Psychology Commons^™

The Utilization Of Sexual Harassment Grievance Procedures In Universities, Beth Parsons

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The present research examined the relations between students' and employees' knowledge of the university's sexual harassment policy/grievance procedure and their reporting behavior. The present research also examined the position of the complainant (i.e., undergraduate student, graduate student, staff, faculty, and administrator) with respect to the incidence of sexual harassment and the response of filing a sexual harassment complaint. A survey assessing the various aspects of interest was sent to all full-time female employees (n = 954) of a medium sized, southeastern university. The response rate was 42% for administrators, 43% for faculty, and 36% for staff. In addition, 178 undergraduate …

Narcissism And Actors: A Comparative Study Of The Narcissistic Qualities Of Actors Acting Students And Psychology Students, David William Wicker

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study compared 200 psychology undergraduates, 47 acting students and 69 professional actors using the Narcissistic Personality Inventory. The inventory was evaluated using both Robert Raskin's seven factor system and Robert Emmons' four factor system. Three comparisons were done. The first analysis involved the three groups, undergraduate, student actors, and professional actors and gender. The second involved only the professional actors and investigated effects of gender and membership in an acting union. The third examined effects of gender and age. The age groups were delineated by decade beginning with teens, the oldest group being in their sixties. The acting groups …

Correlates Of Parental Discipline In Adhd Children, Dawn Marie Powers

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The present study was designed to examine the parenting of an ADHD child in several important ways. First, it was hypothesized that mothers of ADHD children would report employing harsher, more restrictive disciplinary practices and that more negative interaction patterns, specifically resembling the coercive pattern described by Patterson (1982) would be evident in mother/ADHD child dyads. Second, the present study sought to identify the determinants of disciplinary practices and negative interaction patterns that are believed to exist in mother/ADHD child dyads. It was hypothesized that greater parental stress, difficult child temperament, and less ability to regulate self-control will be positively …

Correlates Of The Mmpi-A Immaturity (Imm) Scale In An Adolescent Psychiatric Population, Eric Albert Imhof

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Despite numerous theories of adolescent ego development, there is no objective measure of ego development or maturation targeted for the assessment of adolescents. The Immaturity (IMM) Scale developed for the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory - Adolescent (MMPI-A) was designed to fill this void in adolescent assessment. The present study examined the concurrent validity of the IMM Scale based on sixty-six adolescents (13-18 years old) in an inpatient setting using four prominent measures of maturity, i.e., The Defining Issues Test (DIT), the Washington University Sentence Completion Test (WUSCT), the Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status - Second Revision (EOM-EIS-2), and …

Extreme Response Style, Irvine Clarke Iii

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

The objective of this research was to understand the effect of culture on Extreme Response Style (ERS) for cross-cultural marketing efforts employing Likert type scales. Growth in quantitative cross-cultural marketing research has brought alternative methodological considerations, like ERS, to the forefront of attention, since, traditional inferential statistics used in group comparisons become confounded by this systematic bias. Marketers comparing groups with differing degrees of response style may incorrectly make claims based on observed differences that are strictly attributable to cultural ERS. Therefore, the specific objective of this dissertation was to relate ERS to culture, Likert response formats and to demonstrate …

The Destructive Narcissistic Pattern, Nina W. Brown

Counseling & Human Services Faculty Publications

Identifying characteristics of the Destructive Narcissistic Pattern (DNP) in the workplace are presented. The DNP is most easily recognized by the reactions of those who have to work with him/ her. Characteristics are derived from the literature on pathological narcissism which differs only in intensity and degree. Strategies to develop constructive working relationships with the DNP are presented.

Therapist Orientation And Circularity-Linearity Of Causality, Responsibility, Intentionality, And Blame For Clinical Problems, Helen Alexander Jones

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Differences in circularity of attributions of causality, responsibility, intentionality and blame for clinical problems by therapists of psychodynamic, behavioral and systems orientations, a psychiatrist group, and an attorney control group were investigated using the Circularity-Linearity Attribution Scale (CLAS). Respondents' judgments about the sufficiency of a single cause for the problem, circular conceptualization of the problem, and linear conceptualization of the presented problems were also solicited. Responses were compared for two problems, schizophrenia and domestic violence. It was hypothesized that the systems-oriented therapists' attributions would be more circular than those of other therapist groups on all dependent variables. It was also …

The Tacit Dimension Of Organizational Learning, Thomas Reeder Robinson

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This research was conducted to observe the self-reflections of an organizational participant group to further understand the organizational learning phenomenon. The participant group consisted of the 15 managers, spanning three levels of management, of a large engineering group in the southeastern United States.

The intent of the research was to generate theory, rather than to test theory. To accomplish this objective, a qualitative research methodology in a participatory action framework was modeled from Keating's (1993) Organizational Learning Process (OLP) to co-construct participants' organizational reflections. The methodology included individual interviews designed to elicit spontaneity that co-generated organizational perspectives. These perspectives were …

Affective Reactions, Social Support And Willingness To Self-Disclose To Hiv Seropositive Individuals: Impact Of Sexual Orientation And Responsibility For The Infection, Susan Paige Sherburne

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

An attributional model of controllability suggests that perceptions of someone's controllability of an event lead to anger and rejection, whereas perceptions of uncontrollability lead to pity and helping. This study examined the impact of an HIV victim's sexual orientation and "responsibility" for infection on subjects' affective responses, self-disclosure to the person, social support, and liking and trust for the person. Subjects received messages from their "partner" (a confederate) stating that he had just learned he was HIV positive. The message either stated that he was heterosexual or homosexual, and that he had either only one partner or many partners. Subjects …

Views Of Feminist Family Therapy: A Q-Methodological Inquiry, Bronwen Cheek

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The feminist critique of family therapy has had a growing impact on theory and practice for almost two decades (Hare-Mustin, 1978; Bograd, 1990). Writings on feminist family therapy (FFT) reveal both common and diverse opinions about what FFT is. The present study examined how views of FFT are segmented using Q-methodology (Stephenson, 1953; Brown, 1980; McKeown & Thomas, 1988), a small-sample empirical technique for identifying emergent viewpoints and studying their similarities and differences. A Q-sort instrument of 60 statements was constructed to sample diverse discourse on FFT. Magraw's (1992) interviews with leading experts in FFT served as a primary source …

Mmpi And Rorschach Findings Of Individuals Approved For Gender Reassignment Surgery, Gregory Ralph Caron

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Both clinical experience and empirical data from psychological tests present a picture of extreme clinical variation among those individuals who request gender reassignment surgery. Results of past empirical studies utilizing the MMPI and the Rorschach Test have tended to be equivocal regarding the level and nature of psychopathology associated with samples of gender dysphorics. These past studies are considered limited particularly in terms of methodological problems related to statistical power. This present study examined the nature and degree of psychopathology in a sample of candidates approved for gender reassignment surgery as reflected on their MMPI-2 clinical scale values and scores …

The Effects Of Simultaneous And Successive Tasks And Knowledge Of Results On Add And Non-Add Children, Pamela J. Bishop

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Computerized continuous performance tasks (CPT) are often used to diagnose attention deficit disorders (ADD) The purpose of the present study was to continue the evaluation of a CPT developed from a psychophysical perspective. Specifically, two versions of a monitoring task (simultaneous and successive) were examined in the context of three conditions of knowledge of results (KR); KR to correct detections, false alarms, and irrelevant KR. Thirty children diagnosed with ADD and 30 without ADD performed two 9-minute monitoring tasks. Parents of the children were also interviewed with an adaptive behavior scale to investigate whether ADD children exhibit social functioning at …

The Effects Of Social Interaction And Verbalization On The Acquisition Of An Organizational Memory Strategy, Suzanne F. Morrow

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The effects of peer tutoring on third- and fifth-graders' use of an organizational memory strategy was examined. Children were first introduced to the memory task with highly associated items. Children then either taught another child the task, tape recorded instructions to give another child, or did the task again. Organizational memory was then retested measuring recall and clustering on moderately associated items. There was a significant effect due to condition with those in the Peer Tutoring condition recalling more items than the Control condition. Subsequent analyses comparing only the two experimental conditions revealed that the Peer Tutoring subjects recalled significantly …

Attentional Processing Of Visual Stimuli: What Makes A Face A Face?, Samuel L. Chapman

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Reaction time (RT) and accuracy have been used to investigate the manner in which humans process visual stimuli for many years. Some researchers have found evidence of serial processing (e.g., Sternberg, 1969a) while others have shown that some visual stimuli are processed in parallel (e.g., Neisser, 1963). There have been very few studies investigating the processing of schematic faces with respect to RT and accuracy. The present study investigates the mechanisms associated with the recognition of schematic faces with respect to RT and accuracy.

Forty-two Old Dominion University students were shown a target face for ten seconds and were then …

The Effects Of Multiple Monitors And Knowledge Of Results On Vigilance Performance And Mental Workload, Peter John Ceplenski

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The present laboratory study examined the impact of knowledge of results (KR) with multiple monitors on vigilance performance and mental workload. Previous studies have shown that multiple monitors and KR both have positive effects on performance. In addition, KR has been shown to attenuate the vigilance decrement, and reduce subjective ratings of mental workload. Social facilitory effects were e..pected to increase arousal for monitors working in pairs on a vigilance task and result in better performance compared to monitors working individually. Also, the social interaction between monitors working in pairs was expected to lower ratings of subjective workload. Subjects monitored …

The Influence Of Work Environment, Perpetrator Power And Victim Characteristics On The Occurrence Of And Response To Sexual Harassment In The Workplace, Cynthia J. Maahs

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The current study developed and tested a model of sexual harassment that encompasses characteristics of the work environment, perpetrator, and victim. The impact of four characteristics of the work environment—organizational tolerance for sexual harassment, gender ratios, gender communication, and gender of the supervisor— on the occurrence of sexual harassment and the victim's response was examined. The moderating influence of victim age, job dependency, education level, ethnicity, gender, and marital status on the occurrence of sexual harassment was also examined. Results indicated that organizational tolerance for sexual harassment and gender of the supervisor predicted the occurrence of harassment. Sexual harassment significantly …

A Bio-Cybernetic System For Regulating Operator Engagement In An Adaptively Automated, Multi-Task Flight Environment, Lawrence J. Prinzel Iii

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

A bio-cybemetic, closed-loop system was validated for use in an adaptively automated environment. Subjects were asked to perform either one task or three tasks from the MAT battery. EEG was continuously sampled while they performed the task and an EEG index was derived (20 beta/alpha + theta). The system made allocation decisions based upon the level of operator engagement as determined by the EEG index. The NASA-TLX was administered after each trial. The results of the study demonstrated that it was possible to moderate an operator's level of engagement through a closed-loop system driven by the operator's EEG. It also …

Development Of A Cross Generational Measure Of Altruism, Paul G. Schloemer

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

A self-report measure designed to assess altruism across the life span was developed and evaluated. Participants in the design phase of the study included 76 adults ages 18 to 25, 57 fifth grade students, and 65 second grade students. Participants in the confirmation phase of the study were 34 adults ages 18 to 25, 18 fifth grade students, and 14 second grade students. A positive significant correlation was found between the life span measure of altruism and a corroborative measure for the fifth graders. A significant correlation between life span. measure of altruism and a corroborative measure was not found …

Predictive Value Of Apgar Scores When Developmental Rates Are Established: An Elimination Of Corrections For Prematurity, Daniel M. Phillips Iii

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the relationship between Apgar scores and developmental delay after eliminating corrections for prematurity. Developmental assessments were taken at six and twelve months-of-age using the Clinical Adaptive Test (CAT) and the Clinical Linguistic and Auditory Milestone Scale (CLAMS). From these assessments, a rate of cognitive-developmental growth was established. Developmental rates then were used to predict developmental age when the infants were 17 months of age. The subjects were 52 preterm infants (gestational age< 32 weeks), who had moderate to severe I-minute and/or 5-minute Apgar scores. One- and 5-minute Apgar scores, grouped by moderate to severe range separately, were compared to developmental age assessments utilizing developmental rates and two existing methods of correction. No significant differences were found in CAT, CLAMS, and combined CAT/CLAMS developmental assessment means based on Apgar group. The Developmental Rates method, however, was significantly correlated with and predicted developmental outcome at 17 months of age. These findings suggest that Developmental Rates are a more accurate method of developmental age assessment and prediction.

The Effects Of Fragrance Instructional Set, And Boredom Proneness On Performance In A Vigilance Task, Sheryl Lynn Roberts

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of fragrance upon vigilance performance, stress, and workload. The role of subjects' expectations and boredom proneness upon vigilance performance were also examined.

All subjects were assessed for fatigue, workload, and boredom proneness. Subjects were then randomly assigned to conditions based upon fragrance and instructional set. One group of subjects was given Peppermint enhanced air and the other was given unscented air. Half of the subjects in each group were told that the fragrance or air would help their performance, while the other subjects were told nothing about the effects …

From Realist To Constructivist Theory In Public Administration: Development Of A Quality Perspective, Ernest Edward Sides Iii

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Management

The purpose of this study is to formulate a behavioral theory of public organization development and administration that replaces positivism with constructivism as its underlying paradigm. This study contends that the level of maturity with respect to quality is a function of the degree to which an organization's latent thinking and conceptualization has advanced toward constructivism. The underlying thesis is that public administration and organization behavior stems from multiple realities not possible under positivism. Efficiency is not an appropriate criterion for analysis under the tenants of constructivism and should be replaced with quality as a criterion.

The use of quality …

The Association Between Perceived Family Support And Psychological Well-Being In Infertile Couples, Linda Marquardt Mintle

Health Services Research Dissertations

A correlational research design utilizing a cross-sectional survey methodology was used to investigate the association between perceived family support and psychological well-being in infertile couples. Family stress theory and the construct of boundary ambiguity were conceptual frameworks applied to the developmental family life cycle. Respondents were 35 married infertile couples with primary infertility recruited from a private For-profit infertility clinic located in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Responses on the Moos and Moos (1984) Family Environment Scale and from the SCL-90-R developed by Derogatis (1977) measured perceived family support and psychological distress respectively. Major findings indicated that infertile couples rated their families …

Conjunctive Decisions In A Paper-And-Pencil Task, Tracy A. Bean

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Many situations can have a significant effect on response time. Some situations affecting response time require union decisions - decisions based on the 'or' rule. The Hick-Hyman law, as well as Sternberg's linear relationship, are based on union decisions. Most situations in the real world, however, are based on intersection or 'conjunctive' decisions - decisions based on the 'and' rule. The relationship between conjunctive decisions and reaction time is examined in the present research. One question this study attempted to answer is whether there is a functional relationship between mean response time and display size.

The study consisted of 139 …

The Relationship Among Self-Reported Aggression, Locus Of Control, Expectancy For Success, And Dream Content, Stephen James Mccullough

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study examined the relationship between elements of two dream content analysis systems, and between dream content variables and self-report measures. One hundred and five college students from two universities in Virginia completed the following self-report measures: Generalized Expectancy for Success Scale (Fibel & Hale, 1978), Internal Control Index (Duttweiler, 1984), Conflict Tactics Scale (Straus, 1979), Verbal Aggressiveness Scale (Infante & Wigley, 1986), and Brief Symptom Inventory (Derogatis & Spencer, 1982). They recorded any dreams they could remember over the subsequent three weeks in a dream journal. Only the data of participants who reported five or more dreams were included …

Hardiness And Sensation Seeking As Potential Moderating Variables In The Stress-Illness Relationship, William N. Campbell Jr.

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

One hundred and fifteen undergraduate psychology students participated in a study designed primarily to investigate the personality styles characterized by "hardiness" and "sensation seeking" as potential moderators in the stress illness relationship. Subjects completed inventories measuring life-event stress, perceived stress, and illness experienced during the previous year, as well as questionnaires measuring hardiness, sensation seeking, and maladjustment. Correlation analysis revealed significant positive relationships between life-event stress and illness and perceived stress and illness as well as a significant negative relationship between hardiness and maladjustment.

Multiple regression analyses showed that life-event stress, perceived stress, and the two measures used together significantly …

Demonstration Of A Method For The Development Of A Team Classification System, Ann Marie Yanushefski

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to demonstrate an approach to developing a system for classifying teams. A classification system is important for formulating theories, generating hypotheses, and especially as an aid in generalizing results from one setting to another. Although a number of classifications can be found in the team literature, each was developed in a rational rather than an empirical manner. As an alternative, an empirically derived classification system based on objective, empirical data was considered an improvement. The development of this type of system was the objective of the present study.

The Sundstrom and Altman (1989) classification …

Development Of A K-Correction Factor For The Mmpi-A, Jody Jacobson Alperin

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

In 1992, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory - Adolescent (MMPI-A) was developed to meet the unique experiences and needs of adolescents. Despite evidence that adolescents often demonstrate response biases in taking the MMPI-A, currently there is no method to systematically "correct" for the effect of test-taking attitude on profile configuration with this age group. The K-correction factor has been widely used to correct for defensiveness or underreporting of symptomatology on the MMPI among adult respondents, although results of cross-validation research on the effectiveness of the K-correction factor have been inconclusive. The present study derived age-appropriate K-weights to determine the degree …

An Assessment Of The Descriptors And Determinants Of Academic Success Of Selected Allied Health Students In Virginia, Theodora Christine Gordon

Health Services Research Dissertations

This study assessed the relationship of cognitive and noncognitive variables in relationship to academic success of students from selected allied health majors: respiratory therapist (RTT), radiologic technology (RT), surgical technology (ST) and medical records technician (MRT) from hospital based and community college programs in Virginia. Student academic success was defined as academic (classroom) grade point average, clinical grade point average, cumulative grade point average and passing status. The cognitive variables were preclinical (high school) grade point average, academic, clinical and cumulative grade point averages. The noncognitive variables were character type, temperament type/preference for learning style, and the Sedlacek Noncognitive Questionnaire …

The Relationship Between Machiavellianism, Self-Monitoring, And Adaptiveness To The Performance Of Real Estate Sales Professionals, Dianne Broman Eppler

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

The focus of sales management is on insuring the success of the corporation by selling its goods or services. The most significant impact on the firm's success is the ability of the sales force to perform. Research to determine what makes a successful salesperson is extensive; however, the results are inconsistent and disappointing. In light of the significant financial impact the sales force has on the firm, additional research that identifies determinants of sales success is necessary.

The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the relationships between personal characteristics and sales performance. Specifically, Machiavellianism, self-monitoring, and adaptiveness were hypothesized …

The Effects Of Aerobic Exercise On State And Trait Body Image And Physical Fitness Among College Women, Sherri L. Hensley

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

Cumulative evidence shows body dissatisfaction is a salient problem among women, and is linked to various psychological disorders and disturbances. While numerous perspectives regarding the negative body-image phenomenon exist, one area of scientific inquiry is the relationship between physical exercise and body image. With the current sociocultural emphasis on physical fitness and attractiveness, the effects of exercise on body image warrants serious consideration. The present investigation compared 57 women who participated in a 13-week aerobic exercise program to 29 sedentary control women on the following variables: state and trait body image, cardiorespiratory fitness, and body composition. The exercising women were …