Psychology Commons^™

Modus Operandi And Target Selection Criteria Of Child Sexual Predators In Protestant Churches, Joshua K. White

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Although there has been much media focusing on child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, in many cases Protestant church leaders who committed child sexual abuse were held to no level of accountability. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the modus operandi of child sexual predators and their target selection criteria in Protestant churches. Hickey’s relational paraphilic attachment theory provided the framework for the study. Fifteen cases from the United States were analyzed using inductive coding to identify six themes: (a) Leaders from Protestant churches who were convicted of sexually abusing minors possessed gross psychological immaturity, …

What Makes Conversation Good? How Responsivity, Topics, And Insider Language Predict Feelings Of Connection, Emma M. Templeton

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

We spend our lives having conversations, and some inevitably go better than others. What happens in conversation that makes people feel connected? To explore this question, I recorded pairs of strangers and friends having unstructured conversations. In Chapter 1, I show that people who feel connected tend to respond quickly, creating short gaps between turns. However, long gaps are not necessarily bad. Although long gaps signal moments of disconnection and awkwardness for strangers, they mark moments of heightened connection for friends by providing space for enjoyment and mutual reflection. In Chapter 2, I examine how people start their conversations. Specifically, …

How The “Black Criminal” Stereotype Shapes Black People’S Psychological Experience Of Policing: Evidence Of Stereotype Threat And Remaining Questions, Cynthia J. Najdowski

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

Cultural stereotypes that link Black race to crime in the U.S. originated in and are perpetuated by policies that result in the disproportionate criminalization and punishment of Black people. The scientific record is replete with evidence that these stereotypes impact perceivers’ perceptions, information processing, and decision-making in ways that produce more negative criminal legal outcomes for Black people than White people. However, relatively scant attention has been paid to understanding how situations that present a risk of being evaluated through the lens of crime-related stereotypes also directly affect Black people. In this article, I consider one situation in particular: encounters …

Racial Disparities In Policing: Psychological Consequences Over The Lifespan, Kelly C. Burke, Cynthia J. Najdowski, Margaret C. Stevenson

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

We review the psychological consequences of racialized policing for people of color over the course of their lives, organizing our review within Bronfrenbrenner’s (1979) social-ecological model and emerging science on racial, legal, and racial-legal socialization. First, we consider the broader social climate that criminalizes and punishes people of color, and thereby generates racialized policing (macrosystem). Then, we turn to the institution and practice of policing and how this influences the way people of color come to think about their relationships with police (exosystem). Next, we examine how vicarious experiences with police shape attitudes toward police (mesosystem), and how direct experiences …

Gender Career Stereotypes, Implicit Bias, And Occupational Therapy, Laura H. Vanpuymbrouck, Carli Friedman

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

Implicit (unconscious) gender bias and stereotypes can affect clinical decisions and interactions between healthcare professionals, as well as impact careers. However, there is no research exploring the implicit gender bias or stereotypes of occupational therapy students or practitioners. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the gender-career bias of occupational therapy students. To do so, occupational therapy students (n = 54) from three Midwestern United States graduate occupational therapy programs completed the gender-career attitudes implicit association test (IAT) – biases associating women with family, and men with career – as well as a survey polling demographic information. …

Addiction And Liberty, Matthew B. Lawrence

Faculty Articles

This Article explores the interaction between addiction and liberty and identifies a firm legal basis for recognition of a fundamental constitutional right to freedom from addiction. Government interferes with freedom from addiction when it causes addiction or restricts addiction treatment, and government may protect freedom from addiction through legislation empowering individuals against private actors’ efforts to addict them without their consent. This Article motivates and tests the boundaries of this right through case studies of emergent threats to liberty made possible or exacerbated by new technologies and scientific understandings. These include certain state lottery programs, addiction treatment restrictions, and smartphone …

Using Peer-Support Coaching To Improve Adherence To Online Act Self-Help For College Mental Health: A Randomized Controlled Trial, Korena S. Klimczak, Michael P. Twohig, Gretchen G. Peacock, Michael E. Levin

Psychology Student Research

Online self-help programs such as the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) Guide address significant barriers to receiving therapy but suffer from low adherence rates. Peer-delivered coaching, using undergraduate students as coaches, is an innovative alternative to traditional coaching methods which may improve adherence in a more scalable format. To test the efficacy of peer-support coaching for college students using ACT Guide in a naturalistic setting, we conducted a pragmatic randomized controlled trial with three conditions (phone coaching, text message coaching, and a no support control group; N = 230). Participants were block randomized, and program adherence (i.e., number of modules …

Internalized Homonegativity And The Mental Health Of Lesbian, Gay, And Bisexual Individuals: An Integrative Treatment Approach, David Kearby

DSW Capstone Projects

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals (LGBI) have a higher rate of mental health disorders than the general population. The mental health disparities experienced by LGBI are positively correlated with higher internalized homonegativity (IH) levels, which impacts their functioning at the unconscious, cognitive, and interpersonal levels. Thus, effective interventions targeting the mental health of LGBI must consider IH's intrapsychic, cognitive, and interpersonal nature. An integrative psychotherapy approach addressing the mental health and IH of LGBI is needed to address the intrapsychic, cognitive, and interpersonal factors at play.

Product one of this capstone is a systematic literature review that identified psychotherapeutic interventions …

Examining The Effects Of A Behavioral Skills Training Package On The Emotional Regulation Skills Of A Child With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Kate Flynn

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

One of the most common symptoms experienced by individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a difficulty understanding, interpreting, and dealing with one’s own emotions and the emotions of others which often leads to an impairment in regulating emotional experiences. Emotional regulation includes the processes whereby we influence which emotions we have, when we have them, and how we experience and express them. The purpose of the current study is to function as a preliminary analysis to determine if a behavioral skills training (BST) package with video modeling (VM) can be used to increase appropriate emotional regulation skills for …

Neurobiology Of Ptsd In Adults And Children: The Impact Of Stress-Induced Brain Abnormalities Across The Lifespan, Catherine Clover

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In the scholarly community, there is disagreement about the effects of PTSD or chronic stress on the brain of adults and children. Though PTSD or chronic stress are known to negatively affect neurobiological structures, specifically due to prolonged glucocorticoid excess, volumetric discrepancies between traumatized and control groups are not unanimously confirmed. This review sought to address the common understandings in academia of the effects of PTSD on the brains of adults and children. Literature on this topic indicated that, in adults, the hippocampus, cingulate gyrus, and prefrontal cortex bilaterally appeared to decrease in gray matter volume and the corpus callosum …

Effects Of A Psychological Stressor On Methamphetamine Seeking In Rats., Kayla B. Cox

Psychology ETDs

Although methamphetamine abuse and fatality rates are on the rise in the United States, there are currently no FDA approved drugs to treat methamphetamine use disorder (MUD). To better understand factors contributing to addiction, researchers have designed various rodent models of stress including the use of footshock, social defeat and maternal separation, however, these models involve physical or early life stress exposure and thus are less translatable to human psychological stress. The present study implemented predatory odors as a model of psychological stress and examined whether chronic exposure to these stressors enhanced subsequent vulnerability to a subthreshold dose of methamphetamine. …

Fulfilling The Promise Of Applied Developmental Science: Is It Time To Reconsider Our Approach?, Steven J. Holochwost, W. Roger Mills-Koonce, Eleanor D. Brown

Psychology Faculty Publications

The promise of applied developmental science is that we can use scientific methods to promote positive human development and improve the lives of children and families. However, the present political environment in the United States makes the creation of research-informed federal policy difficult, even when the evidence supporting a given policy is unequivocal. In this essay, we hope to begin a conversation about how we, as applied developmental scientists, may modify our approach in order to best fulfill the promise of applied developmental science. To begin this conversation, we discuss the potential for establishing long-term partnerships with smaller entities, including …

Development Of A Leadership Mindset Scale, Nathan M. Kangas, V. Krishna Kumar, Betsy J. Moore, Christopher A. Flickinger, Jennifer L. Barnett

Psychology Student Work

The purpose of the study was to construct a Leadership Mindset Scale (LMS) and to assess its reliability and construct validity. Participants were 100 employees in a variety of leadership and non-leadership positions at various organizations in three states. An item and factor analysis on the 13 LMS items led to a scale with 11 items (Cronbach α = .80). A Principal Axis Factor analysis with Promax rotation suggested three factors: Leadership Mindset Teachability (LMS-T), a belief in leadership teachability; Leadership Mindset Improvability (LMS-I), a belief in leadership improvability over time; and Leadership Mindset Predictability (LMS-P), a belief that leadership …

Authority And Politics: The Relation Between Authority And Political Views Among Those With The Normative Identity Style, Patrick Oefelein

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine whether a relationship exists between the theorized identity styles and political positions, views, and opinions. Also investigated were the effects of authority on political views, specifically within the normative identity style. Students at a large southeastern metropolitan university (N = 440) took an anonymous online survey in exchange for course credit. Those with a normative identity style, who look to authority figures for answers, were found to have much higher levels of conservatism and held more conservative positions than did those with an informational style, who seek out their own sources for …

Observing The Relationship Between Physical Activity, Overall Health, Anxiety, And Sleep, Brianna Chicas

Honors Undergraduate Theses

College students' mental health has been researched for some time. In particular, the correlation between physical activity and mental health symptoms has been researched. The study examines the relationship between physical activity and anxiety, sleep, and overall health. College undergraduate students at the University of Central Florida took an online survey that measured all of these variables. A Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to assess correlations. Positive correlations were found between anxiety and sleep, anxiety and social desirability, sleep and social desirability, and strength training and vigorous physical activity. Negative correlations were found between overall health and physical activity, overall …

Investigating Mental Illness Perception On Social Media And The Propensity To Self-Diagnose, Camille R. Omega

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The perception of mental illness has often been studied in traditional face-to-face settings, but the research on its perception in an online setting has been growing recently. Social media platforms have allowed for important conversations regarding mental health to gain popularity and led to the formation of communities where users can share their personal experiences. It has also given professionals the opportunity to educate others on various mental health topics and answer specific questions their audience may have. From these posts and forums, users who are concerned with their mental health can be given the guidance to achieve proper assistance …

Male Pornography Viewers' Perceptions Of Asian Women, Caitlyn M. Koerner

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Objectification and sexual aggression are common themes in pornography. However, there are only a handful of quantitative studies that examine the role of race in pornography that included Asian women, a population that has been fetishized extensively and historically portrayed as hypersexual in mainstream media. There were also no studies on the self-reported attitudes of viewers around this topic. 96 male university students took a survey measuring the frequency and perception of their pornography use, their acceptance of sexual aggression myths, their objectification of Asian women, and their propensity to agree with microaggressions about Asian women. Results indicated that while …

Combining The Word Box Intervention And Syllabication To Support The Acquisition Of Advanced Decoding Skills, Elizabeth Kinsey Hawley

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Many students struggle to read multisyllable words (Burns et al., 2017). These students may benefit from additional support to move from the full-alphabetic phase to the consolidatedalphabetic phase of reading acquisition to proficiently read multisyllable words (Bhattacharya & Ehri, 2004). There is limited research on advanced phonics interventions such as syllable instruction which may benefit older struggling readers (Devault & Joseph, 2004). It was hypothesized that the merger two evidenced-based practices, graphosyllabic analysis of syllables with the word boxes intervention, would help students in the consolidated-alphabetic phase improve their multisyllable word reading by providing visual supports for segmenting longer words …

The Relationship Between Task-Induced Stress And Time Perception, Annamarie Brosnihan

Honors Undergraduate Theses

A distortion of time is often reported under the presence of stress or threatening stimuli, for instance motor vehicle accidents or near-death experiences. There is a lack of research on the complexity of time distortion under stress; thus, the present study aimed to explore the relationship between stress and time perception. Given the challenges associated with producing a stress response in a laboratory setting, difficult tasks have been previously used to produce a stress response, such as anagram tasks. However, it remains unknown whether experiencing time pressure while completing a stressful task can also influence time distortion. To investigate this, …

The Effect Of Personality On Performance Under Change, Sydney Mazur

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the relationship between personality and performance under changing circumstances. Specifically, this paper analyzes how the personality trait of optimism, and a moderator of ambiguity tolerance, affects performance under changes in an Air-Traffic Control Simulation. Previous studies have not examined the effect that optimism has on performance under change. Results indicated that personality does not correlate significantly with performance. This study was completed due to interest in a positive attitude and how it may relate to performing in the workplace

Development And Initial Validation Of The Safe Cannabis Consumption Identity Measure (Sccim), Luke Salomone

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Previous research has suggested that observed factors of cannabis use including use patterns, motives, and consequences are mirroring the same factors for alcohol use. As the prevalence of cannabis continues to grow, the ambiguous nature of a popularizing substance calls for more empirical approaches toward treating cannabis-related problems. Narrowing in on a flexible state of identity as opposed to inflexible states of behaviors show to promote long-lasting behavior change. While implementing this context with interventions, measures regarding a healthy identity with cannabis have yet to be explored. A measure that quantifies the extent a healthy identity with consuming cannabis was …

Measuring Brain Activity Using Fnirs During Discomfort Mitigation With Vr Meditation, Jordan Sammarco

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Pain perception can be drastically affected by external factors in the surrounding environment. Previous studies relying on subjective ratings of pain have shown that guided meditations supplemented by virtual reality (VR) can reduce the perception of pain more successfully than the audio alone. The research question for this study was: How does the efficacy of meditation as a means of pain mitigation differ with and without the application of VR? To answer this question, we used fNIRS to visualize changes in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), which has been shown to play a role in the larger pain matrix in …

How Mental Health Impacts The Relationship Between Aesthetics, Perceived Usefulness, And The Intention To Follow Self-Help Social Media Accounts, Quang Hong Phuoc Thai

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Mental health self-help accounts on social media often provide tips and strategies for individuals struggling with mental health difficulties to improve mental health outcomes. As mental health poses a public health concern that causes economic and physical problems worldwide, this self-help approach offers a potential solution to help millions of people at risk. In accordance with Technology Acceptance Models, how useful an individual finds a social media account should predict their intent to follow such accounts. Additionally, since social media accounts are highly visual content-driven, aesthetics may be a significant driver of intent to follow social media accounts. The present …

Perceptions Of Music Performance Anxiety Throughout The Covid-19 Pandemic And Their Predictors, Caroline E. Villacis

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Performance anxiety affects individuals across many fields, from sports to medicine to music. Research in the area of Music Performance Anxiety (MPA) has been of particular importance to instrumental and vocal soloists and ensemble members for several decades. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, many musicians have been required to change the format and location of their performances. These adjustments, as well as musicians' existing unique characteristics and life experiences, may have impacted their experience of MPA. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors on MPA. Participants (N = 251) were …

Personality And Social Media Use, Joshua Pearson

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This study seeks to examine the connection between social media usage and the Enneagram personality model. This connection will aid in a better understanding of what motivates individuals to use social media. The information found in this study will be applied to understanding behavioral addiction. This understanding will allow more personalized treatment for individuals already subject to these behaviors and preventive treatment for those more susceptible to behavioral addiction to social media. In order to find the connection between social media use and the Enneagram personality model, a survey including an Enneagram personality inventory, a social media use inventory, and …

Parental Divorce Effects On Young Adults Romantic Relationships In College, Hanna Mcadam

Honors Undergraduate Theses

With divorce rates at an all-time high, many young adults have gone through a parental divorce. Divorce has many negative effects on children like their development, the parent-child relationship, and overall health (mental and physical). There have been a variety of studies conducted about the effects of parental divorce on individuals, but a lack of research has been done on young adults' relationships in college. The purpose of this study is to explore more how parental divorce affects young adults in college romantic relationships, by investigating students raised in divorced families' relationship satisfaction and life satisfaction. This will be based …

Bilingual Switch Cost Effect On Language Processing, Ancuta Rader

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Recent reports suggest that over half of the world's population regularly uses two or more languages (or dialects) in their daily lives. The U.S. Census Bureau reports 21.6% of the population communicates in a language other than English within their homes. Thus, it is essential to methodically investigate how language processing and learning vary between monolingual and bilingual individuals. To date, research on the effects of bilingualism on language processing has been inconsistent or conflicting. The present study was designed to empirically examine if bilingual speakers differ in language processing and comprehension compared to their monolingual counterparts. It was hypothesized …

Components Of Athletic Identity In Participating Ncaa Athletes: Academic, Demographic, Sport, And Psychological Considerations, Alana C. Torres

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This study presents a systematic literature review of research evaluating components of athletic identity in participating NCAA Division I, II, and III athletes. Publications were gathered from six databases: APA PsycINFO, APA PsycARTICLES, CINAHL Plus with Full Text, ERIC, MEDLINE, and SPORTDiscus. 26 records met the criteria for inclusion. Four themes were analyzed in the research: academic factors, demographic factors, sport-specific factors, and psychological factors. Study limitations and recommendations for future research are assessed, such as challenges associated with self-report instruments and benefits of employing a longitudinal research design. Recommendations for practitioners and staff are also discussed.

Aerobic And Anaerobic Exercises In Relation To Anxiety And Depression, Ethan D. Mote

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The use of exercise is crucial as a means of treatment for various psychological disorders. However, as more research is being done, there seems to be a lack of consensus as to which type of exercise is most effective, aerobic or anaerobic. 232 students participated in this study via Qualtrics, and were asked to participate in the study by answering 9 questionnaires: the Demographics Questionnaire, GAD7, Beck Depression Inventory, PCL5, QOLS, Exercise History and Attitudes Questionnaire, Satisfaction with Life Scale, the Healthy Eating Assessment, and the RYFF Psychological Well-being Scales. The results found that a combination of aerobic, anaerobic, and …

Biological Versus Social Factors Of Juvenile Sex Offenders: A Meta-Analysis, Katherine M. Phillips

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Juvenile sex offending is not a new phenomenon but is one of limited research, with only a slight increase in research in the past decade. This meta-analysis used 5 articles to determine which holds a greater influence on juvenile sex offenders, biological or social factors. Biological factors were divided into impulsiveness, psychosis/mental health diagnosis (excluding paraphilic disorders), and sexual deviance/paraphilia. Social factors were divided into antisocial behavior, prior criminal activity, prior exposure to sexual activities/pornography, and history of being sexually abused. This meta-analysis found that biological factors have a slightly greater effect on Juvenile sex offenders, but it was not …