Human Factors Psychology Commons^™

You Are Resilient: Trauma-Informed, Strengths-Based Treatment For Low-Ses, Urban Youth, Courtney Molina

Dissertations

The focus in this review was to explore the benefits and optimal use of trauma-informed, strengths-based care for the therapeutic treatment of low-socioeconomic status (SES), urban youth. Specific focus was given to evidence-based research on the treatment of emotional and behavioral dysregulation among low-SES, urban youth. The review was guided by the following research questions: How can emotional and behavioral dysregulation be symptoms of trauma among low-SES, urban youth; What makes trauma-informed and strengths-based care optimal for the treatment of low-SES, urban youth with dysregulation; and What are clear guidelines for providing trauma-informed, strengths-based care to low-SES, urban youth with …

The Dark Triad And Honesty-Humility: A Preliminary Study On The Relations To Pornography Use, Peter Muris, Henry Otgaar, Cor Meesters, Eirini Papasileka, David Pineda

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

The present article reports on a preliminary study exploring the relationships between Dark Triad (narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy) and honesty-humility personality traits and pornography craving and deviant pornography use in a sample of 121 participants (46 men and 75 women) who completed an online survey. Narcissism and psychopathy were positively related to pornography craving and deviant pornography consumption, while honesty-humility appeared to be negatively associated with these pornography-related variables. Furthermore, the data suggested that these relationships were only present in men and not in women. While the current results should be interpreted with caution in the light of a number of …

Relationships Among Specific Types Of Trait Mindfulness, Need For Cognitive Closure, And Affect, Kelly Parker

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Mindfulness has a multitude of benefits including, but not limited to, increasing one’s positive affect, decreasing stress, lowering blood pressure, protecting against depression and reducing chronic pain. The pre-existing literature on mindfulness unanimously suggests that mindfulness relies on self-regulating functions to improve overall well-being but lacks information regarding which specific emotion-regulating characteristics may play a role in determining mindfulness tendencies. The present research investigated whether or not an individual’s trait mindfulness is correlated with one’s need for cognitive closure (NFC) and how these measures relate to positive and negative affect. A total of 328 participants, recruited from the University of …

Using Escape Rooms For Conducting Team Research: Understanding Development, Considerations, And Challenges, Tara N. Cohen, Andrew C. Griggs, Joseph R. Keebler, Elizabeth H. Lazzara, Shawn Doherty, Falisha F. Kanji, Bruce L. Gewertz

Publications

Background. Modern organizations are increasingly reliant on teams, and many organizations are subsequently concerned with the development of interventions that can improve the performance of teams. Escape rooms are beginning to receive attention as a potential avenue to facilitate team-based research. Escape rooms are team-based recreational activities that require a team of individuals to work together and think critically in order to solve a series of puzzles or challenges to escape a room.

Purpose. This article provides considerations for researchers and organizations alike concerning the development of an escape room for team-based research, its methodological applications, and challenges associated …

The Project Talent Twin And Sibling Study: Zygosity And New Data Collection, Carol A. Prescott, Ellen E. Walters, Thalida Em Arpawong, Catalina Zavala, Tara L. Gruenewald, Margaret Gatz

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

The Project Talent Twin and Sibling (PTTS) study includes 4481 multiples and their 522 nontwin siblings from 2233 families. The sample was drawn from Project Talent, a U.S. national longitudinal study of 377,000 individuals born 1942–1946, first assessed in 1960 and representative of U.S. students in secondary school (Grades 9–12). In addition to the twins and triplets, the 1960 dataset includes 84,000 siblings from 40,000 other families. This design is both genetically informative and unique in facilitating separation of the ‘common’ environment into three sources of variation: shared by all siblings within a family, specific to twin-pairs, and associated with …

The Impacts Of Migration On Myanmar Women’S Identity And Connectedness To The Land And Food, Allison Joseph

Scripps Senior Theses

In the 21st century, Myanmar has become the largest migration source country in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (Kusakabe & Pearson, 2010). To achieve its economic goals, the government has prioritized the confiscation and reallocation of communal lands, which has resulted in a growing class of landless and dispossessed citizens (Franco, Twomey, Ju, Vervest, & Kramer, 2015). This has resulted in the wide-scale process of Myanmar’s rural women’s disinheritance from the land and food, as they are expropriated from the home of their ancestors and forced to migrate to urban centers to earn a livelihood. The proposed study will examine and …

Shadow Women: Wives Betrayed By Sex Buyers, Ingeborg Kraus

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Shadow women are women whose husbands betray them by using prostituted women. Until now, there has been almost no attention paid to the harm to the wives or partners of men who use prostituted women. In this interview, Dr. Ingeborg Kraus talks to the former wife of a sex buyer. She describes the impact of her husband’s betrayal on her and her family. This type of harm needs to be taken seriously and more research done on it.

Human Adaptability For Deep Space Missions: An Exploratory Study, Paul T. Bartone, Robert R. Roland, Jocelyn V. Bartone, Gerald P. Krueger, Albert A. Sciarretta, Bjorn Helge Johnsen

Journal of Human Performance in Extreme Environments

The present qualitative study conducts in-depth interviews with astronauts and other subject matter experts in order to shed light on human adaptability in extreme environments. Deep space travel will entail a range of highly stressful conditions to which astronauts must adapt. Feelings of isolation will be increased, as the space traveler is farther from Earth for longer periods of time. Daily life will take place in small and confined areas, for durations extending into years. The dangers of the extreme environment of space are ever-present, and failure of critical equipment or components can lead to death. Astronauts will need to …

Keep The Faith Not The Guilt: Demonization Of Sex Workers, Jessica Hodges

Steeplechase: An ORCA Student Journal

Previous research shows that religiosity and attitudes about sexual topics are strongly correlated and typically negative. That is, as religiosity increases, views toward sexual topics tend to become more conservative or generally more negative in valence. However, current research also suggests that one’s sexual guilt may be the mediating influence in the relationship between religiosity and negative sexual attitudes. The present study seeks to replicate and extend research that examined the extent to which an individual's religiosity and sexual guilt influence their perspective of pornography and sex workers (Study 1). To replicate this (Study 2), a survey containing relevant measures …

B-3 Psychological Perceptions Of Disaster Misconceptions: Exploring The Acceptance Of Disaster Myths In Relation To Psychological Well-Being, Resilience And Conspiracist Ideation, Harvey J. Burnett Jr., Karl G. D. Bailey, Rachelle E. Pichot

Celebration of Research and Creative Scholarship

This exploratory study examined psychological wellness and resilience as predictors of conspiracist beliefs, disaster response beliefs, and disaster misconceptions beliefs. Data was collected from 300 participants through Amazon’s MTurk. These individuals completed a demographic questionnaire; for Misconception Measures the Myth and Misconception Propositions about Disasters Questionnaire (Alexander, 2007), Beliefs about Disaster Response (Wenger et al., 1975), and Generic Conspiracist Beliefs Scale (Brotherton et al., 2013); for Resilience Measures the 10-item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (Campbell-Sills & Stein, 2007), Beliefs about Resilient Behaviors subscale from the Behavior in Mass Emergencies Questionnaire (Drury et al., 2013); and for Psychological Wellness the 2-item Perceived …

Testing The Tripartite Influence Model Among Heterosexual, Bisexual, And Lesbian Women, Vivienne M. Hazzard, Lauren M. Schaefer, Katherine Schaumberg, Anna M. Bardone-Cone, David A. Frederick, Kelly L. Klump, Drew A. Anderson, J. Kevin Thompson

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

This cross-sectional study explored similarities and differences between heterosexual, bisexual, and lesbian women in levels of, and relationships between, the following constructs using a Tripartite Influence Model framework: family, peer, and media appearance pressures, thin- and muscular-ideal internalization, and eating disorder (ED) pathology. Self-identified heterosexual (n = 1,528), bisexual (n = 89), and lesbian (n = 278) undergraduate women completed the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-4 and the Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire. Sexual orientation differences in appearance pressures, appearance-ideal internalization, and ED pathology were examined via analysis of variance tests. Relationships between these variables were examined with multi-group …

Religion And Spirituality In Clinical Practice: An Exploration Of Reluctance Among Practitioners., David Drew, Jessica Banks

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Across the United States, an overwhelming majority of the population claim that religion and spirituality beliefs shape their worldview and assist in coping with life stressors. Yet, the literature has shown that mental health practitioners reported discomfort integrating religion and spiritually in clinical practice. The purpose of this study was to explore whether license-holding mental health professionals in Southern California develop reluctance toward addressing religion/spirituality with their clients. Through snowball sampling, 52 clinicians composed of social workers, counselors, marriage and family therapists, nurses, psychologists, and psychiatrists were recruited across Southern California (N =52). The participants were measured descriptively based on …

Empowering The Plus Size Body Using Dance As Therapy, Ashley Sampson

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

In Western society, having the “ideal” body image and size is a societal issue. It is advertised throughout media outlets that the “ideal” body is what should be desired, and any other body type is “abnormal”. This capstone thesis focused on the effectiveness of dance as therapy and changing the perspectives of all body types, to support and empower all bodies including plus-sized bodies. The use of individual interviews, in an open dialogue model, with a select few members (3) of Soul thru Sole, including the CEO of the dance company; which focuses on empowering women no matter their age, …

Development Of The State Optimism Measure, Rachel A. Millstein, Wei-Jean Chung, Bettina B. Hoeppner, Julia K. Boehm, Sean R. Legler, Carol A. Mastromauro, Jeff C. Huffman

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Background

Optimism, or positive expectations about the future, is associated with better health. It is commonly assessed as a trait, but it may change over time and circumstance. Accordingly, we developed a measure of state optimism.

Methods

An initial 29-item pool was generated based on literature reviews and expert consultations. It was administered to three samples: sample 1 was a general healthy population (n = 136), sample 2 was people with cardiac disease (n = 96), and sample 3 was persons recovering from problematic substance use (n = 265). Exploratory factor analysis and item-level descriptive statistics were used to select …

Multiple And Intersecting Experiences Of Women In Prostitution: Improving Access To Helping Services, Kathryn Hodges, Sarah Burch

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

When women involved in prostitution experience multiple and intersecting needs, they may face barriers in accessing help and support. These barriers can include geographical location and opening hours of agencies, limited childcare support, and a lack of female-only provision. As a result, women are frequently disadvantaged, and their personal safety put at risk, as they become increasingly vulnerable to exploitation, particularly if they do not have access to secure accommodation. This research project seeks to understand the choices and decisions women make when they engage with helping services. The findings report on an in-depth qualitative study with 11 women involved …

Painting Intimacy: Art-Based Research Of Intimacy, Michal Lev

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

This art-based research explores whether — and, if so, how — the process of painting, together with witnessing and reflection on the process and imagery, further an understanding of intimacy. The research also examines the conditions that favor intimacy, the obstacles to intimacy, and the particular features of artistic media, processes and reflection, through the editing of video footage, that can further the intimate experience. The participants in the study were five adults (including the researcher) between the ages of thirty and eighty who were familiar with the creation of visual art. Among them were three women and two men …

The Art Of Caring: Increasing Empathy Through Conversation, Joy Harlynking

Honors Program Theses

In our every day lives we use empathy more than we would assume, however a current empathy deficit has led us to wonder how we can increase our empathy. The present study aimed to find a way to increase one’s empathy, specifically through an emotional conversation with another individual. There were 61 participants who were separated into either an emotional or factual conversation group. They first took surveys including the IRI, closeness questions, and the pre Revised Eyes Test and then engaged in conversation with another participant. They then took a post Revised Eyes Test after their conversation. The results …

The Short Dark Triad And Giving To Nonprofits, Austin N. Prewett, Charles Elliott, Paul A. Story

The Kennesaw Journal of Undergraduate Research

The present study examines whether “demonstrable utility,” the belief that giving provides immediate or future tangible benefits (Sargeant, Ford, & West, 2006) significantly correlates to the adverse personality traits Machiavellianism and narcissism as they are defined in the Short Dark Triad (Paulhus & Williams, 2002). Two-hundred and twelve participants were gathered from Kennesaw State University to participate in a 20-minute online survey. While other factors were tested, attention was placed on demonstrable utility. Simple linear regression models were used to determine the relationship between demonstrable utility, Machiavellianism, and narcissism. A post-hoc Sobel’s mediation test was used to establish the different …

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 …

Advancing Research On Psychological Stress And Aging With The Health And Retirement Study: Looking Back To Launch The Field Forward, Alexandra D. Crosswell, Madhuvanthi Suresh, Eli Puterman, Tara Gruenewald, Jinkook Lee, Elissa S. Epel

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Objectives

The Health and Retirement Study (HRS) was designed as an interdisciplinary study with a strong focus on health, retirement, and socioeconomic environment, to study their dynamic relationships over time in a sample of mid-life adults. The study includes validated self-report measures and individual items that capture the experiences of stressful events (stressor exposures) and subjective assessments of stress (perceived stress) within specific life domains.

Methods

This paper reviews and catalogs the peer-reviewed publications that have used the HRS to examine associations between psychological stress measures and psychological, physical health, and economic outcomes.

Results

We describe the research to date …

Transformative Reminiscence Training For Older Adults: Increasing Self-Positive Reminiscence During Self-Directed Life Reviews, Deena Gayle Hitzke

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

For this dissertation, I tested whether Transformative Reminiscence Training is a viable alternative to facilitated life reviews for older adults. Facilitated life reviews involve structured reminiscence, which is designed to enhance the self-positive functions of identity consolidation, problem solving, and meaning-making death preparation (Korte, 2012). Transformative Reminiscence Training combines life review methods with consciousness raising. It is based on Paulo Freire’s critical theory (2000) and includes psychosocial, perspective transformation, and narrative identity life review education. Using a pre-posttest, randomized experimental design, I explored whether Transformative Reminiscence Training would result in (a) the completion of a self-directed life review, (b) increased …

The Effect Of Religious Dress On Perceived Attractiveness And Trustworthiness, Courtney Swank

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The hijab, a symbol of modesty and privacy in the Islamic faith, negatively affects ratings of perceived attractiveness. Although postcolonial feminism strives to portray women as not one universal group, but as an incorporation of different races, ethnicities, social classes, and other cultures, the Western world may not be where it endeavors to be. In this study the impact of the hijab on people’s perceptions of attractiveness was examined. Participants rated four target photos of the same woman with and without a hijab, and with or without cosmetics. Attractiveness and trustworthiness was then assessed in each condition, between genders, in …

Neighborhood Cohesion, Neighborhood Disorder, And Cardiometabolic Risk, Jennifer N. Robinette, Susan T. Charles, Tara Gruenewald

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Perceptions of neighborhood disorder (trash, vandalism) and cohesion (neighbors trust one another) are related to residents’ health. Affective and behavioral factors have been identified, but often in studies using geographically select samples. We use a nationally representative sample (n = 9032) of United States older adults from the Health and Retirement Study to examine cardiometabolic risk in relation to perceptions of neighborhood cohesion and disorder. Lower cohesion is significantly related to greater cardiometabolic risk in 2006/2008 and predicts greater risk four years later (2010/2012). The longitudinal relation is partially accounted for by anxiety and physical activity.

Breaking The Prejudice Habit: Mechanisms, Timecourse, And Longevity, Patrick S. Forscher, Chelsea Mitamura, Emily L. Dix, William T.L. Cox, Patricia G. Devine

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

The prejudice habit-breaking intervention (Devine et al., 2012) and its offshoots (e.g., Carnes et al., 2012) have shown promise in effecting long-term change in key outcomes related to intergroup bias, including increases in awareness, concern about discrimination, and, in one study, long-term decreases in implicit bias. This intervention is based on the premise that unintentional bias is like a habit that can be broken with sufficient motivation, awareness, and effort. We conducted replication of the original habit-breaking intervention experiment in a sample more than three times the size of the original (N = 292). We also measured all outcomes every …

The Relationship Of Intelligence And Psychopathic Traits To Premeditated And Impulsive Aggression, Elizabeth Witt

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

Psychopathy encompasses two distinct factors, Factor 1 and Factor 2 (Hare, 1991, 2003). Factor 1, is characterized by affective-interpersonal traits of psychopathy (Benning, Patrick, Hicks, Blonigen, & Krueger, 2003 ; Hare 1991, 2003) while Factor 2, is characterized by impulsive antisocial behavior (Benning et al., 2003; Hare 1991, 2003). Research abundantly shows that males tend to score higher on personality traits associated with Factor 2 (Hare, 1991), but there are inconsistencies in the literature regarding females relationship to the psychopathy subtypes. Research shows that there is a significant negative correlation between psychopathy scores and intelligence (O'Kane, Fawcett, & Blackburn, 1996). …

Cynicism And Narcissism: Masking The Good Life?, Joshua B. Bell

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

"Gratitude is a virtue capable of conferring a constellation of benefits. Research on gratitude has mostly focused on these benefits, but in understanding the construct fully an examination of moderating factors and inhibitors is important. A recent study, utilizing a prospective design, revealed cynicism and narcissism as significant inhibitors of trait and state gratitude over time (Solom, Watkins, McCurrach, & Scheibe, 2016). The current study hoped to build upon those results by examining whether these two possible inhibitors affect grateful processing after a gratitude induction. I hypothesized that higher levels of cynicism and narcissism would moderate the experience of grateful …

Love Attitudes: A Developmental Process In First Time Fathers, Dennis Klenowski

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Thirty-four first time expectant fathers age 20 to 38 were individually administered a set of behavior and attitude assessments during the first, second, and third trimesters of their wives pregnancy. This particular study focused on the Love Attitudes Scale. Research indicates that fathers are expected to go through behavior and attitude changes during their wives pregnancy due to several possible reasons like stress, an unhappy marriage, or love development. The main objective of this study was to measure whether or not first time expectant fathers experienced any significant attitude changes during the pregnancy. A second objective was examining if certain …

The Effect Of Residence Type On Adjustment To College, Matthew J. Facemire

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This study examined the difference in adjustment to college between Commuters (students who lived at home with their parents) and Boarders (students who lived on campus in residence halls). The study was conducted at a rural teachers college in West Virginia. The Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ) was administered to 86 students from four English 102 classes. The results include 48 students who met the requirements of the study. The results of the SACQ were input into a SPSS computer program to produce a 2x2 design ANOVA. The Test of Between-Subject Effects showed three areas of significant difference between …

Gender And Parenting Stress Using Abidin's Parenting Stress Index, K. Penny Nicholls

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The effect of gender on parenting stress was studied on a sample of 56 parents at the time of custody disputes. Each pair of parents completed the Parenting Stress Index or the Parenting Stress Index/Short Form. Results were not significant when gender was matched to the total parent stress scores, indicating parent child stress was not associated with parent gender as was found in previous research.

The Relationship Between Age, Years Of Service, Gender, Education, And Job Satisfaction Among Mental Health Professionals, Veria L. Hicks

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The study explored the relationship between age, years of service, gender, education, and job satisfaction among mental health professionals. Thirty subjects (15 males and 15 females) were involved in the study. The results of the analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated no significant relationship between age, years of service, gender, education and job satisfaction among mental health professionals. Recommendations for future research are discussed.