. Moran

21st Century Social Justice

This report conceptualizes the effectiveness and benefits of utilizing the restorative justice model of Victim Offender Mediation (VOM) within the criminal and juvenile justice systems to serve the rights of victims, offenders, and society more justly. Victim Offender Mediation is discussed as a possible alternative justice model which reframes the victim-offender relationship to foster and respect the dignity and worth of each participant. This restorative justice model combats victims’ feelings of helplessness by giving them back their voice, while having the potential to specifically offer relief to those secondarily victimized by the legal system in cases of simple rape. Offenders …

An Examination Of The Relationship Between Ethnic Identity Development, Cognitive Complexity, Differentiation Of Self, And Reports Of Racial And Ethnic Microaggressions, Deshae C. Gatti

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although individuals may not engage in racism consciously due to social undesirability, they may have biases that manifest in more subtle and unconscious ways. Research has found that people of color experiencing different racial and ethnic microaggressions in their everyday lives are subject to pervasive and negative impacts on their mental health, though little is known about the influence of one’s ethnic identity formation, affective processes, and cognitive processes. A multiple regression analysis was conducted to examine the degree to which ethnic identity development, cognitive complexity, and differentiation of self were associated reported experiences of microaggressions. The analysis indicated that …

The Imagine Project: Inspiring Vulnerable Adults Through Art And Mindfulness, Janelle Defiesta

Master's Projects and Capstones

The IMAGINE Project tackles the issue of stress reduction for a population that faces high stress levels due to environmental instability with co-morbidities of prior physical, cognitive, and social issues. Despite the need of stress reduction approaches in a population under these circumstances, external factors make it difficult to reduce the problem. Consequently, the lack of stress reduction skills can lead to the exacerbation of existing problems and the onset of many others. However, until basic needs such as housing and sustenance are met, stress reduction cannot be attempted effectively. Thus, the target population for this project focused on people …

Why Is Workplace Bullying So Widespread And Rising?, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

Pressure, disorganisation and regulatory failure are red flags

Depressive Symptoms In Mexican-Origin Adolescents: Interrelations Between School And Family Contexts, Prerna G. Arora, Lorey Wheeler

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

This study, as guided by cultural-ecological frameworks, examined multiple contextual stressors, including subjective economic hardship, acculturation, discrimination, and negative perceptions of school safety, as simultaneously linked to adolescents’ depressive symptoms, as well as the role of gender, familism values, family cohesion, and school connectedness on these associations. Data come from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (Portes and Rumbaut 2012) that included second-generation 8th- and 9th-grade children of foreign-born parents from the Mexican-origin subsample (n = 755; 52% male; time 1 M age = 14.20 years). Adolescents were either born in (60%) or immigrated prior to age 5 to …

Exploring The Caregiver-Child Relationship In Institutional Care Facilities In South Sudan, Jennifer Joy Telfer

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Institutional care for children separated from parents is expanding in Africa, but little research exists on caregiving at these institutions. This study explores the caregiver-child relationship in two residential institutions in South Sudan by investigating how caregivers experience their role and how children experience their lives in the institution. Semi- structured interviews assessed 14 caregivers’ backgrounds, parenting experience, attitudes, education, and motivations. The Orphans and Vulnerable Children Wellbeing Tool (OWT) assessed 98 adolescent residents, who also gave feedback about their answers. Caregivers employ parenting styles used by their parents and report treating non-relative children the same as biological children. Children …

Exploring Men's Motivations And Restraints In Repeated Extramarital Sex, Casey Marie Stinley

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The influence of extramarital sex (EMS) on marriage has been a topic of discussion in the research community for over 30 years. This thesis explored the influences that drive the EMS participants’ decisions, whether to abstain, continue while in the marriage, or to leave the marriage, and, those influences that affect whether they later participate in EMS or not. This study also used individual semi-structured interviews of ex-husbands who have participated in EMS in the past, as well as husbands who are participating in EMS currently. The four men interviewed were from southwest Missouri. The interviews were reviewed to identify …

Value Co-Creation Propositions: A Self-Determination Theory Of Customer Acceptance, Trust And Wellbeing, Lenna V. Shulga

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

With the emergence of shared business models, hospitality and tourism consumers are faced with the decision to accept value propositions from various service providers, including traditional, collaborative and shared. Grounded in service-dominant logic, theory of acceptance, theory of value, self-determination theory and generational theory, this dissertation examines why consumers accept value propositions from service providers and what drives customers to collaborate with front-line employees. The research uses three studies that utilized a destination resort context with a mixed factorial equal cells experimental design. Study 1 utilized a 3 (generations) x 3 (business models) x 4 (value propositions) factorial between-within subjects …

Examining The Protective Effect Of Ethnic Identity On Drug Attitudes And Use Among A Diverse Youth Population, Tamika C. B. Zapolski, Sycarah Fisher, Devin E. Banks, Devon J. Hensel, Jessica Barnes-Najor

Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology Faculty Publications

Ethnic identity is an important buffer against drug use among minority youth. However, limited work has examined pathways through which ethnic identity mitigates risk. School-aged youth (N = 34,708; 52 % female) of diverse backgrounds (i.e., African American (n = 5333), Asian (n = 392), Hispanic (n = 662), Multiracial (n = 2129), Native American (n = 474), and White (n = 25718) in grades 4–12 provided data on ethnic identity, drug attitudes, and drug use. After controlling for gender and grade, higher ethnic identity was associated with lower past month drug use …

The Impact Of Working Memory On Response Order Effects And Question Order Effects In Telephone And Web Surveys, Beth Cochran

Survey Research and Methodology Program: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

It has been theorized that working memory plays a role in survey methodology contributing to response order and question order effects; however, there is little empirical evidence linking working memory and survey context effects. This dissertation examines whether respondents’ working memory influences response order and question order effects through incorporating working memory measures into the survey questionnaire. The subjects were randomly assigned to complete the survey via telephone or web, and respondents completed a series of working memory measures and attitudinal questions.

It was hypothesized that as working memory capacity improved there would be a decrease in the likelihood of …

Reflections On Teaching Qualitative Methods Using Team-Based Learning: An Exemplification By Photovoice, Nadia Rania, Laura Migliorini, Stefania Rebora

The Qualitative Report

This research article as a part of larger study intends to explore the role of teaching qualitative methods is not easy and often represents a great challenge. In this work, we describe our experience of teaching a qualitative methods course for undergraduate psychology students. In this course, we used a Team-Based Learning (TBL) approach in which we had students cluster into small groups to enhance their education by having them become more active in their learning. To teach qualitative methods, we used TBL and in this paper, we present the exemplification of this method by choosing Photovoice. The Team-Based methods …

Providers Perspectives On Self-Regulation Impact Their Use Of Responsive Feeding Practices In Child Care, Dipti A. Dev, Katherine E. Speirs, Natalie A. Williams, Samantha Ramsay, Brent A. Mcbride, Holly Hatton-Bowers

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Supporting children's self-regulation in eating through caregivers' practice of responsive feeding is paramount to obesity prevention, and while much attention has been given to supporting children's selfregulation in eating through parents' responsive feeding practices in the home setting, little attention has been given to this issue in childcare settings. This qualitative study examines childcare providers' perspectives on using responsive feeding practices with young children (2–5 years). Individual semistructured interviews were conducted with providers until saturation was reached. Data was analyzed using thematic analysis. The final sample included 18 providers who were employed full-time in Head Start or state-licensed center-based childcare …

When You Aren't Who Your Friends Are: The Moderating Influence Of Racial Similarity On The Association Between Friendships And Mental Well-Being, Philip Tostado

Dissertations and Theses

Friendships are a mental health resource for adolescents. Their availability and strength have been shown to predict lower levels of depression, higher self-esteem, and higher life satisfaction. They can also alleviate the stress that often leads to negative mental health outcomes. However, studies examining the stress process rarely consider the fact that social networks like friendship groups are not a static resource that effects all people the same way. Rather, demographic characteristics of both the individual and their friends could change the role of friendship networks within the stress process.

In this thesis, I investigate the importance of one such …

Perceptions Of Athletes In Disabled And Non-Disabled Sport Contexts: A Descriptive Qualitative Research Study, Sheryl L. Chatfield, Michael Cottingham Ii

The Qualitative Report

The term supercrip suggests extraordinary feats but is sometimes applied to any proficiency demonstrated by an athlete with a disability. This use of the term potentially undermines spectator appreciation for achievements of the upper echelon of disability sports participants. Prior disability sport researchers have suggested that a comparison of individuals’ perceptions of athletic heroes with and without disabilities has potential to help disability sport marketers counter the supercrip stereotype. The purpose of this research was to explore differences in perceptions by comparing participant descriptions of role models with and without disabilities. Research participants, who consisted of undergraduate students at a …

Measuring Numeracy In A Community College Context: Assessing The Reliability Of The Subjective Numeracy Scale, Kate S. Wolfe, Sarah L. Hoiland

Numeracy

In this paper, our goals were to assess the suitability of the Subjective Numeracy Scale (SNS), developed for health-care use, in a new context with predominantly minority students at a South Bronx community college and to identify any race/ ethnicity, gender, and ESL enrollment effects. The scale assesses perceptions of quantitative reasoning skills and preferences for data presentation. This scale was given to a convenience sample of students in behavioral sciences classes. Results show that the SNS scale was reliable with our sample using the full thirteen-question scale or the shorter eight-item version. Gender, race/ ethnicity, and English as a …

If Not Us Then Who? Exploring The Role Of Hbcus In Increasing Black Student Engagement In Study Abroad, Megan Covington

College Student Affairs Leadership

Black students are alarmingly underrepresented in participation in study abroad experiences. The reasons for this vary, but are most often consists of barriers, such as financial constraints, lack of support from family, and fear of racial discrimination. Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are regarded as sanctuaries for Black students with emphasis on their commitment to providing low-income Black students with positive and nurturing educational experiences. As such, HBCUs are believed to be positioned to assist in overcoming the barriers to participation in study abroad for Black students. However, because they receive significantly less resources, they are limited in their …

Loneliness And Family Burden: An Exploratory Investigation On The Emotional Experiences Of Caregivers Of Patients With Severe Mental Illness, Francesca Dicé, Felice Zoena

The Qualitative Report

We present here an exploratory descriptive investigation about the needs of the caregivers of patients with severe mental illness (SMI) referring to a mental health service of a Southern Italian city. Twelve caregivers were queried, as experienced contacts, about their own emotional involvement and their relationship with the patient by means of a semi-structured interview. Interviews were subjected to a qualitative thematic-categorical analysis. The results reveal painful experiences of anguish and feelings of inadequacy stemming from care-giving, which gravely impact the caregivers' personal well-being and family relations.

The Relationship Between Anxiety, Mind Wandering And Task-Switching: A Diffusion Model Analysis, Andree Hartanto

Dissertations and Theses Collection

Although the negative impact of anxiety on task-switching has been documented, little is known about the extent or mechanisms of this impairment primarily because of the complex nature of task-switching and difficulty in probing the occurrence of worries within participants. To address this issue, we employed a stochastic diffusion model analysis along with a novel thought-probe technique in task-switching paradigm. Across 152 participants, we found state anxiety was linked to higher switch costs in nondecision time but not drift rate parameter of diffusion model, which indicates that the locus of task-switching impairment in anxious individuals is pertinent to the efficiency …

The Effects Of Communication, Gender, And Sexism On Dating Initiations, Alexandra Marie Buscaglia

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study was to increase understanding of the initial screening process that occurs during dating interactions, and to measure the perceptions of different communication styles that individuals use during such interactions. A review of current literature focused on attractiveness of potential mates, ambivalent sexism theory, gender stereotypes, and communication theory. The present study examined how individuals view others’ approaches in initial dating interactions, and which of these approaches are most effective for increasing the target’s interest in spending time with the pursuer. A pilot study involving 45 undergraduate psychology students from Western Kentucky University was conducted to …

Personality Factors, Obsessive-Compulsive Behavior, And Sexual Fantasy As Predictors Of Paraphilic Disorder Intensity, Ethan Jack Edwards

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Researchers vary on their definitions of paraphilia. A difference exists between an individual possessing a paraphilia versus an individual possessing a paraphilic disorder. Hanson (2010) proposed a dimensional model of sexual deviance that includes a measure of intensity. However, research on sexual intensity has been lacking. A majority of existing research focuses on the potential risk factors of possessing a paraphilia or paraphilic disorder (e.g., criminality). There is less focus on whom in the population has the potential to develop a paraphilia; or which factors predict paraphilic behavior.

The Big Five personality factors (openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and …