Psychology Commons^™

This Is How You Can Be A Cool Adult, Angelica Angelica

ENGS 15.11: Design and Education

“This Is How You Can Be a COOL Adult” is an interactive and self-reflective lesson designed to help high school juniors through college seniors practice being more compassionate, open-minded, optimistic, and laughing-out-loud (humorous) in their everyday lives. By the end of this lesson, students will be able to describe and explore research-based strategies that foster compassion, open-mindedness, optimism, and humor, and create a personalized “COOL Action Plan” with self-reflection logs to track progress. The lesson takes place in an unconventional classroom setting (outdoors) and includes mini-lectures, meditation, collaborative games, creative role-play, personal reflection, and practical methods for applying these qualities …

Boys Build, Girls Glam: An Examination Of Adult Language Use In Informal Steam Education Settings, Alexandra Horton

Theses and Dissertations

Research on STEAM education has primarily focused on formal education settings such as schools, with more research needed in informal or non-traditional education settings. As children frequently engage with informal and non-traditional education settings, it is important to understand how we can transmit information in these settings to bolster and further the learning process and increase engagement. STEAM fields have been plagued by racial and gender inequities that have led to these groups being marginalized and excluded (Blair et al., 2017; Eaton et al., 2020; Martin, 2018; Martin & Phillips, 2019; Miller et al., 2018; Newall et al., 2018, Sheffield …

Gender, Victimization, And Delinquency: Examining Gendered Pathways To Crime Among Juveniles, Caitlin Hinds

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The intersection of gender, crime, and victimization is a critical area of study within criminology, particularly as it relates to understanding the differing pathways men and women take into criminal behavior. Historically, crime statistics have shown a significant male predominance, particularly in violent offenses. Feminist criminology has played an essential role in reframing the narrative around gender and crime, emphasizing the need to examine the gender pathways that shape male and female experiences differently. While men may employ violence more overtly, women often rely on more subtle strategies to navigate criminal activities, avoiding physical confrontation when possible. Feminist criminologists argue …

Psychological Impacts In Exercise Riders And Professional Jockeys Following Injury, Kelley M. Renner

Theses and Dissertations--Kinesiology and Health Promotion

One of the most well-known equestrian sports, horse racing, is not only a cornerstone of Kentucky’s economy, but also a vital part of its culture, with professional jockeys playing an essential role in the local communities and traditions that define the state. Despite its popularity and financial impact, mental health challenges within the sport have continually been shrouded in silence and ignored in research (Ball et al., 2007). Equally concerning is the high injury prevalence, and psychological impact of these injuries (e.g., psychological distress, depression, anxiety, loss of identity, and self-esteem (King et al., 2022; Losty et al., 2019; McConn-Palfreyman …

Exploring Subjective Cognitive Decline And Ageism: At-Risk Older Adults' Lived Experience, Randal L. Williams

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Subjective Cognitive Decline (SCD), the self-perceived decline in cognitive abilities, is recognized as a preclinical marker for neurocognitive disorders (Jessen et al., 2014). Understanding the contextual factors informing SCD experience remains a research priority in this domain. At-risk older adults have heritable markers associated with dementia. Chronic exposure to embedded ageism burdens allostatic load (AL) and exacerbates epigenetic risk for cognitive decline (Levy, 2022; McEwen, 2020; Miller et al., 2021). The current qualitative study explored how ageism shapes the lived experience of SCD among at-risk older adults. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 participants, all doctoral level clinical practitioners, aged …

Supports For Mental Well-Being Valued By Healthcare Workers: Qualitative Analysis Of Data From A Canadian Cohort Of Healthcare Workers During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Shannon Marie Ruzycki, Anil Adisesh, Quentin Durand-Moreau, France Labrèche, Tanis Zadunayski, Erica Stroud, Nicola Cherry

Études primaires

A prospective cohort of 4964 HCWs from four Canadian provinces was established early in the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants were invited to comment about workplace mental health supports at three time points. We performed a thematic content analysis of responses from 1738 participants using the Social Support Behaviour Code framework to categorize barriers to support as informational, tangible, emotional, social, or expressing esteem. Themes were synthesized into suggestions for healthcare organizations to prepare for future crises. Formal and informal peer support, workplace mental health supports, and one-on-one counseling were most often mentioned as valued. Analysis suggested that workplace social networks as …

Urban Isolation In The Digital Age- Examining The Sociological Impact Of The Digital Divide On Civic Life In U.S. Cities, Delante Clark

Graduate Scholarship and Creative Works

The digital divide remains a persistent barrier to civic participation and social inclusion in urban America, particularly in historically underserved communities. This mixed-methods study investigates how digital lack of access affects civic engagement, social capital, and community cohesion in U.S. cities, with a focus on Chicago’s South Side, Harlem New York, St. Louis, and Orlando. Drawing on quantitative data from recent surveys and qualitative insights from peer-reviewed literature, the research applies four sociological frameworks, Urban Sociology, Social Capital Theory, Critical Race Theory, and Symbolic Interactionism. These were used to examine the structural and interpretive aspects of digital isolation. Findings reveal …

Designing Your Next Read: How Psychology Shapes The Way We Choose Books, Stephanie M. Xu

ENGS 15.11: Design and Education

Designing Your Next Read invites students to explore the psychology behind everyday choices through the familiar act of picking a book. Using the lens of design psychology, the lesson examines why decision-making often feels overwhelming and how small shifts in perception, environment, and heuristics can make choices easier and more enjoyable. Students engage in interactive exercises, including a book-browsing activity, mini-lectures on choice biases, and a “Book Blurb” exercise, to reveal how heuristics such as availability, affect, and familiarity shape responses.

Through guided discussion and reflection, students connect psychological theories like the paradox of choice and decision paralysis to their …

A New Theater For Age-Old Social Patterns: An Exploratory Study Of Interpersonal Dynamics And The Overlay Of Gender Within Ai Companionship, Miriam Wolff

Theses and Dissertations

The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) companions fundamentally shifts the landscape of interpersonal communication, introducing artificial entities as relational partners rather than mere facilitators of human-to-human interaction. This exploratory study examines the interplay of machine gendering, self-disclosure, perceived partner responsiveness (PPR), and interpersonal satisfaction within human-AI interactions. Participants engaged in conversations with gendered AI companions through the program Replika, completed structured surveys, and participated in qualitative interviews. Findings indicate that users' willingness to self-disclose was influenced by their perceptions of AI responsiveness, while gendered characteristics of AI significantly shaped user expectations and communication patterns. Specifically, users often attributed distinct personality …

Perceptions And Treatment Decisions For A Drug Offender Based On Social Class, Cocaine Type, Personal Characteristics, And Compassionate Love: A Vignette Study, Yasmin A. Odeh

Theses and Dissertations

Problem: The shift from a focus on rehabilitation to the more punitive, “tough on crime” approach to illegal behavior in the U.S. has been enacted in no small way by policies connected to the use and abuse of drugs. The disparities between crack and powder cocaine—two chemically similar substances—have headlined this shift (Vagins and McCurdy 2006). However, research is scarce on laypeople’s approval of deterrence approaches for drug offenses, including as a function of types (e.g., powder vs. cocaine possession). This study examined people’s perceptions of prosecutorial decisions for drug offenders—whether they are punished, rehabilitated, or both—and whether people perceived …

Cultural Identity In Mental Health Services And Helpseeking Behaviours Among African International Students, Mark Ofosu Asirifi

Theses and Dissertations

Acculturation stress impacts international students’ psychological well-being and academic success, yet research on African students remains limited. For African international students, this stress is intensified by cultural stigma surrounding mental health services, deterring help-seeking due to fears of judgment and ostracization. This identity negotiation complicates their willingness to access support, reinforcing cultural barriers to mental health care. This study explores how cultural identity shapes the mental health perceptions and help-seeking behaviors of African international students in the United States. Grounded in the Communication Theory of Identity (CTI) and the Health Belief Model (HBM), the research examines how acculturative stress, stigma, …

Cultural Learning Of Metacognition: Evidence From Blind Individuals, Marissa Renee Bamberger, Lindsay N. Harris

CISLL Publications

The cultural origins hypothesis posits conscious metacognitive abilities in humans are acquired through cultural selection facilitated by cultural learning. Interpersonal broadcasting, much of which is nonverbal, is hypothesized to be one conduit of cultural learning. Thus, individuals with no or limited access to nonverbal information, such as blind persons, should have metacognitive abilities different from those of the larger culture. To test this prediction, we asked blind (n = 23) and sighted (n = 20) adults to recall the modality (Spoken or Written) of words whose definitions they had learned, and to indicate their degree of confidence in …

The Boston Metco Program: Recent Alumni Experiences And Educational Equity, Maya Hernandez

Honors Theses

This project focuses on contemporary school integration practices by examining, in particular, the Boston METCO (Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity Inc) program and the experiences of its recent alumni. The METCO program, the United States’ longest-running voluntary school desegregation program, was created in 1966 to give students of color from the city of Boston better educational opportunities by busing them to the surrounding suburbs for school. To this day, it is a program meant to expand educational opportunities, increase diversity, and reduce racial isolation, by permitting students from Boston to attend public schools beyond district lines, in the suburbs. My …

Perceived Credibility Of Allegations Of Sexual Assault Across Victim Race And Mental Health History, Liyah C. Morgan

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Previous research examined the effect of victim gender and rape myth acceptance (RMA) on perceptions of victim credibility; however, little attention has been given to the impact of victim race and mental health history, and even fewer studies have explored the intersection of these two identities. The primary purpose of the current study was to identify factors affecting understanding of perceived credibility of victims of sexual assault, specifically in terms of victim race and mental health history. The study also examined the role of RMA on perceptions of credibility and explored participant attitudes related to color-blind racial attitudes and mental …

Nothing Short Of Superheroic: A Quantitative Study Of Lifetime Exposure To Superhero Comic Book Media As A Predictor Of Attitudes Towards Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion, Michael Nguyen

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

This dissertation examined the relationship between lifetime exposure to superhero comic book media and attitudes toward diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Drawing on theories of identity formation—transitional objects, parasocial relationships, and cultivation theory—it investigated whether engagement with superhero narratives predicted DEI attitudes. Using quantitative methods, data from 499 U.S. adults were collected via Qualtrics. Two instruments were used: the Lifetime Superhero Comic Book Media Exposure Scale (LSES) and the Intolerant Schema Measure (ISM), which assessed prejudice across race, gender, sexuality, class, age, and religion. Multiple linear regression revealed that superhero media exposure significantly predicted ISM scores (B = 0.118, …

Why Men Join The Incel Community: A Thematic Analysis, Aishwarya Lonikar

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Incels have gained mainstream attention in recent years because of increasing sexism and hatred that have manifested as violent acts committed towards women in the real world. This has led to growing research and discussion on social and political culture. The goal of this study is to understand why men join the incel community, to find ways to mitigate the need for men to join such communities. A theoretical thematic analysis was conducted using a survey to gain a deeper understanding of why men choose to join the incel community. A decolonial feminist interpretive framework was used to analyze the …

Climate Change And Parenthood: Impact On Family Size Decision-Making, Minha Hossain, Jennifer Lai, Mindy Engle-Friedman

Publications and Research

This study explores how parental status relates to childbearing decisions in the context of climate change and builds on prior research linking climate anxiety to reduced family size intentions. A survey of 114 participants revealed that non-parents were significantly more likely than parents to plan to have fewer children and to express concerns about climate change. These findings underscore differences in how parents and non-parents approach future reproductive decisions and highlight the role of climate-related concerns in shaping family planning intentions.

Lgbt People's Sense Of Linked Fate: Belonging And Utility, Kay Hales

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

This is a three study dissertation. While the LGBT community is often referred to as a monolith, research suggests that it may be separate subgroups under one umbrella. Linked fate is the sense that what happens to one member of a group will affect all other group members with consequences for political behavior. While research on racial identity groups suggests that members often feel a sense of linked fate with other group members, this research has not been generalized or explored in the LGBT community. This study empirically explores whether there is a sense of linked fate in the LGBT …

Reimagining Care: Experiences Of Trauma-Informed Approaches And Deinstitutionalization In Caribbean Child Welfare, Sarah L. Subhan

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study explored the perceptions and experiences of child welfare professionals on trauma-informed care and implications for deinstitutionalization in Trinidad and Tobago. The qualitative study utilized research interviews from 21 participants to inform findings. The participants included professionals from various agencies who work with children in care and protection. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data, yielding six overarching themes (1) the need for training and capacity building in child protection, (2) systemic and organizational challenges to trauma informed care, (3) cultural and community factors impacting child protection, (4) the need to support family units as a pathway to …

Spanking And Children's Approaches To Learning: Estimates From A Longitudinal Matched-Sample Design, Jeehye Kang, Christina M. Rodriguez

Sociology & Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

One form of corporal punishment commonly used in the United States is spanking. Spanking is a well-known risk factor for adverse child development, although its influence on children's approaches to learning (ATL) has been largely overlooked. Existing research is particularly limited in inadequately considering multiple confounds and selection biases in children's exposure to spanking. This study examined the links between spanking and children's ATL, using a matched-group design to strengthen causal estimates among children aged 5 to 7.5 (N = similar to 12,800) from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-2011. Entropy-balanced matching mitigated selection and confounding biases, …

The Effect Of Need For Closure, Gender Essentialism, And Contact On Transphobia, Jacob E. Vargas

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Using a motivated social cognition framework, this study explores whether there is an indirect effect of need for closure on transphobia via gender essentialism and whether this relationship is moderated by transgender contact. Data were collected from an undergraduate sample of 405 cisgender participants (n_men = 159, n_women = 246). A simple mediation and a moderated mediation were used to examine the hypothesized relationships, controlling for participant gender. Results reinforced the positive correlation between gender essentialism and transphobia and the negative correlation between transgender contact and transphobia. However, the mediation and moderation hypotheses were not supported. Need …

Echo Chambers On The Left, Echo Chambers On The Right: How Socioideological Identity Emotion Shape Social Interaction Behavior On Social Media, Dean Carl Jackson

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This dissertation investigates how echo chambers emerge on social media by shifting the lens from aggregate patterns of information exposure to moment-by-moment, individual level interaction decisions between peers. I theorize that selective exposure online is not only about what content people consume or avoid, but also about selective social exposure—accepting, rejecting, or sharing with the sources of that content—guided by sociopolitical identity, ideological distance (ID), and discrete emotions. To test this, I employ two survey experiments using real tweets varying in ideological extremity and measure user’s likelihood to Block, Follow, Retweet, or reply, alongside self-reported emotional reactions and ID between …

The Ascendance Of Influencers: Saints Of Capitalism In The Digital Age, Riley R. Hourihan

Master of Liberal Studies Theses

This thesis examines the rise of social media influencers as modern-day saints within the cultural and economic framework of late capitalism. Drawing on interdisciplinary scholarship from religious studies, media theory, and cultural criticism, it argues that influencer culture does not replace religion but retools its structures—ritual, authority, devotion, and community—for the digital age. Through detailed case studies ranging from Hailey Bieber and Taylor Swift to Ballerina Farm and MrBeast, the paper explores how influencers shape identity, mediate ethics, and mobilize affect through algorithmic rituals and parasocial relationships. Influencers perform a form of digital sanctity that parallels traditional hagiography, guiding followers …

An In-Depth Review Of Euthanasia-Related Practices, Arguments For/Against Them, And Proposed Solutions For Their Most Glaring Legal/Ethical Problems, Macon Plecha

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper’s goal is to cover the topic of euthanasia-related practices at great length. Terminology, history, and current programs around the world are discussed first, with the last point covering a wide geographical range: Colombia, Japan, Israel, and Africa, to name a few outside of the Western world standard. Arguments for and against euthanasia-related practices are explored. Within these arguments, several pressing legal and ethical issues arise, and the most severe of these are expanded on through the offering of potential solutions: how to handle stand-alone psychiatric cases, how to improve advanced directives and poor reporting rates, and how to …

“Democracy,” Usa, Marc Edelman

Publications and Research

What does it mean to be an effective citizen in a democracy? Answering this question requires unpacking “democracy” and an analysis of institutions that systematically disempower and alienate citizens. This paper briefly examines the contributions of psychoanalysis to understanding democracy and authoritarianism. It scrutinizes U.S. governance institutions and points to democratic deficits and backsliding present even before Trump 1.0 and 2.0. These range from the Electoral College, the Senate, and the Supreme Court to the Federal Communications Commission. All contributed to institutionalizing minority rule and elite capture. Governance institutions failed to deliver what the American people tell opinion pollsters they …

Escala De Machismo Para Personas Con Antecedentes De Violencia Doméstica (Mm-Vd), Paul Carrola, Eunae Han, Johana Rocha, Alberto Castro Valles, Maria Nieves Gonzalez Valles, Jorge Ramon Lozano Martinez, Juan Alejandro Anguiano

Departmental Papers (Counseling & Special Ed.)

Machismo has been investigated as an important factor in preventing and

remediating domestic violence. This study aimed to understand how to

measure culturally based gender biased attitudes of Mexican men with a

history of domestic violence and ultimately assist interventions for this pop-

ulation in the United States and Mexico.

A Kinder Panopticon? Examining Effects Of Fairness And Justice On Performance Outcomes Under Advanced Electronic Monitoring Systems, William F. Tang

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The adoption of Electronic Performance Monitoring (EPM) systems has increased with the prevalence of remote workers post-COVID. Research indicates EPM yields conflicting performance and behavioral outcomes. EPM-related behavior can be predicted by organizational justice (the extent to which workplaces are perceived as fair in nature); environments with higher justice ratings are less likely to induce issues like stress and distrust. However, advanced EPM like electroencephalograms (EEG) may modulate the relationships between perceived fairness, stress, and work performance. This study assigned 42 participants to a modified vigilance test (based on Temple, et al., 2001), which participants took under 3 placebo monitoring …

The Impact Of Religiosity On Political Knowledge Among Youth Voters, Norah Sackett

Honors Undergraduate Theses

As political engagement trends among young voters have continued to shift in the United States' political atmosphere, understanding the cognitive factors that influence these decisions is becoming increasingly important. Political efficacy, or the feeling that individual political action can impact the political process, impacting their civic duties, has long been regarded as a key determinant of an individual's political engagement. This study investigates how young voters' understanding of prominent political arguments relates to their sense of political efficacy, with a specific lens on individual religiosity.

Through an examination of this relationship between religiosity and overall comprehension of political arguments, this …

Young Adults’ Views On Personal Death, Victor N. Soto

Anthós

Within academic discussions of death and dying, there is a deficit of qualitative studies on how young adults view personal death. This article explores young adults’ (18-24) views on personal death using inductive coding of the transcriptions of three 1:1 interviews and one focus group. Soto’s findings show that young adults view their personal death in three ways: 1) they reflect on family death experiences as frames of reference for personal death, 2) they rely on a life well- lived to ease anxiety around personal death, and 3) they use humor as a coping mechanism in thinking about and discussing …

The Overlooked Dynamics Of Sibling Violence: Sociological Perspectives And Intervention Strategies, Rowland Edet

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Sibling violence (SV) represents a pervasive yet underexplored dimension of family violence, encompassing physical, emotional, and psychological abuse. This paper critically examines the intersection of gender dynamics, societal norms, and family structures in shaping SV behaviors. Using social learning theory (SLT) as a foundational framework, the analysis explores how gendered expectations and traditional roles influence the prevalence and forms of aggression, with boys more likely to exhibit overt physical aggression and girls engaging in relational aggression. The paper critiques the deterministic tendencies of SLT, highlighting the agency of individuals in rejecting modeled behaviors, and incorporates intersectionality to address the interplay …