Psychology Commons^™

An Investigation Of Reactance, Coping, Quality Of Life, And Well -Being, Monique Maria Matherne

Doctoral Dissertations

Psychological reactance (reactance) is a personality variable receiving a great deal of attention. Reactance has been defined as the motivational force aroused in an individual when a behavioral freedom is lost or threatened (Brehm, 1966). The current study assessed the interrelationships among psychological reactance, coping, quality of life, and well-being. A total of 353 participants were analyzed for this study. Participants completed four self-report instruments: (1) the Therapeutic Reactance Scale, (2) the Coping Styles Questionnaire, (3) the Overall Quality of Life Scale, (4) the General Well-Being Schedule, and a demographics questionnaire. Significant gender differences existed for reactance, detachment coping, emotional …

Adolescents' Behavior In The Presence Of Interparental Hostility: Developmental And Emotion Regulatory Influences, Marc S. Schulz, Robert J. Waldinger, Stuart T. Hauser, Joseph P. Allen

Psychology Faculty Research and Scholarship

Within-family covariation between interparental hostility and adolescent behavior across three interactions over a 2-year period was explored in a sample that included 37 typical adolescents and 35 adolescents recently hospitalized for psychiatric difficulties. More interparental hostility across the three interactions was associated with more adolescent hostility and more positive engagement (at a trend level) regardless of psychiatric background. Parent-to-child hostility in each interaction mediated the link for adolescent hostility but not for positive adolescent engagement. Emotion regulation capacities and age were linked to variability in adolescents' behavior in the presence of interparental conflict. In interactions with more interparental hostility, adolescents …

The Effects Of Gender Role Conflict And Psychological Reactance On Relationship Beliefs, Donna Bullard Thomas

Doctoral Dissertations

The present study investigated the multivariate relationships among gender role conflict, psychological reactance, and relationship beliefs. Because intimate relationships have the potential to affect lives in many ways, it is important to examine factors that contribute to successful relationships. Although previous research has linked these constructs, no research exists that includes all three. The final sample included 346 undergraduate males and females who completed a demographic questionnaire, the Gender Role Conflict Scale (GRCS; O'Neil, Helms, Gable, David, & Wrightsman, 1986), Therapeutic Reactance Scale (TRS; Dowd, Milne, & Wise, 1991), and Relationship Beliefs Inventory (RBI; Eidelson & Epstein, 1981). The research …

Perception Of Visual Speed While Moving, Frank H. Durgin, Krista Marie Gigone , '04, Rebecca Glenn Scott , '05

Psychology Faculty Works

During self-motion, the world normally appears stationary. In part, this may be due to reductions in visual motion signals during self-motion. In 8 experiments, the authors used magnitude estimation to characterize changes in visual speed perception as a result of biomechanical self-motion alone (treadmill walking), physical translation alone (passive transport), and both biomechanical self-motion and physical translation together (walking). Their results show that each factor alone produces subtractive reductions in visual speed but that subtraction is greatest with both factors together, approximating the sum of the 2 separately. The similarity of results for biomechanical and passive self-motion support H. B. …

The Three-Contingency Model Of Self-Management, Holly C. Harrison

Dissertations

The goal of this dissertation is to evaluate people's needs for self-management and the effectiveness of their use of the three-contingency model of self-management. This model prescribes a set of self-management procedures that can be applied to self-manage virtually any behavior. College students used these procedures to manage their own behavior as part of an extended psychology-course assignment.

This evaluation began with the Procrastination Survey, the results of which assessed the frequency of the students' self-management problems. The self-management interventions of up to 168 students were then evaluated using their self-reported performance data and an anonymous survey. The performance data …

Child Psychological Abuse Sexual Attitudes And Sexual Satisfaction: An Examination Of Disclosure Gender And Perpetrator Relationship Differences, Natasha Coy

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The current project examined the associations between childhood psychological abuse, disclosure, and perpetrator relationship on sexual attitudes and satisfaction among adults. A total of 274 female graduate and undergraduate psychology students from Old Dominion University were recruited. Participants anonymously filled out the survey online. It was hypothesized that there would be a positive relationship between childhood psychological abuse and sexual communion and permissiveness. In terms of perpetrator relationship, it was hypothesized that as the objective relationship between the individual and perpetrator became closer, sexual attitudes and satisfaction would be more negatively affected. It was also hypothesized that one's subjective relationship …

Law And The Emotions: The Problems Of Affective Forecasting, Jeremy A. Blumenthal

Indiana Law Journal

Legal scholarship on "behavioralism" and the implications of cognitive biases for the law is flourishing. In parallel with the rise of such commentary, legal scholars have begun to discuss the role of the emotions in legal discourse. This discussion often addresses the "appropriateness" of various emotions for the substantive law, or attempts to model the place of the emotions in the law. Implicit in some of these theories, however, and explicit in others, is the assumption that emotions are "predictable," "manageable, "and (for some commentators) under conscious control. This assumption is belied by psychological research on affective forecasting that demonstrates …

Why Girls? The Importance Of Developing Gender-Specific Health Promotion Programs For Adolescent Girls, Amanda Birnbaum, Tracy R. Nichols

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

Adolescence is a time when many girls begin to develop unhealthy behaviors that can affect myriad short- and long-term health outcomes across their lifespan.2There is evidence that smoking, physical activity, and diet are habituated during adolescence, and some physiologic processes of adolescence, such as peak bone mass development, have direct effects on future health.3-4 Establishing healthy practices, beliefs and knowledge among adolescent girls will decrease morbidity and mortality among adult women and potentially affect the health of men and children through women’s role as healthcare agents. This paper provides a brief review of lifestyle health behaviors among women and girls …

Why Do Athletes Use Eye Black?, Benjamin R. Powers

Inquiry Journal 2005

No abstract provided.

Factors Influencing The Decision To Disclose After Sexual Assault, Courtney A. Hanley

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Virginians Aligned Against Sexual Assault (VAASA, 2004) report that I in 4 women are sexually assaulted in their lifetime. Despite the prevalence of the crime, most women do not report acts of sexual assault to the police, making sexual assault, and rape in particular, one of the most underreported crimes (Backman, 1998). Research on has focused primarily on third-party reactions to sexual assault and victim culpability, but rarely seeks data directly from the victim in order to understand the psychological process of disclosing, or delaying disclosure, after an assault. Participants, 44 sexual assault victims seeking counseling at a non-profit rape …

The Relationship Of Adult Romantic Attachment, Body Image, And Gender Role Identity To Female Sexual Functioning And Sexual Assertiveness, Kathryn Nuckols Shaw

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Given that as many as a third of the world's women are affected by problems with sexual functioning, scientific research on the roots and correlates of sexual difficulties is crucial. The purpose of the present study was to examine specific psychological factors that may be associated with sexual functioning and sexual assertiveness in women. The variables examined were adult romantic attachment, body image, body image in a sexual context, and traditional ideas about gender interactions.

Participants were 215 female students in various psychology classes at Old Dominion University. All were heterosexual and had been sexually active within the past year. …

The Effects Of Parcels And Latent Variable Scores On The Detection Of Interactions In Structural Equation Modeling, Thomas D. Fletcher

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Numerous theories in the behavioral and organizational sciences involve the regression of an outcome variable on component terms and their product to evaluate interaction effects. There are numerous statistical difficulties with this multiple regression approach. The most serious is measurement error, requiring the use of structural equation modeling. Jöreskog and Yang (1996) described a nonlinear structural equation modeling procedure that incorporates mean structures in the covariance analysis. They demonstrated that only one indicator for the product term is necessary for model identification. Unfortunately, the Jöreskog-Yang procedure leads to biased estimates of the product coefficient. In this dissertation, I propose that …

Mentoring Undergraduate Research: The Joys And Surprises Of Giving Back, Robert C. Drugan

Inquiry Journal 2005

No abstract provided.

Development And Validation Of The Sustainability Climate Survey, David Edward Hall

Dissertations and Theses

Motivated by an assumption of and concern about the unsustainable trajectory of modern human civilization, the purpose of this study was to develop a measurement tool to assist organizations striving to align their operations with principles of sustainability. The relevant context is established with consideration of the dimensions of environment, society and economy, as well as their interconnections, with an eye towards sustainability. Some of the challenges and opportunities presented to organizations by the current unsustainable trajectory are reviewed. The social constructs of culture and climate (organizational and psychological) are discussed as important to understand organizational life. I propose the …

A Child’S Dance Of The Sankofa: Redefining, Reconstructing, And Reclaiming Identity, Shawnrey Notto

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The following research focuses on a major health crisis that exists within the black Brazilian population, that of identity and self esteem. The study will deals with the possibility of reconstructing black identity, through dance. Children are being socialized into a society whose system practically equivocates anything of Afro-descent, anything black, with negativity. This is a serious problem that is cultivated in a culture of violence, which is profoundly detrimental to the social and psychological development of a people. As such this is an offense to human kind. By using participant-observation and interviews the research traces how some empowerment, consciousness, …

Spatial Orientation Strategies In Morris-Type Virtual Water Task For Humans, Janos Kallai, Tamas Makany, Kazmer Karadi, William J. Jacobs

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The present study characterized frequent motion patterns (search strategies) that occurred during spatial navigation in a virtual maze. The research focused on identifying and characterizing some search strategies, the temporal progression of strategy-use, and their role in spatial performance. Participants were 112 undergraduate students (42 males and 70 females). We identified three search strategies that predicted spatial performance. Enfilading refers to an approach-withdrawal pattern of active exploration near a target location. Thigmotaxis refers to a search strategy that involves continuous contact with the circular wall of the maze. Visual scan involves active visual exploration while the subject remains in a …

Consensual Qualitative Research: An Update, Clara E. Hill, Sarah Knox, Barbara J. Thompson, Elizabeth Nutt Williams, Shirley A. Hess, Nicholas Ladany

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

The authors reviewed the application of consensual qualitative research (CQR) in 27 studies published since the method’s introduction to the field in 1997 by C. E. Hill, B. J. Thompson, and E. N. Williams (1997). After first describing the core components and the philosophical underpinnings of CQR, the authors examined how it has been applied in terms of the consensus process, biases, research teams, data collection, data analysis, and writing up the results and discussion sections of articles. On the basis of problems that have arisen in each of these areas, the authors made recommendations for modifications of the method. …

Effects Of Bilinguals' Controlled-Attention On Working Memory And Recognition, Hwajin Yang, Sujin Yang, Stephen J. Ceci, Qi Wang

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The present study investigated whether bilinguals could show higher working memory (WM) capacity by controlling their attention well on an attention-impeded Stroop-span task while undergoing constant interference. Our research question sprang up from the two existing bodies of research in Cognitive Psychology as an effort to connect the two.

Downward Comparison As An Intervention To Lower Self-Reported Risk-Taking Behaviors, John P. Barile

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This research investigated the utility of using first-person editorial-style stories as a means to lower the occurrence of self-reported risk-taking behaviors such as drunk driving and red-light running in undergraduate college students. This study assessed the frequency of risk-taking behaviors of college students before and after a three-week online intervention. Students were randomized into one of three conditions. Two risk taking treatment groups read and rated stories about a college student that had suffered a severe consequence from either drunk driving or red-light running. A third group received non-driving college stories that involved no health risk. The stories were presented …

Using Signal Detection Theory To Examine The Effects Of Workload And Likelihood Displays On Human Responses To Alarms, Ernesto A. Bustamante

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of workload and likelihood displays on human responses to alarms through the use of Signal Detection Theory (SDT). Thirty students performed compensatory tracking, resource management, and system monitoring tasks. They interacted with a Binary Alarm System (BAS) or a Likelihood Alarm System (LAS) during varying workload levels. Overall Response Rate (ORR), False Alarm Response Rate (FARR), True Alarm Response Rate (TARR), Sensitivity (d'), and Bias (c), were used as alarm response measures. Root Mean Squared Tracking Error (RMSTE) and Root Mean Squared Resource Management Error (RMSRMF) reflected primary-task performance. Proportion …

A Family Systems Approach To Substance Misuse: An Examination Of Risk And Protective Factors, Jennifer Anne Cutchin

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This purpose of this project was to investigate the interrelationships between family structure, classroom stress, sense of belonging, and substance misuse in college students. Some outcomes of the study were an increased knowledge of substance misuse in college students and the impact of risk and protective factors on substance misuse. One model of family structure is the Circumplex Model of Family Systems. This model consists of three components: family cohesion, adaptability and communication fOIson, Russell, & Sprenkle, 1989). This research was conducted at Old Dominion University using 391 undergraduate college students, aged 18 - 25. It was hypothesized that students …

The Role Of Inferential Accuracy In Performance Rating Accuracy: A Field Study Of Teacher Performance Appraisal, Cynthia L. Cooper

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Management

This study first assessed the accuracy of performance appraisal ratings of high school teachers in comparison to the achievement of their students as measured by Virginia's Standard of Learning (SOL) tests. The overall performance rating scores of 145 teachers were compared to the pass rates of their students on SOL end-of-course tests. The rating sub-scores in each of four domains of performance were also compared to the SOL pass rates.

The study then tested the influence of Inferential Accuracy, a model proposed by Jackson (1972), on rating accuracy overall and of individual raters in the study. Inferential Accuracy is comprised …

Factors Predicting Teacher Satisfaction And Retention In The Hampton City Schools Teacher Induction Program, Gale A. Lee

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

This descriptive and correlational study used a mixed methodology of both quantitative and qualitative data collection strategies to identify factors that predict new teacher satisfaction and retention in the Hampton City Schools' teacher induction program. In the first phase of the study, a researcher-developed questionnaire was mailed to 657 Hampton City Schools' elementary, middle, and high school teachers with 0–5 years of experience and was returned by 40 percent (n = 226) of the sample. The first phase of the study utilized a 31-item teacher questionnaire. The first section of this questionnaire requested demographic information, which helped to categorize teachers …

An Examination Into The Effects Of Social Positioning And Capitalist Immersion On Gendered Attitudes Towards Homosexuality In The United States, Fiona J. Blee

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Previous research on attitudes towards homosexuality has concentrated on characteristics of individuals, and neglected the capitalist structure of society that provides the contextual setting for the creation and maintenance of cultural attitudes.

This thesis uses responses collected in the general social survey of the United States between 1993 and 1998, to provide a more comprehensive explanation of differences in attitudes towards homosexuality, through an analysis of social position and the capitalist agenda. The analysis revealed significant relationships between sex, age, race, income, beliefs regarding the domestication of women, and attitudes towards homosexuality.

The analysis showed that respondents categorized as black …

Attributions Others Assign To Depressed Individuals And Their Relationship To Severity Of Depressive Symptoms, Amount Of Contact, And Familiarity With Depressed Individuals, Joan E. Mcdowell

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

While there has been valuable research critical for furthering our understanding of how an individual's social network affects recovery from depression, we need to know more about the interplay of other people's attributions and their relationships with depressed individuals that may impact recovery from the disorder. This research investigated causal and controllability attributions that others assign to individuals with depression by distributing a questionnaire to faculty and administrative staff at Eastern Michigan University to obtain ratings of attributions for depression. The level of intimacy within a relationship and the severity of depression were related to others' beliefs about the controllability …

Matthew's Gift: Teaching Parents Of Children With Disabilities To Deal Effectively With Their Child's Problem Behavior, Karolyn King Peery

Theses and Dissertations

This study represents a unique collaboration between the State of Utah's Division of Services for People with Disabilities (DSPD) and Brigham Young University's Department of Counseling Psychology and Special Education (CPSE) and the Family Studies Center. Families with children with disabilities and problem behaviors may spend 5 to 10 years on the Utah DSPD Family Support waiting list before receiving support services. Families with children with disabilities and problem behavior experience difficult challenges with limited amounts of resources. CPSE graduate students offered behavioral education to 17 families on the DSPD waiting list in the family's homes for 10 weeks. Positive …

The Relationships Among Literacy, Church Activity And Religious Orientation: A Study Of Adult Members Of The Lds Church In Utah County, Bruce R. Brewer

Theses and Dissertations

The study assessed the interplay among literacy, church activity, and religious orientation and examined the extent to which literacy predicts church activity in the presence of private religious behavior. One hundred fifty-seven subjects were administered measures of intrinsic religiousness, extrinsic religiousness, literacy levels and measures of church activity. The findings from this study suggest that literacy is related to activity, but in a way that is more complex than many investigators have considered. The results of the multiple regression analysis helped clarify the ability of literacy to predict church activity in the presence of religious orientation. Results further indicated that …

Daily Rhythm Of Cerebral Blood Flow Velocity, Deirdre A. Conroy, Arthur J. Spielman, Rebecca Q. Scott

Publications and Research

Background: CBFV (cerebral blood flow velocity) is lower in the morning than in the afternoon and evening. Two hypotheses have been proposed to explain the time of day changes in CBFV: 1) CBFV changes are due to sleep-associated processes or 2) time of day changes in CBFV are due to an endogenous circadian rhythm independent of sleep. The aim of this study was to examine CBFV over 30 hours of sustained wakefulness to determine whether CBFV exhibits fluctuations associated with time of day.

Methods: Eleven subjects underwent a modified constant routine protocol. CBFV from the middle cerebral artery was monitored …

Learning To Like: A Role For Human Orbitofrontal Cortex In Conditioned Reward, Sylvia M L Cox, Alexandre Andrade, Ingrid Johnsrude

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

A great deal of human behavior and motivation is based on the intrinsic emotional significance of rewarding or aversive events, as well as on the associations formed between such emotional events and concurrent environmental stimuli. Recent functional neuroimaging studies have implicated the ventral striatum, orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), and amygdala in the representation of reward values and/or in the anticipation of rewarding events. Here, we use functional magnetic resonance imaging to compare brain activation during the presentation of reward with that during presentation of (conditioned) stimuli that have been paired previously with reward. Specifically, we aimed to investigate conditioned reward in …

Group Therapy For Eating Disorders: A Retrospective Case Study, Janine Wanlass, J. Kelly Moreno, Hannah M. Thomson

Psychology and Child Development

An increasing amount of research supports group therapy as an effective treatment option for eating disorders (Moreno, 1994). In an attempt to further delineate therapeutic factors associated with productive group work, this study represents an exploratory, descriptive analysis of client and therapist perspectives on group process and outcome. Specifically, this retrospective study investigated what clients and their therapist considered important, helpful, and problematic in an aftercare group for hospitalized patients with eating disorders. The therapist and client perspectives were considered separately. These data were then classified into four categories: importance, benefits, problems, and critical incidents. A follow-up discussion explores similarities …