Psychology Commons^™

Examining Gender Differences In Heritage Language Maintenance And Loss Among South Asian First-Generation Canadians, And The Effect On Well-Being, Amreen Sangha

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Language is prevalent in various aspects of life. Not only is it often essential for communication, but it also has deep roots within cultural contexts. Specifically, within South Asian culture knowing one’s heritage language is considered to be necessary when it comes to connecting with one's cultural group and identity. Heritage language maintenance can be seen differently within different individuals and have different implications for them. This study was designed to explore gender differences in heritage language loss as well as the role language may play in one’s well-being. Canadian-born South Asian children and young adults aged 10-25 completed an …

Measuring Technology-Facilitated Sexual Violence Victimization: Scale Development And Validation, Amanda N. Godes

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Technology-facilitated sexual violence (TFSV) has become a prevalent form of violence recently due to the ubiquity of social media and the advancement of technology. One attempt has been made to measure TFSV victimization (TFSV-V; Powell & Henry, 2019). However, we have identified several limitations in the TFSV-V, including variability in the specificity of items, items confounding in-person experiences, items that are ambiguously worded, and the omission of critical TFSV experiences. As such, Study 1 aimed to address the limitations in the TFSV-V by revising the current measure and validating a new 18-item measure, the TFSV-Revised. Scale development methods were also …

Technology-Enhanced Professional Development For Early Literacy: A Comparative Study Of Online Teacher Learning Models In Kenya, Constanza Uribe-Banda

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Growing recognition of early literacy as essential for lifelong learning, along with evidence that teachers’ mastery of foundational literacy instruction influences student outcomes (Darling-Hammond et al., 2017; UNESCO, 2020), has led to increased investment in teacher professional development. Despite these efforts, many educators face significant challenges in accessing high-quality training, particularly in resource-constrained settings where geographical barriers and limited institutional support persist. This is especially true in rural Kenyan communities, where teachers often work in under-resourced schools with unreliable electricity and internet connectivity yet bear responsibility for laying critical literacy foundations. The present study examines the potential to deliver effective …

Legislating Trans Lives: An Archival Analysis On Trans Canadian Rights, Charlie E. C. Davis

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Previous research has outlined trans histories within the United States and Europe, illustrating historic transphobia, oppression and the origins of gender identity clinics. This type of historical literature is limited in the Canadian context, with more contemporary research demonstrating that trans people experience significant barriers to accessing healthcare, aversive health outcomes, and high rates of discrimination. Trans activists and advocates have always been and continue to resist these oppressive systems and have worked to improve the social and physical wellbeing of trans people in Canada. Utilizing archival data of trans activism and community mobilizing, I sought to address the gap …

A Pilot Study Examining Children’S Evaluations And Reasoning About Concealment And Instrumental Forms Of Antisocial Lying, Noah Battaglia

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Children as young as 4 years of age judge self-benefitting lies (i.e., antisocial lying) as wrong. Although this has traditionally been interpreted as evidence that young children view honesty as a moral obligation, contemporary moral development theory and research suggests that right/wrong judgments fail to capture important aspects of children’s social cognition. Research from a perspective known as social domain theory (Smetana et al., 2014; Turiel, 1983) has shown that children’s understanding of morality (i.e., norms concerning others’ rights and wellbeing) is distinct from their understanding of other types of socially unacceptable behaviour. While children judge many social events as …

Re-Imagining Care For Aging Disabled Adults, Caitlin L. Tizzard

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In Ontario, the landscape of aging is shaped by ageist and ableist ideologies that view older disabled adults through the lens of decline and dependency. Much of the current discourse on aging focuses on reforming long-term care (LTC), reinforcing institutional and carceral responses both within policy and academic imagination. This qualitative study takes a different approach by asking participants how care for aging disabled adults can be reimagined beyond institutionalization. Grounded in intersectional feminist, disability justice and abolitionist praxis, and using a critical transformative paradigm, this research employed Appreciative Inquiry across three focus groups with four participants engaged in aging-related …

Evaluating The Credibility Of Online Websites: A Digital Information Literacy Program, Emily C. Wood, Kim P. Roberts

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The plethora of information currently available via the internet is greater than ever before. Given this, finding credible information is an exceedingly complex task for any information consumer, but especially so for children. Research shows that children have difficulty evaluating the credibility of online information and are more susceptible to believing misinformation compared to adolescents. While a growing body of research addresses children’s internet use, most research focuses on technology safety rather than the evaluation of online information. Several studies have found digital information literacy (DIL) interventions to be successful at increasing critical thinking and awareness of the criteria to …

The Influence Of Self-Efficacy On Support Provision In People With Low Self-Esteem, Daniella Rinaldo

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

People with lower self-esteem (LSEs) tend to underestimate their capabilities and are reluctant to provide support to close others. The literature has primarily focused on how self-esteem affects individuals as support recipients. However, less is known regarding how to improve LSEs’ reluctance and perceived capabilities as support providers. The present research examines how LSEs could be led to be more willing to provide support to a close other through enhancing their support self-efficacy. I also examined whether LSEs (vs higher self-esteem; HSEs) differ in their abilities and perceptions of the support they provide. I hypothesized that encouraging LSEs to see …

Terpenes Mitigate Thc-Induced Working Memory Deficits: Behavioural Evidence Of The Entourage Effect Using A 2-Component Operant Memory Task, Lara Mitchell

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Most research on cannabis and cognitive function has focused on delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). However, this approach overlooks the complex chemical composition of cannabis products consumed by the public, which often includes cannabidiol (CBD) and various terpenes. These additional constituents may interact with THC to modulate its effects, a phenomenon known as the entourage effect. While this theory has gained traction, experimental evidence for the cognitive impact of terpenes in combination with THC remains limited. This study aimed to assess whether terpenes can mitigate THC-induced cognitive deficits using a 2-Component Operant Memory task. Male Sprague-Dawley rats received intraperitoneal injections of either …

Exploring The Role Of Collective Narcissism And Ideology In Support For Reparations, Melih Can Sahin

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Many societies with colonial histories have begun to grapple with their legacy of historical injustices and their ongoing consequences, leading to national apologies and sometimes consideration of reparations. In this context, it is important to understand the factors enhancing or impeding public support for reparations. This dissertation focused on the role of beliefs (ideology) and identity (collective narcissism) as predictors of support for reparations addressing historical injustices. Drawing from existing research, we expected that those higher in conservatism – and those higher in collective narcissism - would oppose reparations more strongly. We also examined the interaction between ideology and collective …

Affective Forecasting With A Chance Of Collective Action: Women’S Anticipated Affect After Acting Against Sexism And Its Relationship To Collective Action Intentions, Adrianna Tassone

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Confronting sexism elicits social costs like name-calling (Mendes et al., 2018) and anticipating these costs inhibits confrontation (Good et al., 2012). But taking collective action can also improve women’s wellbeing and reduce negative emotion (Foster, 2015). How women anticipate their own emotions in response to social cost may be a predictor of action. However, it is not yet known how women anticipate taking action will make them feel, and how perceived costs relate to these predictions and action intentions. The present thesis integrates two previously distinct literatures, affective forecasting (Gilbert et al., 1998) and collective action motivation to assess the …

The Role Of The Individual In Animal Collectives, Tanya T. Shoot

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Animals form groups for a variety of reasons, primarily as a way to increase access to food, mates, and safety. An important attribute of these groups is their personality composition. Personality is defined as repeatable traits over time and context, and has been found across multiple taxa. Traits have been found to be heritable, and are thus a unit for natural selection to act upon. Having a heterogeneous group may be beneficial for survival in a changing environment. The question of how the personality composition of the group affects group behaviour has rarely been asked in the field of animal …

Children's Interpretation Of Others' Faces Covered With Medical Masks, Sevval Cinar

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

How we recognize and regulate emotions is fundamental to overall health and wellbeing. Emotional recognition and understanding are key to proper communication and emotion regulation. Barriers, such as masks, might have an impact on the way children recognize and interpret others' emotions, and therefore the way they learn, communicate, and regulate their own. The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated widespread mask-wearing, raising questions about its impact on children’s emotional development. Using a sample of children with varying levels of exposure to mask wearing adults (N= 13, ages 4 to 6), we investigated how prolonged mask wearing predicts emotion recognition, particularly …

Co-Creation, Interpretations And Engagement With A Movement-Based Symbol For Climate Justice: A Qualitative Inquiry, Kai Reimer-Watts

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The climate crisis demonstrates with complete clarity the need for massive systems-level changes towards far more sustainable societies. Global and local emissions need to decline rapidly to mitigate intensifying climate breakdown, accompanied by climate and sustainability solutions, to secure a far more stable, safe, and just future for all people and all life. Within these changes, engaging in our communities is essential to support and co-create broader solutions to help advance more sustainable societies, reduce negative impacts of a changing climate, and to move towards cultures and systems that recognize natural limits and centre care for people and planet.

‘Climate …

Grief On The Margins: The Death Of A Family Member To Substance Use, Adair Shaw

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Despite Canada's high death rates from substance use, there is limited research on the sociopsychological impact on families, who often face stigma and disenfranchised grief. This study explores how family members make meaning of a substance-related death. Through qualitative inquiry, eleven family members were interviewed on their experience of grief from substance death. The imprint of losing a family member to mental illness and substance use is fraught with intergenerational grief, ambiguity, prolonged mental-emotional distress, and relationship challenges. Substance death was also associated with stigma, social withdrawal, and shame for many participants. However, grievers reconstructed the socially prescribed negative perceptions …

Moral Identity: From Theory To Research, Jean Paul Lefebvre

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Moral identity, often defined as the importance or centrality of moral values to a person’s sense of self, has long been understood to play an important role in moral functioning. However, critical gaps remain regarding its development, cross-context stability, and behavioural significance. This dissertation addresses these gaps in three empirical studies, providing new insights into the nature and function of moral identity across the lifespan and in daily life.

The first study (Chapter 2) explores developmental trends in moral identity, testing predictions from moral identity goal theory (Krettenauer, 2022). Using a cross-sectional sample spanning adolescence to old age, the study …

Exploring Cultural, Health, And Technology Intersections: A Focus On Migrant Experiences, Merna Mina, Sahij Gill

Bridges: An Undergraduate Journal of Contemporary Connections

Despite the plethora of theories and frameworks addressing culture, health, and technology adoption, there remains a notable absence of a unifying theory that comprehensively encompasses all three aspects, particularly concerning newcomers. The Health Belief Model, for example, underscores individual perceptions and attitudes toward health yet fails to consider the intricate interplay between cultural factors and technology adoption among immigrant populations. The Healthy Immigrant Effect, which posits that immigrants often exhibit better health outcomes than native-born individuals, does not mention the role of technology on health outcomes. Acculturation theories, while shedding light on the adaptation process, often fall short of explaining …

Making Sentencing Meaningful: How Victims Find Justice In The Sentencing Process, Melissa Handford

Bridges: An Undergraduate Journal of Contemporary Connections

This article examines the role of victims in the criminal justice system, and how victims find justice through the sentencing process. It examines the role that providing a victim impact statement, receiving information about typical sentencing practices, and restorative or traditional sentencing play in how victims perceive justice in sentencing. Quantitative analyses were conducted analyzing the aforementioned variables and their relationship to participant perceptions of sentence effectiveness, anger, sentence harshness, and happiness, as well as their propensity to obedience. Qualitative analyses were conducted to better understand the reasoning behind victim perceptions and preferences in relation to restorative and traditional sentencing …

Workplace Wellbeing And Sense Of Mattering Among Small And Medium Enterprise Workers In Canada, Kyle Smilovsky

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) are an under researched area when it comes to workplace wellbeing in Canada. The current research used the Job-Demands Resource Framework (JD-R) to study how a Community Psychology concept, sense of mattering, relates to workload, and indicators of wellbeing (i.e., burnout and flourishing). Specifically, this study tested whether sense of mattering moderates the association between workload and both burnout and flourishing. Moderated mediation models were also tested to see if workload is indirectly associated with burnout and flourishing through distress, while being moderated by sense of mattering. Questionnaires were administered to 2,500 Canadian SME workers …

Predictors Of Canadians’ Psychological Well-Being In Retirement: A Mixed Methods Approach, Jessica Miller

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In prior decades, retirement research focused on the negative effects of the life transition—such as negative psychological well-being caused by factors such as difficulties adjusting to retirement, feelings of a role loss, or the financial effects of retirement. However, there is considerable agreement across recent research studies that post-retirement years are marked by positive psychological well-being due to a variety of factors. For example, retirees often spend more time in roles (such as volunteer positions) that provide life satisfaction. The present study uses both quantitative and qualitative methods to examine factors related to well-being in retirement among individuals living in …

Grammatical Aspect, Temporal Adverbs, And Situation Models, Valerie Hemeon

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Grammatical aspect and temporal cues have been shown to impact discourse processing. To explore this further, we contrasted temporal adverbs that move narrative timelines forward or backward. Although previous research has examined timelines independently, it was yet to be explored how timeline adverbs impact discourse processing when grammatical aspect and temporal cues are also manipulated. The experiment involved a sentence-completion task which allowed us to measure availability of target discourse concepts in situation models. Results showed main effects for grammatical aspect, temporal shifts, and narrative timeline directions. Three two-way interactions were found. The results demonstrated support for the iconicity assumption …

Social-Emotional Outcomes In Emerging Adults With Adhd: The Influence Of Self-Compassion On Peer Rejection, Rejection Sensitivity, And Psychological Distress, Alia Hussain

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Emerging adulthood, the developmental period ranging from 18 to 29 years, is a critical stage of development in which individuals grow their social skills, set and achieve life goals, learn to live independently, and further develop brain regions involved in higher-level cognition, shaped by their environment and experiences throughout emerging adulthood. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder associated with adverse interpersonal outcomes. Approximately 5 to 8% of emerging adults are reported to have an ADHD diagnosis and may be at higher risk than typically developing emerging adults for unfavourable developmental outcomes. This heightened risk may be attributed to their …

The Influence Of Visual Perspective On The Cognitive Effort Required For Mental Representation, Jeffrey P. Hong

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Mental representation is the process by which an individual simulates an event in their mind’s eye. This process is the foundation of the ability to remember the past, engage in prospective thinking, or imagine fictitious scenarios. An individual can mentally represent any event through their own eyes—the first-person perspective or from the viewpoint of an external observer—the third-person perspective. The perspective of representation influences outcomes related to memory, visuospatial processing, affect, social cognition, clinical diagnoses, and language processing. In turn, an individual’s tendency to favour either perspective is shaped by related factors.

The current research consists of four experiments, designed …

Dancing Around And Through Harm: Examining The Lived Experiences Of Women Of Colour With Gender-Based Violence In The Toronto & Kitchener-Waterloo Latin Dance Communities, Lexi Salt

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Given the systemic nature of gender-based violence in Canada, as well as the increasing popularity of Latin dance, it is important to better understand the particular and culturally-specific ways gender-based violence manifests itself within the Latin dance community. This research study examines the lived experiences of women of colour with gender-based violence in the Toronto and Kitchener-Waterloo Latin dance communities. Two groups of participants took part in semi-structured interviews: 14 women of colour dancers, and six “Power Players”, leaders in the Latin dance community who are in a position of power (e.g., instructors, organizers, DJs). The data was analyzed using …

Shifting Perspectives On Crime: Empathy, Cognitive Reappraisal, And Media Sources, Gillian Sherman

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

When reporting crime, media sources can influence public perception of the crime, the victim, and the perpetrator. They can also influence the justice policies that people endorse. With support growing for more community-oriented justice policies that allow for perpetrator reintegration (Maruna & King, 2009), it is important to understand how portrayals of crime may soften public judgements toward perpetrators without reducing concern for victims. In two studies drawing from empathy-attitude effect research (Batson et al., 1998) and emotion regulation theory (Gross, 1998) this research examines how media portrayals of a crime may cause people to change their perceptions of those …

Overcoming The Unseen: Understanding Diverse Canadian Workers’ Well-Being During The Beginning Of The Coronavirus Pandemic, Tyler M. Pacheco

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Canadian workers were severely affected by the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The rapid spread of the pathogen across Canada resulted in several work-related consequences (e.g., temporary/indefinite layoffs and business closures, mandatory working-from-home) that could have impacted workers’ well-being during this turbulent period. Research available at the start of this dissertation process, and even more recently published studies, primarily explored general trends in workers’ negative well-being during COVID-19, not examining the distinct realities that diverse workers, including more marginalized ones, may have experienced. Across three manuscripts, several theories from diverse disciplines (positive, developmental, community, and industrial-organizational psychology, public health) …

Language Acquisition, Mental Health, And Acculturation Among Migrants In Canada, Ali Jasemi

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation examines the integration of first-generation migrants in Canada, focusing on the constructs of acculturation, language proficiency, and mental health. With nearly a quarter of Canada's population comprising migrants (Statistics Canada, 2022), understanding their adjustment is critical. Acculturation, language proficiency, and mental health can all have an impact on the success of migrants in their new country (Balidemaj et al. 2019; Brance et al. 2023; Iversen et al. 2014; Rousseau et al. 2019; Rashtchi et al. 2012; Salami et al. 2019). There are a limited number of studies examining these variables in relation to certain migrant groups, such as …

Moving Forward While Looking Back: How Expectations Of Future Success Are Linked With Past Experiences, Claire Jordan

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Following a disappointing past event, how do people maintain motivation and hope for the future? Temporal Self-Appraisal Theory posits that in the face of past disappointing events, people will perceive these events as feeling far away in time to protect the current self-concept. In line with this theory, we reasoned that people who perceive past failures as further away and thus less relevant may maintain a more positive outlook. In Study 1 (N = 410), students reported their final grade in a previous psychology course, predicted their final grade in an ongoing course, and rated their hope and …

“You Do Not Need To Be Skinny Or Look Like An Athlete To Still Live A Healthy Life”: Exploring Anti-Fat Bias Within Health-Related Undergraduate Programs, Maddie Katz

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Anti-fat bias negatively influences well-being, particularly for fat people. This bias is present in healthcare and fitness contexts, where emphasis on bodies and weight are salient. Healthcare and fitness professionals often re-learn anti-fat bias in their education through a weight-centric paradigm of health, which frames weight as a primary indicator of health (good or bad), an individual responsibility, and a direct reflection of individual behavioural choices (i.e., diet and exercise). The failure to control one’s weight within societally acceptable levels is seen as a moral failure rather than resulting from complex factors relating to the social determinants of health (i.e., …

Is Trust A Zero-Sum Game? What Happens When Institutional Sources Get It Wrong, Andrew Dawson

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, trust in mainstream institutions is on the decline while people are increasingly turning to alternative media and conspiracy theories. Previous research has suggested that these trends may be linked, but the exact nature of the relationship is unclear. In a fractured informational environment, is trust a neutral process, where each source is judged independently, or is it in fact a zero-sum competition, where a loss for one side is a gain for the other? Across three experimental studies (N = 2,951) we examined how people react when a source makes a serious error, …