Psychology Commons^™

Quality Of Life Perceptions And Treatment Choices In Hemodialysis And Peritoneal Dialysis, And The Implications For Social Work Practice, Heather Noel Toms

Theses Digitization Project

This study discussed the differences in perceived quality of life issues between hemodialysis, and peritoneal dialysis patients. This study conducted open dialogue with the patients on various treatment modalities, to discover how the patients Q.O.L. (Quality of Life) concerns affected their treatment decisions and to further investigate what social workers can do to assist the patient in increasing their quality of life, and if necessary, advocate for the patient in their treatment choice.

Classroom Self-Regulation And Variations In Cardiovascular Activity Predict Reading Achievement, Derek Raymond Becker

Theses Digitization Project

This thesis investigates if variations in cardiovascular reactivity measured during an attention eliciting stressor improved the prediction of a child's total reading achievement scores, above that accounted for by classroom self-regulation.

Does Sharing Financial And Creative Resources With Children Function As Extended Phenotypes In Female Ratings Of Male Attractiveness?, Margaret Anne Lanier

Theses Digitization Project

This thesis studies how women rate a man's attractiveness, according to his investments of time or money in a related or unlrelated child, the man himself or another adult. The findings demonstrate that possessing and exhibiting creativity is a powerful tool in attracting females to males, sometimes more powerful than sharing monetary resources.

Comfort Food: Obesity And Mood Influences On Food Uptake, Gabrielle Patterson, Wind Goodfriend

Modern Psychological Studies

The purpose of this study was to understand the effects of mood (negative vs. neutral) conditions on food consumption and choice, between non-obese and obese people. Mood was manipulated using two film segments; pre-weighed bags of food were offered to participants to eat during the film, which included one fatty choice (popcorn) and one healthy choice (carrots). The amount and type of food consumed was measured directly after each session. Surprisingly, results revealed that people in a negative mood did not consume more or choose fatty foods more often, compared to those who were in a neutral mood. Implications for …

Confidence Wagering During Mathematics And Science Testing., Brady Jack, Chia-Ju Liu, Hoan-Lin Chiu, James Shymansky

Educator Preparation & Leadership Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Identity And Spirituality: Conventional And Transpersonal Perspectives, Douglas A. Macdonald

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Though the relation of spirituality to self has long been recognized in established spiritual

and religious systems, serious scientific interest in spirituality and its relation to identity has

only started to grow in the past 20 years. This paper overviews the literature on spirituality

and identity. Particular attention is given to describing and critiquing conventional and

transpersonal perspectives with emphasis given to empirically testable theories. Using

MacDonald’s (1997, 2000) five dimensional model of spirituality, a structural model of

spirituality is proposed as is a model of spiritual identity formation.

Characteristics Of Chinese International Studies In A Usa University That Effect Cultural Adjustment, Angel M. Piper

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

With the advancements of today’s society and a global economy, many workers and students are traveling abroad for work and education. Staying in another country can be very stressful. Some individuals may experience more stress than others. This study investigated a Chinese student sample in the United States to determine which individuals would experience a better adjustment in the United States. A questionnaire with items measuring extraversion, neuroticism, and openness to experience, identification with all humanity, demographic information, cultural relocation variables, (e.g., language skills, length of stay) and cultural adjustment was administered to Chinese students at Western Kentucky University. Results …

Perspectives In Spirituality: Introduction To Special Topic Section, Glenn Hartelius, Harris Friedman

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

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Adaptation Of Arab Immigrants To Australia, Nina Maadad

Shannon Research Press

This book examines the psychological problems that Arab immigrants experienced in their efforts to adapt socially and culturally when they settled in Australia. The research was based on a group of 40 participants, 16 of whom migrated to Australia between 1973 and 2004. The other 24 were all of Arab descent and born in Australia. The participants’ ages ranged between 14 to 66 years of age. The methodology for undertaking the research utilised humanistic sociology principles, particularly when collecting and analysing qualitative data. This investigation is divided into three sections. The first part focuses on the psychological issues resulting from …

The Effects Of Opioids And Opioid Analogs On Animal And Human Endocrine Systems, Laura O'Dell

Departmental Papers (Psych)

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Individual, Family, And Community Factors On Adult Resilience: A Study On The Tsunami Survivors Of 12/26/2004, Johny Augustine

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the various factors at the individual, family, and community level that helped the adult individuals survive the trans-oceanic tsunami which hit the coastal areas of India on December 26, 2004.The study made use of a concurrent mixed methods design to achieve the above objective. The quantitative section of the research examined the effects of individual, family, and community factors on adult post-traumatic growth. The qualitative section of the study sought to capture the subjective experience of the tsunami survivors using a phenomenological approach. The target population were adults, aged 18 to 55 from Kerala, India, who were …

Relational Financial Satisfaction Of Cohabiting Couples, Christine C. Mcdunn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current study tested a model of factors affecting cohabiting couples' relational financial satisfaction, defined as the contentment an individual has with how financial issues are handled within his or her domestic romantic relationship, and examined the relations within these factors. This study was a cross-sectional online survey of 266 participants (81% female; 85% Caucasian) recruited from listservs and subsequent snowball sampling. Measures assessed couples' financial strain, dedication commitment, financial conflict, financial trust, financial equality and financial communication. Relational financial satisfaction (RFS) was significantly related to financial conflict, financial strain and dedication commitment. Financial conflict mediated the association between …

Uncertainty Orientation: A Theory Of Self-Regulation Within And Across Cultures As Related To Cognition, Andrew C. H. Szeto, Richard M. Sorrentino, Satoru Yasunaga, John Nezlek

Papers from the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology Conferences

Erich Fromm once said “the quest for certainty blocks the search for meaning. Uncertainty is the very condition to impel man to unfold his powers.” For some, this quote is unmistakably true, impelling them to great discoveries of nature and the mind. For others, uncertainty is the very essence of confusion and ambiguity, offering nothing more than reason to retreat to more predictable and certain times. In this chapter, we explore the theory of uncertainty orientation as related to cognition and cognitive processes, including research that was conducted in Canada, Japan, and China. First, we discuss the characteristic uncertainty selfregulation …

Temporal Orientation And Its Relationships With Organizationally Valued Outcomes: Results From A 14 Country Investigation, Tejinder K. Billing, Billing S. Bhagat, Annamária Lammel, Karen Moustafa Leonard, David L. Ford Jr., Fran Brew, Jose Rojas-Mendez, Vilma Coutino-Hill, Ujvala Rajadhyaksha, B.N. Srivastava, Bernadette Setiadi, Darwish Yousef, Olga Soler, Mannsoo Shin, Ichal Nowak, Shuming Zhao, Stefan Schmid, Murat Gumus, Tim Keeley, Catherine Kwantes, Ben Kuo

Papers from the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology Conferences

In this investigation we were concerned with the cultural covariates of temporal orientation in 14 different national contexts. Data were collected from United States of America (US), Australia, Germany, Poland, Chile, Venezuela, Turkey, United Arab Emirates (UAE), India, Indonesia, Malaysia Japan, South Korea and China. Analyses show that collectivistic cultural orientation tends to be relatively important in the prediction of three facets of temporal orientation (i.e. emphasis on planning and scheduling; sense of time and attitude towards time).

Enhancing Psychological Assessment In Sub-Saharan Africa Through Participant Consultation, Amina Abubakar, Fons J. R. Van De Vijver, Anneloes Van Baar, Patricia Kitsao-Wekulo, Penny Holding

Papers from the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology Conferences

There are few psychological tools developed and standardized for use in sub-Saharan Africa. Consulting with target populations provides a potentially powerful procedure to develop and adapt measures for this population. This review identifies and describes methods used to consult target populations in sub-Saharan Africa. Relevant studies were identified using PsycINFO and PubMed, supplemented by a review of relevant books. We further illustrate the role of participant consultation in psychological assessment with examples of our work in Kilifi (Kenya). Three major approaches are described: focus groups, individual interviews, and participant observation. Participants have been consulted to generate items, identify appropriate assessment …

Reducing Bias In Cross-Cultural Factor Analysis Through A Statistical Technique For Metric Adjustment: Factor Solutions For Quintets And Quartets Of Countries, Kostas Mylonas

Papers from the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology Conferences

Differential item functioning or item bias is a usual threat in psychological research and many experts in the field such as Kline (1993), Nunnally and Bernstein (1994), and others have suggested various methods for its detection and removal. Item bias in terms of culture has been addressed by Poortinga, Van de Vijver, Leung, Muthén, and others, with most of the proposed methods attempting to minimize variance explained by culture itself by detecting and deleting culturally-biased items from the analysis. This is done through the detection of inequivalent –in terms of factor structure– items and their elimination before comparing for factor …

Youtube, The Internet And Iaccp: Opportunities And Challenges For Cross-Cultural Psychology, William K. Gabrenya Jr., Nathalie Van Meurs, Ronald Fischer

Papers from the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology Conferences

We culturalists are an unusual lot! Dispersed geographically and divided socially by potential and real political conflict, economic competition, religious disagreement and vast disparities in wealth and resources, we struggle with the dilemma of studying diversities that can only be understood adequately through effective communication and collaboration. The International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology was conceptualized by psychologists who recognized and participated in this dialectical context. The Founders set out to create an organization that would provide communication venues in order to facilitate the development of a community of psychologists who would collaborate on cultural research. Communication, indeed, was the starting …

Rogelio Díaz-Guerrero: A Legacy Of Psychological Creation And Research, Rolando Diaz-Loving, Ignacio Lozano

Papers from the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology Conferences

Rogelio Díaz-Guerrero’s journey began in 1918, born into a large (13 brothers and sisters) and very typical and traditional Mexican family in his homeland, Guadalajara. In search of the keys to understand human behavior, he moved to Mexico City immediately after finishing high school, where he studied medicine whilst taking psychology and chemistry classes at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). During this stage of his life, he was a student to a series of distinguished and prominent Mexican professors and thinkers: Enrique Aragon, Ezequiel Chavez, Guillermo Davila, Oswaldo Robles, Antonio Caso, Samuel Ramos and Jose Gaos. Finishing his …

Causes Of Culture: National Differences In Cultural Embeddedness, Shalom H. Schwartz

Papers from the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology Conferences

What causes national differences in culture? Past attempts to answer this question take insufficient account of how slowly culture changes or of the fact that culture itself influences the social structural, political, and demographic variables identified as causes. Convincing causes of cultural differences must meet three criteria: They should reflect the formative historical experiences of societies, they should not be influenced reciprocally by culture, and theoretically plausible process should explain their impact on culture. I propose and explain causes of national differences in cultural embeddedness, a value orientation that calls upon people to find meaning in life through identifying with …

Early Childhood Services And Supports In The Context Of Cultural Community Psychology, Richard N. Roberts

Papers from the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology Conferences

cultural and community aspects of the family’s and child’s experience. Though the effects of each of these variables may be hard to separate, distinct elements of each can be seen in the three examples used to illustrate this point. The common theme of the three case studies demonstrates that neither the community ecology nor cultural archetypes provide sufficiently satisfactory explanations for the everyday behaviors of the family members. Rather, the common denominator involves the context in which community and cultural influences interact to determine the outcome. When the context is one that supports both sets of influences, the families of …

Culture, Self-Construal And Social Cognition: Evidence From Cross-Cultural And Priming Studies, Ulrich Kühnen

Papers from the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology Conferences

Members of different cultures vary in basic social psychological processes, such as value orientation, attitudes, attitude-behavior relations, person perception and attribution of observed behavior. Previous researchers have traced back these differences to the respective culture members’ self-construal: Westerners define their self primarily in independent terms, whereas Asians are more likely to define their selves in interdependent ways. This difference in construing the self in turn affects the above mentioned judgmental processes. However, when relying on cross-cultural studies alone, the critical role of the self cannot directly be tested. In this chapter I argue that the accessibility of either independent or …

Taking Advantage Of The Circular Structure Of Human Values, Sipko E. Huismans, Wijbrandt H. Van Schuur

Papers from the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology Conferences

Schwartz (1992) has shown that Value Domains have a circular structure. The same circular structure has been observed in so many samples all over the world that we may assume that the circular structure is rather universal. Given this structure, the Value systems of individuals can be fruitfully characterized using only one score, which enables us to describe it extremely economically. The Value Circle score we suggest might be independent of response tendencies and cross culturally valid as well. The purpose of this chapter is (a) to show how such a score can be assigned to individuals and (b) to …

Relating Self-Complexity To Coping And Adaptation With Chinese College Students: A New Measurement Perspective, Wenshu Luo, David Watkins

Papers from the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology Conferences

Research into self-complexity has been hampered by problems with its measurement. The present study was designed to test the generality of Western findings about self-complexity and improve the measurement and our understanding of this construct by examining the relationships of four measures of self-complexity to coping and psychological adaptation with 347 Chinese college students. A new measure, the Self-Complexity Task was developed to obtain the number of self-aspects and the average distinction among self-aspects separately, and was employed in parallel to Linville’s H measure as the overlap among self-aspects in terms of their descriptive traits. As found in Western cultures, …

Teaching Problem-Solving To Improve Family Functioning And Decrease Suicidality, Erin Shae Johns

Theses and Dissertations

Suicide is a leading cause of death among adolescents and young adults. Numerous risk factors have been identified in the literature, including poor problem-solving skills, poor family functioning, excessive risk-taking behaviors, legal difficulties, and school difficulties. Deficits in problem-solving skills and poor family functioning are typically reported together, indicating a relationship between the two. However, no previous studies have identified this relationship. The purpose of this study was to identify possible relationships between two known risk factors and suicidal ideation, to determine whether problem-solving skills taught in the experimental groups reduce suicidal ideation and improve perceptions of family relationships, and …

Ethics Conflicts In Rural Communities: Recognizing And Disclosing Medical Errors, Ann Freeman Cook, Helena Hoas

Psychology Faculty Publications

This chapter explores the ethical responsibility of health care providers to administer safe clinical care. It further explores the challenges that such providers can experience in recognizing, reporting, and disclosing medical errors. Medical errors can cause serious harm (to the patient, provider and institution or clinic) and can prove to be expensive, stressful, time-consuming, and personally devastating. While rural health care providers frequently underscore their desire to provide safe care, they also report that it is very difficult to develop and implement strategies that reduce the risk of making errors. Studies show that there is limited agreement among health care …

Aspergers Syndrome, Miquel K. Anastasi

Graduate Research Papers

Aspergers Syndrome has recently become a "popular" topic in the mental health fields. More and more school aged children are being formally diagnosed with the disorder. Yet, many professionals do not truly understand the nature of Aspergers syndrome beyond being a form of autism. In this paper Aspergers Syndrome is defined and compared with Autism and the causes and possible treatments are discussed, particularly from biological and sociocultural points of view.

Gene X Environment Interactions In Developmental Dyslexia, Lauren M. Mcgrath

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this project was to advance understanding of the complex multifactorial etiology of developmental dyslexia, or reading disability (RD), by investigating gene x environment (G x E) interactions. This project tested for G x E interactions using molecular genetic methods and measures of psychosocial and bioenvironmental risk factors. There are two competing predictions that can be derived from existing G x E models about the expected direction of interactions in RD. There could be "diathesis-stress" interactions in which the effects of genotype are stronger in risk environments, or there could be "bioecological" interactions in which the effects of …

Perceived Closeness To The Deceased And Its Predictive Effect On The Development Of Prolonged Grief Disorder And Suicidality Among Bereaved College Students, Jeffrey Alan Rings

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A growing percentage of college students are experiencing severe and debilitating psychological problems (Caulfield, 2000; Douce, 2004; Kitzrow, 2003). Despite being a commonly-encountered stressor among undergraduates (Currier et al., 2006), the occurrence of bereavement is addressed rarely among the college mental health literature. However, bereavement has been shown to lead to increased suicidality and other problematic mental health symptoms (Prigerson, Bridge et al., 1999). Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD), a newly-defined mental health diagnosis, has been found to be a more accurate indicator of poorer mental health functioning among bereaved individuals than other mental health conditions (Silverman et al., 2000). Some …

Mindfulness Research Update: 2008., Jeffrey M Greeson

College of Science & Mathematics Departmental Research

OBJECTIVE: To briefly review the effects of mindfulness on the mind, the brain, the body, and behavior. METHODS: Selective review of MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar databases (2003-2008) using the terms "mindfulness", "meditation", "mental health", "physical health", "quality of life", and "stress reduction." A total of 52 exemplars of empirical and theoretical work were selected for review. RESULTS: Both basic and clinical research indicate that cultivating a more mindful way of being is associated with less emotional distress, more positive states of mind, and better quality of life. In addition, mindfulness practice can influence the brain, the autonomic nervous system, …

Does Optimal Distinctiveness Contribute To Group Polarization?, Joo Hwan Lee

ETD Archive

Group polarization occurs when group members have more extreme views after learning others in the group have similar attitudes. This effect has been found in numerous studies (e.g., Stoner, 1969 Mackie, 1986). Several theories, such as self-categorization theory and social comparison theory have been used to explain the phenomenon of group polarization. In the current research, an alternative framework based on optimal distinctiveness theory was proposed as a way to predict group polarization. This theory claims that individuals have two conflicting needs- the need to belong and the need to be distinct. When one of these needs is unmet, people …