Other Psychology Commons^™

The Effect Of Viewing Appearance-Based And Self-Compassion Social Media Content On Body Image, Emma J. Sullivan, Jennifer A. Harriger Phd, Janet P. Trammell Phd

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

The present study investigated the impact of viewing appearance-focused body-positive content versus non-appearance focused self-compassion content on a person’s self-image. Previous studies have demonstrated that viewing body-positive content improves body self-esteem. Additionally, self-compassion content may be a protective factor against body dissatisfaction. Although body-positive content is associated with increased body self-esteem, some question remains whether the continued focus on appearance is an effective strategy. Therefore, the purpose of the current study is to examine whether non-appearance based content provides benefits above and beyond those provided by body positivity. It was hypothesized that those who viewed non-appearance based content would report …

The Effects Of Onlooker Gender And Restrictive Emotionality On Help-Seeking Behavior, Kassidy M. Patarino, Mia Mclaughlin, Amelia Trembath, Chris Gunderson, E. Paige Lloyd

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

Endorsing traits associated with masculinity, such as restrictive emotionality (RE), may have negative implications for the health and well-being of both male and female individuals, specifically in terms of help-seeking. The current work examines whether gender of an onlooker (i.e., a coworker) impacts participants’ self-reported likelihood to seek help for a physical ailment or injury in the workplace. We also investigate if RE moderated the relationship between onlooker gender and intent to seek help. We hypothesize that participants would be more likely to seek help from a female (vs. male) coworker and this anticipated effect would be exacerbated for those …

Emotion And Judgment In Young Women Of A Society In Transition, Maura A. E. Pilotti, Khadija El Alaoui

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

The present study asked whether emotional responses to narratives of moral transgressions are shaped by the reader’s assumed relationship with the injured party (i.e., oneself, familiar other, and unfamiliar other). Its goal was to test a cultural, religious, and individualistic account of such responses in young females of a traditional society in transition towards a sustainable integration into the global economy. To this end, female college students from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were asked to identify their emotional reaction to each of several moral transgressions, report its intensity and then judge the severity of the transgression. In agreement with …

The Effects Of Social Media Use And Social Media Influencers On Body Dissatisfaction And Self-Esteem Of Young Women, Devin Eagan

Psychology | Senior Theses

In 2021, 4.5 billion people worldwide were actively using social media, a 28% growth between 2019 and 2021 (Kemp, 2021). Influencers- social media users with many followers who show their daily lives to followers- have also become increasingly prominent (Chae, 2018). While significant research has been done on the impact of traditional media on body dissatisfaction, less is known about the effects of social media on body image. Previous research has indicated that repeated exposure to traditional media featuring thin women has a negative impact on body image. This study hypothesizes that women who spend more time on social media …

Indicators Of Deception: Science Or Non-Science, Kristina Vasquez

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Deception detection is used by many law enforcement professionals who work in interviews and interrogations. The ability to detect deception or having knowledge on the signs of deception is very important in not only law enforcement, but in other careers and everyday life. The question remains: is deception detection a science or not a science? There are three areas where someone can learn how to detect deception and those are verbal communication, non-verbal communication, and paralanguage. The use of verbal communication looks at what the person is saying with their words. The use of non-verbal communication looks at what someone …

Rock, Rap, And Rage: Which Genre Elicits Negative Emotional Contagion, Sarah Vinson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Previous studies have analyzed the effects of the heavy metal and rap music genres, both together and separately, to study the music’s influence on aggressive behavior. A lack of studies analyzing the effect of one group against the other are available to assess which group it is that elicits higher negative emotional contagion. The current study is a follow-up to a pilot study conducted to assess whether it was heavy metal or rap music that elicited higher negative emotional contagion. Personality type using the 10-Item Big Five Inventory and the Trait Anger Scale allowed the researcher to compare several personality …

It Takes A Village: Tribalism As A Premise To Understand Societal Responsibility And Impact Of Mass Violence, Paige D. Schultz

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

What is a mass shooter? This is difficult to answer as there is no single definition. The definition of a mass shooter depends on contextual factors including victim count, setting, and motivation (Gramlich, 2019). The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines active shooters as “one or more individuals actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area” (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2021, page 1). While other definitions are used to identify a mass shooter, given the breadth of study in this area by the FBI, this paper will use the FBI definition.

Exploring Sport, Exercise, And Performance Psychology Practitioners’ Attitudes On Attire, Claire Harding

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Research has revealed that attire has an influence on one’s self-perceptions, self and socially prescribed adjective traits and behavior (Adam & Galinsky, 2012; Lubker et. al, 2008; Peluchette & Karl, 2007). The present study aims to explore the influence of attire on perceptions, attitudes, and experiences of SEPP (Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology) practitioners during their applied work. Specifically, these factors were investigated through various demographic lenses such as gender, experience level, and age in order to describe the population. SEPP graduate students (n = 49) and early career professionals (n = 82) were asked to participate in a questionnaire, …

The Nature Of Anti-Asian American Xenophobia During The Coronavirus Pandemic: A Preliminary Exploration Into Envy As A Key Motivator Of Hate, Daisuke Akiba

Publications and Research

Background. The current Coronavirus pandemic has been linked to a dramatic increase in anti-Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) hate incidents in the United States. At the time of writing, there does not appear to be any published empirical research examining the mechanisms underlying Asiaphobia during the current pandemic. Based on the stereotype content model, we investigated the idea that ambivalent attitudes toward AAPIs, marked primarily with envy, may be contributing to anti-AAPI xenophobia. Methods. Study 1 (N = 140) explored, through a survey, the link between envious stereotypes toward AAPIs and Asiaphobia. Study 2 (N = 167), …

Model Of Inspiring Media, Mary Beth Oliver, Arthur A. Raney, Anne Bartsch, Sophie Janicke-Bowles, Markus Appel, Katherine R. Dale

Communication Faculty Articles and Research

Scholars have increasingly explored the ways that media content can touch, move, and inspire audiences, leading to numerous beneficial outcomes including increased feelings of connectedness to and heightened motivations for doing good for others. Although this line of inquiry is relatively new, sufficient evidence and patterns of results have emerged such that a clearer picture of the inspiring media experience is coming into focus. This article has two primary goals. First, we seek to synthesize the existing research into a working and evolving model of inspiring media experiences reflecting five interrelated and symbiotic elements: exposure, message factors, responses, outcomes, and …

The Art Of Breaking Up: Ending Romantic Relationships, Emma Salzwedel

Honors Thesis

This thesis reviews research on the most difficult aspect of dating: the breakup. The process of ending a romantic relationship follows a particular pattern which begins when problems begin to arise in the partnership and ends when both individuals have accepted the breakup and received closure. Using various peer-reviewed studies, the literature review deliberates the common predictors of a breakup, common methods of breaking up (and how each is perceived by the other person), common reactions to the breakup based on gender, and finally, the aftermath of the breakup. It is determined that personal and individual relationship factors ultimately decide …

What Predicts How Safe People Feel In Their Neighborhoods And Does It Depend On Functional Status?, Alfredo J. Velasquez, Jason A. Douglas, Fangqi Guo, Jennifer W. Robinette

Health Sciences and Kinesiology Faculty Articles

Feeling unsafe in one's neighborhood is related to poor health. Features of the neighborhood environment have been suggested to inform perceptions of neighborhood safety. Yet, the relative contribution of these features (e.g., uneven sidewalks, crime, perceived neighborhood physical disorder) on perceived neighborhood safety, particularly among people with disabilities who may view themselves as more vulnerable, is not well understood. We examined whether sidewalk quality assessed by third party raters, county-level crime rates, and perceived neighborhood disorder would relate to neighborhood safety concerns, and whether functional limitations would exacerbate these links. Using data from the 2012/2014 waves of the Health and …

Paternal Parenting Stress During Middle Childhood: The Impact Of Covid-19, Vanessa Newell, Kathryn E. Cherry, Emily D. Gerstein

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Background: Parenting stress is the unpleasant psychological reaction to the demands of parenthood, including perceptions of competence at and knowledge of the day-to-day and long-term tasks of parenting (Deater-Deckard 2006). While most research has examined mothers, father parenting stress is also critical to children’s development, predicting increased problem behaviors (Cabrera & Mitchell 2009) and poorer cognitive skills (Harwood, 2017). The COVID-19 pandemic may increase parental stress in multiple ways, as parents are at home more with their children while fulfilling occupational and personal responsibilities. Parents have reported increased stress due to job loss, school closures, and other stressors (van Tilburg …

“My Daughter Was Sacrificed By My Mother”: Women’S Involvement In Ritually Motivated Violence And Murder In Contemporary Africa, Chima Agazue

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Ritually motivated crimes are grave crimes that continue to plague contemporary Africa. Occasionally, victims abducted for ritual purposes are discovered and set free. Fresh or decomposing bodies are spotted somewhere, often with missing parts taken by the ritual killers who killed the victims. Some missing persons in the continent are presumed to have been abducted or killed by ritually motivated criminals. Although ritually motivated crimes take different forms, most of them involve brutal acts of violence and murder. The barbaric manner in which these criminals attack or slaughter their victims creates fear and panic. Traditionally, men commit serious crimes involving …

The Online Impossible Anagram Task: Development And Testing Of A Novel Online Cheating Paradigm, Emily Joseph

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

For the past fifteen years, the Russano et al. (2005) cheating paradigm has dominated research in the forensic psychological literature. While this paradigm successfully activates theoretical mechanisms for ethical decision-making, applying the methods for online data collection is cumbersome and retains a confound inherent in the design. Alternative cheating paradigms from both the psychology and economics literatures were evaluated for their suitability for an online cheating paradigm. The impossible anagram task was selected as most likely to elicit the same internal and external cost-benefit analyses online as the Russano et al. (2005) cheating paradigm does in-person: self-concept maintenance, ethical dissonance, …

Perceived Neighborhood Cohesion Buffers Covid-19 Impacts On Mental Health In A United States Sample, Jennifer W. Robinette, Georgiana Bostean, Laura M. Glynn, Jason A. Douglas, Brooke N. Jenkins, Tara L. Gruenewald, David A. Frederick

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Objective

This study examined whether perceived neighborhood cohesion (the extent to which neighbors trust and count on one another) buffers against the mental health effects of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

The XXX University National COVID-19 and Mental Health Study surveyed US adults (N = 3965; M age = 39 years), measuring depressive symptoms, staying home more during than before the 2020 pandemic, and perceived neighborhood cohesion.

Results

A series of linear regressions indicated that perceiving one's neighborhood as more cohesive was not only associated with fewer depressive symptoms, but also attenuated the relationship between spending more time at …

Can I Buy My Health? A Genetically Informed Study Of Socioeconomic Status And Health, Jennifer W. Robinette, Christopher R. Beam, Tara L. Gruenewald

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Background

A large literature demonstrates associations between socioeconomic status (SES) and health, including physiological health and well-being. Moreover, gender differences are often observed among measures of both SES and health. However, relationships between SES and health are sometimes questioned given the lack of true experiments, and the potential biological and SES mechanisms explaining gender differences in health are rarely examined simultaneously.

Purpose

To use a national sample of twins to investigate lifetime socioeconomic adversity and a measure of physiological dysregulation separately by sex.

Methods

Using the twin sample in the second wave of the Midlife in the United States survey …

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Comparing Short-Term, Intensive Therapy To Traditional, Long-Term Therapy, Laura Gonzalez, Sean Kruckenberg

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a mental health diagnosis that occurs following a traumatic event, and military veterans are at higher risk of exposure to hazardous or life-threatening situations that may result in psychological trauma. PTSD sufferers experience symptoms such as distressing memories, nightmares, flashbacks, hypervigilance, and heightened arousal. Individuals with PTSD also experience higher rates of depressive and substance use disorders, involvement with the justice system, and self-harm and suicide. Many agencies, such as the Department of Veteran’s Affairs (VA) provide treatment PTSD, however most programs experience dropout rates as high as 36%. Recent studies have shown that …

Neighborhood Safety Concerns And Daily Well-Being: A National Diary Study, Jennifer W. Robinette, Jennifer R. Piazza, Robert S. Stawski

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

People living in unsafe neighborhoods often report poor health. The reasons for this are multi-faceted, but one possibility is that unsafe neighborhoods create a situation of chronic stress, which may deplete people's resources to cope with the daily stressors of life. How people respond to daily stressors (e.g., with increased self-reported negative affect and physical symptoms) is positively associated with health problems and may thus be one pathway linking perceptions of neighborhood safety to poor health. The current study investigated the relationship between neighborhood safety concerns, daily stressors, affective well-being, and physical health symptoms in a national sample of adults …

Assessing Latinx Colorism And Skin Tone Dating Preferences In Adults, Yessica M. Berumen Martinez

Ursidae: The Undergraduate Research Journal at the University of Northern Colorado

Colorism is favoring by individuals of lighter skin over darker skin. This differs from racism because racism is discrimination directed towards racial or ethnic minorities, while colorism typically refers to within-group prejudice. The purpose of this study is to find out whether and how Latinx individuals’ self-perceived skin color, family, and friends influence their dating skin color preference. 145 respondents ages 18 and over completed the In-group Colorism Scale by Harvey, Banks, and Tennial (2017) and answered additional questions on skin tone perceptions on dating, and parent and friend influences. There was no significant connection between self-perceived skin color and …

Body Swapping With A Black Person Boosts Empathy: Using Virtual Reality To Embody Another, Rémi Thériault, Jay A. Olson, Sonia A. Krol, Amir Raz

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Perspective-taking, whether through imagination or virtual-reality interventions, seems to improve intergroup relations; however, which intervention leads to better outcomes remains unclear. This preregistered study collected measures of empathy and race bias from 90 participants, split into one of three perspective-taking groups: embodied perspective-taking, mental perspective-taking, and a control group. We drew on virtual-reality technology alongside a Black confederate across all conditions. Only in the first group, participants got to exchange real-time viewpoints with the confederate and literally “see through the eyes of another.” In the two other conditions, participants either imagined a day in the life of the Black confederate …

The Effects Of South Korean Beauty Standards On Body Image, Self-Esteem, And Life Satisfaction Amongst Asian Americans, Janessa Akemi Fong

Honors Projects

The United States has seen significant changes in beauty standards over the years, and the current study focused on the influence beauty standards have on body image, self-esteem, and life satisfaction in the Asian American population. Past literature found a positive relationship between beauty standards and body image, self-esteem, and life satisfaction (Choi & Choi, 2016; Hye et al., 2013; Lee et al., 2014), however, these studies have not addressed the Asian American population directly and there was minimal comparison between Western beauty standards and Asian beauty standards. To address these gaps in the literature, this study proposed that there …

Improving The Accuracy Of Juror Self-Reports Of Bias During Rehabilitative Voir Dire, Natalie Gordon

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The courts have long acknowledged pretrial publicity (PTP) as a source of juror bias. To safeguard defendants due process rights, jurors who harbor bias are frequently asked during voir dire if they can set aside their bias and be fair and impartial. Yet, jurors’ self-reports of their ability to be fair and impartial are largely inaccurate. For example, regardless of their level of exposure to PTP, jurors typically report an ability to be fair and impartial. Therefore, this method of so-called “juror rehabilitation” is ineffective. This project examines conformity pressures that may be inhibiting accurate self-reporting during juror rehabilitation and …

Information Justice: The Histories And Futures Of Technology And Social Categories, Patrick Sweeney

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

My dissertation examines two controversies related to emergent uses of information from social media in psychological research and application. It focuses on controversies surrounding studies of face-based gaydar and the use of psychographic targeting by Cambridge Analytica in the 2016 US presidential election. Each controversy is analyzed in a case study that explores the issues specific to that study in relation to broader patterns across contexts to identify emergent trends in the use of information from social media in psychological research. Qualitative Content Analysis is used to analyze extant texts relevant to each case. In each study, findings related to …

Social Production Of Intellectual Disability And The Mechanics Of Moral Exclusion: Past, Present, And Future, Emese Ilyes

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The institutionalized dehumanization in the United States continues to allow for people who are categorized as intellectually disabled to be legally warehoused and paid as little as pennies per hour to complete rote, repetitive work within segregated environments. An entire court case was conducted about whether a man labeled as intellectually disabled was able to engage in a consensual relationship or whether he was the victim of sexual assault without ever allowing him to express his desires and lived experiences. This project is an attempt to explore a theoretical, historical explanation for how humanity is denied in some bodies, how …

Young People’S Perception Of Opportunities To Participate In Democratic Governance, Jennifer Nga Yu Tang

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (United Nations General Assembly, 1989) accords all young people the right to be heard and make decisions on matters affecting them. Despite the fact the United States remains the only country in the world not to have ratified this document, a number of American cities have nevertheless begun to engage young people in community decision-making (e.g., in neighborhood associations or community boards). However, as of yet there are few actual opportunities for youth to participate fully in the governance of their cities. This study examined the perspectives of young people …

Does The Tripartite Influence Model Of Body Image And Eating Pathology Function Similarly Across Racial/Ethnic Groups Of White, Black, Latina, And Asian Women?, Natasha L. Burke, Lauren M. Schaefer, Yvette G. Karvay, Anna M. Bardone-Cone, David A. Frederick, Katherine Schaumberg, Kelly L. Klump, Drew A. Anderson, J. Kevin Thompson

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

The tripartite influence model suggests that appearance pressures from family, peers, and the media contribute to thin-ideal internalization, which leads to increased body dissatisfaction and subsequent eating disorder pathology. The tripartite influence model was initially developed and tested among primarily White samples, and emerging research suggests racial/ethnic differences in mean levels of particular model constructs. Consequently, the model's appropriateness for understanding eating disorder risk in racial/ethnic minorities warrants investigation to determine its usefulness in explicating eating disorder risk in diverse populations. Participants in the current study were White (n = 1167), Black (n = 212), Latina (n …

A Study On The Positive And Negative Emotional Response Of Frequent And Non- Frequent Video Game Players, Heidi Francis

Psychology | Senior Theses

Video games are a fun and popular outlet for many. They boost enthusiasm and can provide a form of entertainment, challenges, and confidence in players (Ceranoglu, 2010). Video games are an activity that bring a variety of feelings as players interact in a variety of ways. Many researchers study the negative effects of competitive and violent video games which often have been correlated with aggression (Dowsett & Jackson, 2019). There is less focus on the positive emotional responses but positive effects of videogames have been supported but consider other factors of influence such as well-being, motivation, social interaction, and violence …

Cultural Influences On Exercise Type And Body Confidence In Women, Skye Sakashita, Desiree Crevecoeur-Macphail

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

This study examined cultural influences on exercise habits and body confidence in women, specifically between ethnic minority and white women. Past research has indicated that Asian women often feel more cultural pressure than their White counterparts. This study wanted to examine further and see if an individual’s parent being an immigrant differs in amount of cultural pressure. Another aspect that this survey examined is motivation for exercise. Past research found that women who felt greater dissatisfaction with their physical appearance were more likely to list factors such as appearance or weight as their reasoning for exercise rather than for health …

Reconciling Religious And Scientific Epistomologies: Leveraging Mutuality To Enhance Acceptance Of Science And Respect For Religion, Mary Medlin

Dissertations

One prominent factor associated with accepting science as factual includes religiosity, with greater espoused religiosity often associated with less acceptance of scientific facts and greater secularism associated with greater acceptance of science as factual, but often reduced respect of religious beliefs. Such dichotomies exacerbate perceptions that science and religion are mutually exclusive, thereby fostering conflict between individuals with different perspectives and increasing ideological polarization. The current study sought to compare these mutually exclusive articulations of science and religion to a mutualist articulation of science and religion as complementary ways of knowing. Participants were randomly assigned to read one of four …