Psychology Commons^™

Cultural Adaptation As A Catalyst For Creativity: The Role Of Immigrant Generation And Bicultural Identity, Milena Demario

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This thesis examined the relationship between bicultural identity and creative thinking among first-, 1.5-, and second-generation immigrants across a broad range of skill levels. Creativity was assessed using the Alternate Uses Task, with fluency, flexibility, and originality combined into a composite score. Results indicated that biculturalism was a strong predictor of creativity, with both cultural distance and cultural conflict positively associated with creative performance. Cultural distance showed the strongest effect, suggesting that maintaining differentiated cultural frameworks enhances divergent thinking. Mediation analyses provided partial support for biculturalism as a mechanism linking immigrant generation to creativity, primarily among second-generation immigrants. Moderation analyses …

Self-Movement Cue Ability As A Potential Moderator For The Relationship Between Binge Drinking And Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms, Dominoe Anna Jones

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) has been found to co-occur in a range of 30% to 50% of individuals diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder PTSD. The current study aimed to assess whether this high comorbidity could be partially explained through a shared association with poorer function and reduced volume in the hippocampus. Self-movement cue processing, a behavioral ability previously shown to be associated with hippocampal functioning, was measured through a dead reckoning task (DRT) to test this hypothesis. The current study failed to replicate previous findings between alcohol use and DRT and alcohol use and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). Performance on …

Can A "Good Jab" Lead To A "Good Job?": Teasing As An Organizational Performance Feedback Tool, Jared P. Wilson

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Performance feedback is a valuable tool for bolstering workplace performance, but the prospect of receiving feedback is often aversive, leading to decreased acceptance, increased turnover intent, and increased recipient stress. One plausible explanation for why critical feedback can be aversive is that feedback is face-threatening. Politeness theory suggests that pro social agents can intentionally attenuate face-threat while still communicating intrinsically threatening information. Pro-social teasing, a humorous form of off-record communication, is one such method, offering a potentially less aversive mode of performance feedback. A sample of 133 participants read a vignette where they took on the role of a grocery …

The Impact Of Medicaid Policy Limitations On Access To Eating Disorder Treatment: Uncovering The Consequences Of A System Built To Fail, Meghan Frost

DSW Capstone Projects

Individuals who rely on Medicaid face major barriers when trying to access eating disorder (ED) treatment, reflecting broader patterns of structural disadvantage in publicly funded health care. Research shows delayed diagnosis, limited access to ED specialists, and frequent denials for recommended services. These gaps occur because Medicaid policies do not match the needs of evidence based ED care, resulting in delayed or incomplete care for many individuals with eating disorders.

This issue is highly relevant to social work practice because the policies shaping these barriers are complex and difficult for clients and ED providers to navigate. Social workers across clinics, …

Suicidal Mental Imagery And Its Association With Suicide-Related Disclosure And Suicidal Severity, Elisheva S. Rosensweig M.S.

Selected Full Text Dissertations, 2011-

People utilize two different modes of cognition, experiencing thoughts as mental images or verbal thoughts. Mental imagery tends to be more emotionally arousing and vivid than verbal thoughts, and most suicidal individuals report experiencing suicidal imagery in addition to verbal thoughts. Increasing evidence suggests that suicidal mental imagery is associated with heightened suicide risk, including greater likelihood of prior suicide attempts (e.g., Lawrence et al., 2021). However, suicide risk assessments primarily focus on verbal suicidal thoughts and rarely assess suicidal mental imagery, potentially contributing to the low rates of suicide-related disclosure and challenges identifying individuals at risk. The present study …

Beyond The Identified Patient: Sibling Attachment, Burden, And Coping In The Context Of Mental Illness, Blaire Fauser M.S.

Selected Full Text Dissertations, 2011-

A “mental illness” is defined as a condition that causes clinically significant disturbance in cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior. Mental illness is growing increasingly more prevalent and has been found to not only impact the affected individual but also the broader family system. This study examined the impact of having a sibling with a mental illness on the non-diagnosed sibling. Specifically, the study focused on the relationship between siblings’ (sibling attachment), coping mechanisms, and caregiver burden. Previous research has shown that siblings of individuals with mental illness are at a higher risk of developing psychiatric conditions themselves, which is due …

Secure Base Script Behaviors In Romantic Couples As Predictors Of Romantic Relationship Quality, Ben N. Zigelstein

Selected Full Text Dissertations, 2011-

Attachment representations guide expectations about the availability and responsiveness of attachment figures during times of need. These representations are shaped by early experiences of consistent, reliable caregiving and influence how individuals seek and receive support from close others across the lifespan. Secure base script knowledge, a temporal-causal sequence of events encompassing the essential elements of seeking and receiving support at times of need, is increasingly used to capture attachment representations. Research indicates that secure base script knowledge significantly predicts the quality of self-reported and observed romantic relationships. However, the extent to which secure base script behaviors (i.e., bidding for support, …

Ethnoracial Disparities In Treatment-Seeking Among Suicidal Adults: Stigma As A Mediator, Yiming Huang M.S.

Selected Full Text Dissertations, 2011-

Despite the disproportionate increase in their suicide risk in recent years, ethnoracially minoritized individuals utilize mental health treatment less frequently than their non-Hispanic, White counterparts. Understanding the underlying mechanisms is crucial to identify strategies to mitigate such disparities. While mental health-related stigma has received attention as a potential mechanism, select types of stigma have been examined in isolation, leaving it unclear which forms of stigma are most relevant to the observed ethnoracial disparities in treatment-seeking among suicidal individuals. The current study assessed and examined a range of stigma constructs as potential mediators of ethnoracial differences in treatment-seeking outcomes among suicidal …

Exploring The Impact Of Skin Tone Satisfaction On Racial-Ethnic-Cultural Belonging Among Latiné Caregivers, Nithya Angadi, Raven J. Bacchas, Fantasy T. Lozada, Chelsea Derlan Williams

UROP Posters

A sense of racial-ethnic-cultural belonging (REC-B) is a key process that supports wellbeing and ethnic-racial identity (ERI) development across the lifespan. Yet, little research has examined how phenotypic characteristics may shape belonging within caregivers. While the impact of skin tone on Latiné families has been examined, understanding caregivers' feelings towards their skin tone is essential due to its potential impact on their identity. The current study aimed to investigate whether skin tone and skin tone satisfaction predicts REC-B within Latiné caregivers. This study contributes to understanding how phenotypic factors shape belonging-related identity processes throughout adulthood.

Participants included 113 Latiné caregivers …

From Custody To Care: Understanding Mental Health And Recidivism In The Criminal Justice System, India Cox

UROP Posters

Previous studies on genetic influences in mental health disorders have been shown to correlate with incarceration rates in families. Consequently, there are individuals within the criminal justice system under the clinical threshold of a mental health diagnosis; it has been found that almost half of the incarcerated population was arrested due to acting upon their mental health disorder, while 27 to 38 percent developed PTSD while imprisoned. Furthermore, the serious and exhausting cycle of recidivism within the criminal justice system highlights the failure to provide the necessary mental health treatment required to support rehabilitation while incarcerated and prevent reoffending upon …

Victimization Trauma And Eating Pathology; A Global Perspective, Madisyn E. Feliciano, Cate Morales, Kelsey Hagan

UROP Posters

Introduction: Exposure to traumatic events is a well-established risk factor for eating pathology, including binge eating, purging, restricting, and excessive exercise. This association has been primarily explored in higher-income countries, like the United States. The goal of this study was to elucidate the associations among victimization trauma (physical assault, sexual assault, and other unwanted sexual experience assessed) exposure and (binge eating, purging, restriction and excessive exercise) in a global sample of women.

Methods: Participants were 2,458 women attending universities across seven countries (US, UK, Canada, Germany, Iran, Turkey, Colombia) who were recruited through their undergraduate participant pool. Students who completed …

East To West: Cultural Attitudes And The Perceptions Of Death, Hannah F. Ahmed

UROP Posters

Death is a universal human experience, but cultures teach people to interpret it in different ways. These interpretations influence how individuals understand dying, how they cope with loss, what support looks like, and what meaning death makes in their lives. Eastern, spiritual, and religious traditions emphasize death as a natural transition or return to divinity rather than an endpoint, and as something one must prepare for. In these contexts, people often grow up hearing stories, prayers, and teachings that situate death within a broader journey. Because of this, death becomes something familiar and speakable rather than distant or frightening (Naderi-Afif …

Patterns Of Ovarian And Gonadotropin Hormones In Emerging Adult Oral Contraceptive Users, Summer Mcormond

UROP Posters

Oral contraceptives (OCs) are often initiated during adolescence and emerging adulthood, a period of continued maturation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal (HPG) axis. Because hormonal exposure during this window may shape emotional, biological, and reproductive outcomes, it is important to understand the specific formulations young women take and the hormonal profiles these formulations produce. This study characterizes OC formulation features and measured hormone levels in young adult OC users (n = 30).

Ethinyl estradiol (EE) doses ranged from 0.01–0.035 mg (mean = 0.022 mg), with 70% using ≤0.02 mg. Pill regimens included 21/7 packs (83%), 24/4 packs (10%), and 84/7 regimens (3%). …

Analyzing The Impact Of Positive Youth Development Programming On Youth Critical Consciousness, Jaylin Pate

UROP Posters

Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) is an approach to research where young people have active involvement in the research process. By uplifting youth voices and allowing the next generation to partner as co-researchers, YPAR strengthens their empowerment and agency (Anyon et. al, 2018). This study explored the impacts of YPAR programming on youth critical consciousness. Youth Voices, a community-based program, aims to support high school students in understanding positive youth development opportunities. Participants in the program attended weekly meetings and were compared to a control group with no similar intervention. Both groups completed Likert-scale surveys. Results that the intervention had …

Syllabus: Guttman Psyc101: Introduction To Psychology, Natalia Lara Gonzalez

Open Educational Resources

The present syllabus includes materials to be used for an introduction to psychology class. The topics range from basic cognitive, behavioral and developmental psychology to social sciences and nature vs. nurture debates. The syllabus also includes an abnormal psychology open access textbook where students can access details on mental health conditions which they present on at the end of the semester.

Therapist Self-Disclosure And Therapeutic Alliance: A Survey Of Psychologists, Miriam Smith M.S.

Selected Full Text Dissertations, 2011-

Of the various forms of therapist self-disclosure, immediate self-disclosure (ISD) refers to the therapist’s sharing of immediate thoughts, feelings, and reactions with the patient in real time. In previous research, ISD has been positively associated with the therapeutic alliance. The therapeutic alliance has been conceptualized as agreement on goals, agreement on assignment of tasks or a series of tasks to achieve those goals, and the quality of the emotional bond. Non-immediate self-disclosure (NISD) is defined as the therapist divulging personal or biographical information about themselves or their life outside treatment. NISD has been found to be risky and potentially harmful …

Military Women In Sci-Fi Films: Breaking Barriers Since 1902, Introduction, Stacy Fowler, Deborah A. Deacon

Law Librarian Scholarship

From its beginnings, science fiction has been about humanity's battle for dominion over "the other," whether that means aliens, giant monsters, or nature herself. Especially in the male-centric military, that same designation of "other" is often assigned to women. Yet in the realm of science fiction, women in the military can attain what is often elusive in the real world—full participation and equality.

Chapters correspond to broad topics prevalent in science fictions films: Conquest, Evolving, Peril, Prey, Ethereal, and Exploration. The book focuses on portrayals of military women in science fiction films, exploring how they are able to excel in …

Young People’S Likelihood Of Intervention To Nonconsensual Touching In Nightlife Settings: Interactions Of Gender, Relationship To The Bystander, And The Recipient’S Reaction, Aimee Rose Wrightson-Hester, Maria M. Allan, Alfred Allan

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Nonconsensual sexual behaviors that occur in nightlife settings pose unique policy challenges and encouraging bystander behavior (i.e., either to stop the actor or help the recipient; nonemotive words used to avoid priming participants) might be an effective way to prevent these behaviors. Few researchers, none Australian, have undertaken quantitative studies to identify factors that influence bystanders’ behavior in nightlife settings and the interactions between them. Australian participants (n= 332, 56% women) read eight vignettes depicting an incident where an actor grabbed the buttocks of a recipient, in which we manipulated the actor and recipient’s gender; relationship to the bystander; recipient …

Embodied Tales Of Older Women And Their Relationship With Movement And Their Younger, Present And Future Selves, Valeria Varea, Robyne Garrett, Alfonso García-Monge, Gustavo González-Calvo

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Ageing has been often seen as negative in Western cultures. Older bodies are frequently associated with decline, loss, dependency, illness and increasing incompetence. Significantly, this ‘decline model’ of ageing tends to ignore the diverse lived experiences of older adults. This paper draws on the theoretical concepts of embodiment and affect to explore the embodied experiences of a group of 17 older women, focussing on their relationship with movement and with their younger, present and future selves. We used a narrative analysis approach and creative nonfiction to represent the data. The findings are presented in composite narratives in the form of …

User Experience In Virtual Self-Disclosure: Appraising Natural, Urban, And Artificial Vr Environments, Shane L. Rogers, Tasha Canes, Alexis Pallister

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Featured Application: This study informs the design of virtual environments for therapeutic and emotionally meaningful conversations delivered through VR platforms. The findings show that nature-themed environments, particularly virtual blue spaces, can enhance users’ comfort and calmness when disclosing personal experiences. These results can guide developers of VR counselling systems, digital mental-health tools, and conversational-agent platforms in selecting or tailoring virtual environments that promote psychological safety and ease of communication. Virtual reality (VR) offers new opportunities for delivering psychologically meaningful conversations in digitally mediated settings. This study examined how environmental designs influence user experience during emotionally relevant self-disclosure. Fifty university students …

A Social And Cognitive Psychological Perspective On The Assumptions Underlying The Rorschach Inkblot Test, Igor Areh, Fanny Verkampt, Alfred Allan, Christian N.L. Olivers

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Introduction/literature findings: The century-old Rorschach test is as controversial as it is well-known, and the subject of an ongoing, but still inconclusive debate about its validity and reliability. This debate is not inconsequential, as the test is still frequently used in clinical and forensic work. In addition to the psychometric aspects, there are social and cognitive psychological assumptions that underlie the test and that have hitherto been underexposed. We identify some of these assumptions and examine them with reference to contemporary social and cognitive psychological research. Discussion: Despite empirical evidence for some of the assumptions underlying the Rorschach test, most …

Exploring A Potential Link Between Personality Traits, Sexual Assault Attitudes And The Propensity To Create Deepfake Pornography, Lorna Marns, Ross Hollett

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Deepfake pornography represents a rapidly expanding form of image-based sexual abuse (IBSA), yet little is known about the psychological factors that predict individuals’ willingness to create such material. This study examined whether rape myth acceptance (RMA) and Dark Tetrad traits (Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy, and sadism) predicted heterosexual men’s proclivity to create deepfake pornography. Using an online self-report survey of 213 heterosexual men recruited from an Australian university and the surrounding community, participants completed measures of RMA, dark personality traits, and hypothetical scenarios assessing the likelihood of creating deepfake pornography. Hierarchical regression models showed that RMA attitudes that minimise or excuse …

Pre-Service Teachers’ Self-Perceptions Of Relationship Skills For Future Work In Schools, Melissa Newberry, Elizabeth B. Hinchcliff, Chelsea Cole, Michael Richardson

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This study focuses on the perceptions pre-service teachers hold about their own abilities to form relationships with four stakeholders of schools: students, parents, teachers and administrators. Survey data from 257 students enrolled in teacher preparation programs in a mid-sized, private university in the Western US were collected, including their beliefs about relationship skills, experience with children/youth, and conceptions of relationship formation as practicing teachers. Results indicate high confidence in relationship skills, yet few ideas on how to translate those into action when it comes to forming professional relationships. These findings suggest that pre-service teachers may be underprepared regarding the relational …

Evaluating The Role Of Provider Perspective And Their Impact On Individuals With Sickle Cell Disease In The United States Of America, Jadyn C. Oppong

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

Individuals affected by invisible disabilities, such as Sickle Cell Disease (SCD), have additional challenges beyond the physical manifestation of their disease, which is otherwise unknown externally. SCD patients continually consider disease manifestation in everyday life and experience varying degrees of disease perception in and out of the hospital environment. Additional considerations of a patient’s other intersecting identities, such as race and cultural identity, call attention to the sociological landscape of the United States of America. The dynamics observed within this landscape can be seen through the symbolic interaction of these identities with the invisible disability identity, in which a compounding …

The Effect Of Complexity Of Expert Testimony And The Presence Of A Defensive Rebuttal On Jurors' Decisions In Criminal Trials, Shelby E. Madden

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Forensic science plays a critical role in criminal trials, yet forensic techniques vary in their reliability. Expert testimony, often held in high regard by jurors, can be a decisive factor in verdicts, but its influence is complicated by factors such as technical complexity, adversarial bias, and heuristic processing. The present study examined how the complexity of prosecution expert testimony and the presence of a defensive rebuttal influenced jurors’ decisions when presented with faulty forensic evidence. Participants (N = 142) were randomly assigned to one of four conditions in a 2 (testimony complexity: high v. low) x 2 (defensive rebuttal …

Examining Firefighter Perceptions Of Stress And Recovery Across A Shift And Engagement In Recovery Activities, Nathan T. Ebersole

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The occupational demands of firefighting, such as fire suppression and rescue tasks, working in hazardous conditions, inconsistent sleep patterns, and exposure to traumatic events, can lead to work-related injuries, burnout, and feelings of isolation. To date, there is limited research on the impact of a single work-shift on firefighter perceptions of stress and recovery and the recovery activities that may influence these perceptions. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a single work-shift on firefighter perceptions of stress and recovery status as well as the recovery activities firefighters choose to engage in. Forty-three firefighters across …

Emotion Regulation: The Effectiveness Of Reappraisal And Potential Benefit Of Music, Ezra J. Greidinger

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Literature has supported potential benefits to cognitive reappraisal as a method of emotion regulation, as well as intentional music usage as an enhancer of these effects. It has been suggested that instruction be provided to individuals to use these methods, especially in highly stressed populations (Sakka et al., 2018). However, there has not been an experimental study to follow up on these claims. When instruction is provided, is cognitive reappraisal more effective than naturally developed habits in regulating anxiety, and would music enhance these effects? College students (N = 170) were randomly assigned to three treatment conditions: control, cognitive reappraisal, …

Impact Of Religion On Mental Outcomes Among Racial/Ethnic And Sexual/Gender Minority Individuals, Braden J. Waugh, Michael E. Nielsen

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Marginalized identities (Adams & Miller, 2022) are associated with elevated risks for negative outcomes (Ching et al., 2018; Kayode et al., 2024). Religion has been found to act as a protective and risk factor. Minority Stress Theory (Meyer, 2003) and Intersectionality Theory (Crenshaw, 1991) are used to examine the relationship between identity status and anxiety, prosocial tendencies (PT), and quality of life (QoL). One hundred fifty-two participants were primed with a religious or neutral stimulus, and then answered measures regarding these outcomes (GAD-7, Spitzer et al., 2006; PBIS, Baumsteiger & Siegel, 2019; WHOQOL-BREF, The Whoqol Group, 1998; IFS, Hammer & …

Stressful Life Events And Ocd Treatment: A Thematic Analysis Of Patient Perspectives, Emily E. Fenlon

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Trauma exposure, including interpersonal violence (IPV), is associated with increased risk and severity of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Exposure and response prevention (ERP) is the treatment of choice for OCD, yet research suggests a history of trauma and comorbid PTSD may adversely impact treatment outcomes. No studies have yet evaluated patient perspectives on the relationship between trauma, IPV and related sequelae and OCD treatment. The present study applies reflexive thematic analysis to interviews from individuals with a history of IPV who received exposure-based therapy for OCD. Interviews explored the influence of posttraumatic distress, impairment, and psychopathology on the treatment of OCD, …

Daily Rhythms In Psychosocial Stress, Sleep, And Mood: A Multimethod Approach To Transdiagnostic Psychopathology Risk And Intervention, Gabriel Gilmore

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Rhythms are central to nearly every core physiological and psychological process and have profound influences on overall health and well-being, particularly in the context of mood disorders. This dissertation emphasizes a rhythm-centered framework for understanding transdiagnostic psychopathology, proposing that the temporal organization of psychosocial stress, sleep, and mood provides crucial information for the development and treatment of mood disorder symptomology. Current literature relies primarily on mean symptom levels, overlooking day-to-day patterns in psychosocial experiences. To address this key methodological gap, three studies are examined. Study 1 develops and validates the Psychosocial Stress Regularity Measure (PSRM), a brief single-item measure of …