Other Psychology Commons^™

The Role Of Relatedness In Youth Athlete Burnout, Megan Wittenberg

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The Aspen Institute’s 2016 State of Play report projects a decline in youth sport participation that is more pronounced in adolescent athletes. Although there are numerous potential benefits for youth sport participation, there are also potential consequences including burnout (chronic psychological syndrome consisting of emotional and physical exhaustion, reduced sense of accomplishments, and sport devaluation (Raedeke, 1997). Approximately 1% to 9% of adolescent athletes experienced elevated levels of burnout, with current research suggesting that relatedness could have an influence on athlete burnout. In this instance, relatedness was defined as the extent to which individuals perceives significant others are genuinely invested …

Self-Efficacy, Implicit Theories Of Ability, And 2 X 2 Achievement Goal Orientation: A Mediation Analysis In Collegiate Athletics, Cory Cottrell

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Achievement goal theory encompasses the adaptive and maladaptive responses to achievement situations and has a strong background in sport research. (Dweck, 1986; Nicholls, 1984; Senko, Hulleman, & Harackiewicz, 2011). A 2007 meta-analysis established self-efficacy and implicit theories of ability as antecedents of achievement goal orientation (Payne, Youngcourt, Beaubien, 2007). Using the 2 x 2 achievement goal paradigm the purpose of the study looks to evaluate antecedents of self-efficacy and implicit theories of ability on achievement goal endorsement in collegiate student athletes. The current study examined implicit theories of ability as a mediator between self-efficacy and each of the 2 x …

Cognitive And Emotional Processes Involved In The Experience Of Objects As Holy Or Transcendent, Lotte J. Pummerer

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

In recent years, attitudes about religion/spirituality have become more pluralistic (Pew Research Center, 2015a). At the same time, the number of individuals who identify themselves as nonreligious, atheist or agnostic are growing (Pew Research Center, 2015b), yet we are lacking words and research to describe their attributions of transcendence in language not bound to religious concepts. This study aims at examining both concepts – holiness and transcendence – in their similarities and differences through assessing cognitive and emotional processes involved in experiences of objects.

The study consisted of two parts with a total of 206 Christian and 52 nonreligious/atheistic/agnostic participants. …

Effects Of Mortality Salience On Anti- Atheist Prejudice: A Terror Management Perspective, Cassidy J. Keim

Honors College Theses

Terror Management Theory argues that mortality salience is an important motivator in how people behave throughout their lives, and can influence how prejudiced individuals become. In this study we triggered participants’ mortality salience to test this claim, as well as measured the attitudes of prejudice have for atheists compared to homosexuals to see if they differ. Mortality salience did not have an effect on prejudice in this experiment, but anti-atheist prejudice was significantly higher than anti-homosexual prejudice. Although these findings are small, they confirm a need for continued research on prejudice against religious minorities, such as atheists, and how to …

Connecting Emotions To Behavioral Outcomes, Whitney L. Spears

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The field of positive psychology has emerged within the last decade and focuses on investigating happiness and what constitutes a satisfying life (Seligman, 2011; Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). One of the main purposes of positive psychology is to identify resources that can be used to promote psychologically beneficial outcomes (Fredrickson, 2001). Two positive psychological outcomes that can build resources to overcome negative circumstances and lead to a fulfilling life are resilience and well-being. A theory proposed by Fredrickson (1998) that offers a process by which individuals can enhance well-being and resilience is the broaden-and-build theory. Through this theory, it is …

Daily Hassles Among College Students: The Role Of Spirituality On Risky Behaviors And Emotional Distress Indices, Kristen N. Campbell

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Stressful life events are correlated with a higher likelihood of engaging in maladaptive coping techniques (Boden et al., 2014; Kohn, Lafreniere, & Gurevich, 1990; Park, Armell, & Tennen, 2004). One type of maladaptive coping technique is engagement in risky behaviors (e.g., high-risk sports, risky sexual behaviors, illicit drug use; Fromme, Katz, & Rivet, 1997). College students are at an increased risk of engaging in these behaviors. Research demonstrates that stressful life events are also correlated with higher levels of depression and anxiety (Kohn, Lafreniere, & Gurevich, 1990). As college students are exposed to a more stressful environment, they are at …

Tackling The Transition: A Life Skills Intervention To Improve College Adjustment, College Self-Efficacy, And Transference Of Life Skills Of Freshmen Student-Athletes, Kendra Grant

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The present study explored the effects of a life skills intervention on college freshmen student-athletes’ college adjustment, college self-efficacy, and the transference of life skills. The purpose of this study was to determine the importance of implementing life skills programming to student-athletes in order to smooth the transition period from high school to college. Hypotheses were that participants would improve in college adjustment, college self-efficacy, and transference of life skills from participation in the life skills intervention. Participants included three freshman student-athletes, who played various sports at a Division 1 University located in the southeast. The primary researcher conducted a …

Leadership Styles In Military Settings And Their Influences On Program Satisfaction, Jilian Gonzales

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was twofold. The first purpose was to investigate the presence and prominence of transactional and transformational leadership styles among US Army ROTC cadets in authority positions. The second purpose was to see whether these leadership styles had a significant influence on the program satisfaction of US Army ROTC cadets who are not in leadership positions. Those in leadership positions were predicted to rate themselves as being more transformational than those in subordinate positions would rate them. Transformational leadership was expected to be more positively associated with program satisfaction, while transactional leadership was expected to be …

Color Me, Please: How Color-Emotion Pairs Affect Our Perceptions, Russell T. Rogers

Honors College Theses

Color-emotion pairings are part of everyday experience, and they develop in early childhood. Emotional experiences are typically much stronger when emotional stimuli (e.g., pictures or videos) are paired with sensory stimuli (e.g., sights or sounds). Since the presence of these sensory stimuli seems to heighten the emotional experience of emotion-evoking visual stimuli, it should be the case that such pairings will allow the manipulation of color-emotion pairings through the presence of a color (a visual stimulus) during an emotional situation (such as watching a video). In this study (N = 44), we paired both a positive and negative video …

Understanding Tendencies Of Aggressive Behavior And Cognition As Related To Alcohol Use And Intimate Partner Violence, Taylor D. Thomas Ms.

Honors College Theses

The term intimate partner violence (IPV) refers to any act of aggression (physical or emotional) committed within an intimate relationship by one partner against the other, regardless of gender, sexual intimacy, or sexual orientation. One of the leading risk factors for IPV is the regular abuse of alcohol (National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 2014). High levels of alcohol consumption predict an increase in aggression in individuals with aggressive dispositions (Barnwell et al., 2006). Extensive research exists on the relationship between alcohol use and IPV, yet there is a dearth in the literature investigating the complexities of the alcohol use-IPV relationship …

The Effects Ncaa Division 1 Women Soccer Coaches Have On The Psychological Well Being Of Their Players: A Qualitative Analysis, Molly C. Williams

Honors College Theses

NCAA Division I college coaches interact with their players on a daily basis, sometimes more than once a day. Research has claimed that a coach-athlete relationship is a critical relationship when talking about psychological effects, and was even compared to that of a parent-child relationship (Sterling & Kerr, 2013). The importance of this relationship stems from the fact that coaches influence athletes’ lives in a plethora of different ways. A coach can influence the atmosphere in which an athlete performs; for example a motivational climate is said to be created by the coach from the perception of the athlete (Olympiou, …

The Relationships Between Television Viewing Behaviors, Attachment, Loneliness, Depression, And Psychological Well-Being, Katherine S. Wheeler

Honors College Theses

With the rise in streaming products such as Netflix and Hulu, there is a need to investigate the new trend of “binge-watching” television programs. Though this phenomenon has been pondered widely in the popular media sphere, little, if any, psychological research has investigated this phenomenon. The present study investigated college students’ television-viewing behaviors, including binge-watching television, television affinity, and television-viewing motivations, and assessed the relationships between these television-viewing behaviors and relationship attachment, loneliness, depression, and psychological well-being. Participants completed several measures, including the Experiences in Close Relationships: Revised (ECR-R), the UCLA Loneliness Scale (Version 3), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies …

Using A Motivational General-Mastery Imagery Intervention To Improve The Self-Efficacy Of Youth Gymnasts, Emily Parkerson

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Self-efficacy plays a significant role in influencing sport performance (Moritz, et al., 2000) and has been shown to be a stronger predictor of sport performance compared to anxiety, perceived control, and one’s personal goals (Feltz & Lirg, 2001). The use of motivational general-mastery (MG-M) imagery has been shown to increase self-efficacy among athletic populations (O, et al., 2014); however, there is a paucity of research regarding the influence of imagery, particularly individualized MG-M imagery, on the self-efficacy of youth athletes specifically. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of an individualized MG-M imagery intervention on …

Using A Mg-M Imagery Intervention To Enhance The Sport Competence Of Young Special Olympics Athletes, Kelley Catenacci

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The opportunity for athletes with an intellectual disability (ID) to participate in sport is limited due to physical, social, and psychological barriers (Shields, Synnot, & Barr, 2012). Sport psychology interventions may have the capacity to address these barriers, namely the lack of sport competence that athletes with an ID tend to experience (Vealey, Hayashi, Garner-Holman, & Giacobbi, 1998). Therefore, this single subject A-B-A design sought to enhance sport competence among athletes with an ID using personalized motivational general-mastery (MG-M) imagery scripts. The study spanned six weeks and was implemented with five Special Olympics athletes (M_age = 11.40) who had …

A Qualitative Examination Of The Sport Music Preferences Of Ncaa Division I Athletes, Zachary Ryan

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Athletes report listening to music prior to their sport participation for a number of reasons, including: mood-regulation, arousal control, and concentration (Laukka & Quick, 2011; Sorenson, Czech, Gonzalez, Klein, & Lachowetz, 2008; Stevens & Lane, 2001). Researchers have found that many athletes report their music preferences for everyday listening are different from what they listen to around sport participation (Laukka & Quick, 2011). Music preferences have been found to be related to both gender and aspects of an individual’s personality, such as aggression (Rentfrow & Gosling, 2003; Colley, 2008; Rubin, West, & Mitchell, 2001;). The purpose of the current study …

An Examination Between High And Low Optimistic Ncaa Division I Student-Athletes' Perceptions Of Preferred Leadership Behavior In Sport: A Qualitative Investigation, Alexander C. Roorda

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Numerous researchers have examined preferred sport leadership behaviors from both the coach and athlete perspectives (Beam, Serwatka, & Wilson, 2004; Chelladurai, & Carron, 1983; Freakley, Czech, Harris, & Burdette, 2012; Turman, 2013; Weinburg, & Gould, 2010). However, there is limited research in student-athlete personality dispositions and how those might influence student-athlete perceptions of preferred leadership behaviors. The purpose of the present study was to examine views of leadership in light of certain personality dispositions. This research examined the potential influence of optimism (Abramson, et al, 2000) on qualitative descriptions of preferred leadership behaviors using the Revised Leadership Scale for Sport …

Tornado Trouble: How Can Current Tornado Warnings Be Improved?, Jonathan P. Evans

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

There are many unnecessary deaths from tornadoes every year (NOAA.org, 2013). Although there have been great advancements in tornado warning systems (Coleman, Knupp, Spann, Elliot, & Peters, 2010), more changes to systems could be made to motivate people to take action in preparation for tornadoes (Brotzge & Donner, 2013). Protection motivation theory outlines the process by which we assess threats and decide whether or not preventative actions are worth performing. If the threat is perceived as severe enough and the preventative actions are seen as capable of mitigating the threat, the individual is motivated to act (Rogers, 2000). One means …

A Cultural Examination Of Hardiness: Associations With Self-Esteem, Wisdom, Hope, And Coping-Efficacy, Asea L. Gilmore

Honors College Theses

It is imperative that college students cultivate and exhibit traits associated with resilience to successfully complete their course of study and to protect themselves against the onset of mental health issues. This study aimed to examine positive psychology variables in relation to resilience in order to find variables that promote resilience in college students. Wisdom, hope, and coping self-efficacy were examined amongst 436 undergraduate students. Ethnicity amongst the sample consisted with 136 self-reporting as African American (31.9%), 264 self-reporting as European American (60.6%), 3 self-reporting as Asian (0.7%), 2 self-reporting as Native American (0.5%), and 28 self-reporting as biracial (6.4%). …

An Examination Of Coping With Career Ending Injuries- An Ncaa Division I And Ncaa Division Iii Comparison, Hayley C. Marks

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Researchers have suggested that the way an athlete copes with the end of his or her career can be one of the most influential factors in how an athlete transitions out of their respective sport (Gardner & Moore, 2006). Moreover, an athlete is more likely to have sport transitioning issues if he or she sustains a career ending injury (Heil, 1993). Although this is the case, questions arise examining the coping styles and life impact career ending injuries may have on athletes who play at different levels. Sturm et al., (2011) suggested that the athletic identities of NCAA Division I …

Adult Attachment And Emotion Identification: A Cognitive Evaluation, Jennifer F. Barron

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Whether adult or infant, attachment bonds aid in the development of beliefs about oneself and others (Collins & Read, 1990; Hazen & Shaver, 1987). Additionally, attachment seems to play a vital role in human development, communication, emotion recognition and comprehension, and the development of appropriate mental representations of emotional experiences (Denham et al., 2002; Greg & Howe, 2001; Raikes & Thompson, 2006). Because attachment is considered a somewhat stable trait, it seems logical that the importance of emotional experiences would not be limited to childhood, and would be important in establishing and maintaining healthy adult relationships (Kerr, Melley, Travea, & …

An Examination Of Behavioral And Temporal Consistency Of Pre-Performance Routines In Ncaa Division I Basketball Free Throw Shooting – A Naturalist Observational Investigation, Jacob Blumberg

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Research has shown that pre-performance routines positively influence performance of closed and self-paced skills (Boutcher & Crews, 1987; Cohn, 1990; Otto et al., 2011). Boutcher and Crews (1987) suggested that pre-performance routines improve performance by helping reduce anxiety along with helping athletes’ retain mental sharpness and focus. Furthermore, several quantitative studies have examined the influence of both behavioral and temporal consistency of pre-performance routines on the success of a skill, yielding inconsistent results (Boutcher & Crews, 1987; Lobmeyer & Wasserman, 1986; Lonsdale & Tam, 2008; Jackson, 2003). However, research examining this phenomenon from a qualitative and naturalistic observational perspective is …

Predictors Of Bullying In An Adolescent School Sample, Schell Hufstetler

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Author's abstract: Bullying is a pervasive problem in our society. Contributing to this problem is the fact that bullying is not well understood. This makes it difficult to design successful interventions. The current study aims to create a complete picture of bullying in order to increase understanding of this behavior. For this study, 59 adolescents completed a survey packet including measures of bullying behaviors and other variables expected to relate to bullying. The results revealed that bullying is a problem for both genders. Multivariate analyses revealed males to be more directly and indirectly aggressive, but there were no significant gender …