Community Psychology Commons^™

Making Deception Fun: Teaching Autistic Individuals How To Playfriendly Tricks, Adel Naj, Megan St. Clair, Kacie Massoudie, Jonathan Tarbox, Lauri Simchoni, Marianne Jackson, Angela Persicke

Psychology Division Scholarship

Perspective taking is a critical repertoire for navigating social relationships and consists of a variety of complex verbalskills, including socially adaptive forms of deception. Detecting and being able to use socially adaptive deception likelyhas many practical uses, including defending oneself against bullying, telling white lies to avoid hurting others’ feelings,keeping secrets and bluffing during games, and playing friendly tricks on others. Previous research has documented thatsome Autistic1 children have challenges identifying deception and playfully deceiving others (Reinecke et al., 1997). Thecurrent study employed a multiple baseline across participants design to evaluate the use of multiple exemplar training, rules,modeling, practice, and …

Add Me As A Friend: Face To Face Vs. Online Friendships And Implications For Happiness, Andrew Griggs, Emily Rickel, Elizabeth Lazzara, Christina Frederick

Publications

Friendships are beneficial to individual happiness. Studies have examined virtual relationships; however, the quality and utility of adult, online gaming friendships and their relationship with happiness is still not well understood. Respondents were surveyed about friendship quality with their closest friends across two modalities (face-to-face or online via gaming), as well as other relationship characteristics including communication frequency and friendship length. We identified a statistically significant difference between the modalities in friendship quality. We also identified a relationship between friendship quality and happiness. We discuss these results in terms of practical implications concerning friendship quality in face-to-face and online gaming …

Historical Trauma Response Scores As A Function Of Unresolved Grief And Substance Use Disorder In American Indian Populations, Andrew R. Saunders

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Abstract

Researchers are interested in the outcomes of interventions, specifically, measuring historical trauma (HT) among American Indian/Alaska Native communities and the long-term distress and substance abuse as a result of historical trauma response (HTR). Previous literature has implicated limitations in the clinical conceptualization of the relationship between intergenerational transfer of HTR and substance abuse. The aim of the current study is to examine treatment efficacy of 50 homosexual, American Indian males randomized to a culturally-adapted juxtaposition of (1) Group Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT), (2) Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), and (3) Historical Trauma and Unresolved Grief Intervention (HTUG), or (4) waitlisted on …

#Bopo: The Effect Of Body Positive Social Media Content On Women’S Mood And Self-Compassion, Hope R. Rutter, Kaley M. Michael, Brittany J. Repak, Cindy J. Campoverde-Reinoso, Thao Hoang, Kathy R. Berenson

Student Publications

Body positivity is a trending movement that promotes appreciation of one’s body, including acceptance of one’s appearance and perceived flaws. In two experiments, we compared the effects of body-positive social media content relative to idealized body content and neutral control content on young women’s psychological states. In study 1, participants were randomly assigned to view Instagram posts involving fitspiration photos, body positive photos, body positive quotes, or travel landscape photos. In study 2, participants were randomly assigned to view Instagram posts involving selfies of the same individuals’ faces with or without makeup. As predicted, viewing body positive content (body positive …

Predictors Of Social Distancing And Mask-Wearing Behavior: Panel Survey In Seven U.S. States, Plamen Nikolov, Andreas Pape, Ozlem Tonguc, Charlotte Williams

Economics Faculty Scholarship

This paper presents preliminary summary results from a longitudinal study of participants in seven U.S. states during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to standard socio-economic characteristics, we collect data on various economic preference parameters: time, risk, and social preferences, and risk perception biases. We pay special attention to predictors that are both important drivers of social distancing and are potentially malleable and susceptible to policy levers. We note three important findings: (1) demographic characteristics exert the largest influence on social distancing measures and mask-wearing, (2) we show that individual risk perception and cognitive biases exert a critical role in influencing …

Relatedness In Gaming: The Effect In‑Game Touch Has On Player Connection, Victoria K. Lew, Joshua Smith, Nicholas Reuss, Xiyu Zhang, Jacob Gulliuzo, Christina M. Frederick

Publications

With the number of individuals becoming gamers on the rise, it has become ever so important to understand the underlying motivations and social interactions that occur within this video game medium. Research has revealed that player motivation and relatedness within a game setting can be affected by the interpersonal relationships that develop from in game social interactions. This specific study was interested in how interpersonal touch and relatedness gestures, more specifically positive or negative touch conditions within a gameplay experience, can impact both player motivations, as well as inter-player impressions. Additionally, observational data measuring the quality of interaction between the …

How Media Impact Race Relations: Positive And Negative Historical Examples And Applied Psychological Principles, Sophia Nocera

Honors Theses

This thesis sought to examine how media influenced interracial relations in the 1920s and 1930s. It starts by defining necessary terms like media, race, racism, and stereotypes. Afterwards, studies which demonstrate that media reflect society are analyzed as well as studies which determine the extent of media influence on society. Media are the most influential on people who agree with the content provided and those who have no specific opinion on the issue at hand.

Next, psychological studies which determine the circumstances in which racist ideology is accepted the most are analyzed. This analysis determined that in-group versus out-group sentiments …

Spatio-Temporal Distribution Of Negative Emotions In New York City After A Natural Disaster As Seen In Social Media, Oliver Gruebner, Sarah R. Lowe, Martin Sykora, Ketan Shankardass, Sv Subramanian, Sandro Galea

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Disasters have substantial consequences for population mental health. We used Twitter to (1) extract negative emotions indicating discomfort in New York City (NYC) before, during, and after Superstorm Sandy in 2012. We further aimed to (2) identify whether pre- or peri-disaster discomfort were associated with peri- or post-disaster discomfort, respectively, and to (3) assess geographic variation in discomfort across NYC census tracts over time. Our sample consisted of 1,018,140 geo-located tweets that were analyzed with an advanced sentiment analysis called ”Extracting the Meaning Of Terse Information in a Visualization of Emotion” (EMOTIVE). We calculated discomfort rates for 2137 NYC census …

What Does "Happiness" Prompt In Your Mind? Culture, Word Choice, And Experienced Happiness, Ji Eun Shin, Eunkook M. Suh, Kimin Eom, Heejung S. Kim

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

What three words come to your mind in association with ‘‘happiness’’? We analyzed the 1563 words reported by 521 Korean and American participants in this free association task. The most frequently endorsed word was ‘‘family’’ in Korea, whereas the most popular word among Americans was ‘‘smile.’’ The overall frequency of social words(e.g., relationships, social emotions) reported by Koreans was higher, and the most often mentioned relationship type differed between the two groups (family in Korea; friend in the US). Nonetheless, both in Korea and the US, individuals who mentioned more social words were significantly more satisfied with their lives. The …

Changing Attitudes Toward Sustainable Transportation: The Impact Of Meta-Arguments On Persuasion, David M. Sanbonmatsu, David L. Strayer

TREC Final Reports

An experiment tested the effects of both communications about the functions of an attitude and communications about the functions of an attitude object on persuasion. Participants received a conventional message about the benefits of public transportation, a message about the benefits of positive public transportation attitudes, or a control message. Meta-arguments about the functions of attitudes led to more favorable evaluations and stronger intentions to use public transportation. These effects were moderated by the political and environmental orientation of participants. Surprisingly, the conventional message was not persuasive. The research is novel in showing that the communication of the functions of …

Engaging Youth In Bullying Prevention Through Community-Based Participatory Research, Jen Gibson, Paul D. Flaspohler, Vanessa Watts

Faculty Scholarship

Few studies that engage youth in community-based participatory research (CBPR) focus on issues of safety/violence, include elementary school-aged youth, or quantitatively assess outcomes of the CBPR process. This article expands understanding of CBPR with youth by describing and evaluating the outcomes of a project that engaged fifth-grade students at 3 schools in bullying-focused CBPR. Results suggest that the project was associated with decreases in fear of bullying and increases in peer and teacher intervention to stop bullying. We conclude with implications for the engagement of elementary school-aged youth in CBPR to address bullying and other youth issues.

School Mental Health Early Interventions And Academic Outcomes For At-Risk High School Students: A Review Of The Research, Aidyn L. Iachini, Elizabeth Levine Brown, Annahita Ball, Jen Gibson, Steven E. Lize

Faculty Scholarship

The current educational policy context in the United States necessitates that school-based programs prioritize students’ academic outcomes. This review examined the quantitative research on school mental health (SMH) early interventions and academic outcomes for at risk high school students. Seven articles met the inclusion criteria for this review. All articles were examined according to study design and demographics, early intervention characteristics, and outcomes. Of the studies included, most were conducted in urban settings, involved the implementation of group-based early intervention strategies, and monitored GPA as a distal academic outcome. Counselors were frequent implementers of these early interventions. A meta-analysis found …

Evaluating An Abbreviated Version Of The Paths Curriculum Implemented By School Mental Health Clinicians, Jen Gibson, Shelby Werner, Andrew Sweeny

Faculty Scholarship

When evidence-based prevention programs are implemented in schools, adaptations are common. It is important to understand which adaptations can be made while maintaining positive outcomes for students. This preliminary study evaluated an abbreviated version of the Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) Curriculum implemented by school-based mental health clinicians in preschool/kindergarten classrooms. Results suggest that students (N = 80) demonstrated increases in emotional understanding and prosocial behavior. Children with low initial levels of problem behavior demonstrated large and continual increases in prosocial behavior over the entire course of the intervention, whereas children with high initial levels of problem behavior only demonstrated …

Short Communication: Powerless And Jobless? Comparing The Effects Of Powerless Speech And Speech Disorders On An Applicant’S Employability, Christian M. End, Katherine Saunders

Faculty Scholarship

The present study examines the impact of a speech disorder (a lateral lisp) and powerless speech on an applicant’s hireability. College students (N = 113) reviewed an applicant’s resume, as well as a description of two occupations/job openings that varied in regard to necessitating speech. Participants listened to one of three interviews (speech disorder vs. powerless speech vs. control), indicated their willingness to hire the applicant, and then completed hire-ability and employability scales for both positions, as well as an impressions ratings form. Contrary to the hypotheses, few differences between the “employers” responses to the control and speech disorder applicants …

Validating Kreiner And Ashforth’S Organizational Identification Measure In An Engineering Context, Morrie Mullins, Christian M. End, L. Carlin

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Co-Mentoring Project: Overview And Outcomes, Renee A. Zucchero

Faculty Scholarship

The Co-mentoring Project matched developmental psychology students with older adult volunteers for an intergenerational learning experience. Students conducted a biopsychosocial life review to increase understanding of older adult development and the continuity in lifespan development. Each student developed a summary paper containing the older adult's life history, a developmental analysis, and personal reflection. A project description, including the scholarship of teaching and learning, and an overview of its outcomes are presented. The project goal was accomplished; students positively evaluated learning outcomes and displayed a significant increase in knowledge about older adults and aging. Implications for college instructors are discussed. (Contains …