Personality and Social Contexts Commons^™

Single Parent Households And The Effect On Student Learning, Asia Watt

Masters Theses

The purpose of this research is to examine if there is a relationship between single-parent households and the effect on student learning. A total of seven parents and three elementary teachers took a survey. Students’ scores in math and reading from report cards and PARCC scores were also used as data sources. Results revealed that the involvement of single parents at school varies depending on the type of involvement, however, data from the report card review showed all the parents review their child’s report card. Approximately 70 % or more assisted their children in math and English homework. In addition, …

Empathy And Its Effect On Religious Opinion Regarding Homosexuality, Melissa Borah

The Eastern Illinois University Political Science Review

This article examines shifts in opinion, and the reasoning behind these shifts, among Christian-identified Americans regarding their views of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals. After conducting interviews with several Christian-identified Americans, the author finds that when a family member or close friend “comes out” as LGBT, individuals are more likely to change their opinion of those who identify as LGBT, and their change in opinion is more likely to be dramatic. Moreover, the author finds that empathy is the most powerful factor that facilitates an individual’s change in opinion.

Family Environment, Family Structure, And Personality Traits Of Adult Children, Michelle A. Rallins

Masters Theses

There have been several studies on the long-term impact of divorce on children; however there have been relatively few studies on the personality characteristics of adult children of divorce. This study investigates the personality traits and family environments of young adults from varied family structures. College students (n = 75) completed the Personality Research Form (PRF-E) and the Family Environment Scale (FES) and demographic forms. A multivariate of analysis (MANOVA) was conducted. The results revealed no significant differences in regard to personality or family environments between young adults from intact families and divorced families. There were, however, marginal differences in …

Mmpi Profiles Of Sexual Perpetrators, Steven G. Vaupel

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to compare MMPI scores of 60 men referred for assessment and/or counseling at community mental health facilities. No MMPI protocols were excluded due to elevated validity configurations (70T or above). Forty of the referrals were referred for suspected child sexual abuse. Twenty of the referrals admitted (Admitter) to sexually abusing a child at the time of referral and twenty did not admit (Nonadmitter) to sexually abusing a child when referred. A control group of the remaining twenty subjects were referred for various offenses, none of which included sexual offenses against children. Significant differences were …

An Exploratory Investigation Comparing Battered And Non-Battered Women Using The Hand Test, Debra A. Dalton

Masters Theses

The physical and mental abuse of women as wives and lovers is a largely unrecognized crime of violence just beginning to receive attention in the United States. The extent of wifebeating is difficult to determine since, although it occurs in every strata of society and every age group, it is underreported for a variety of reasons. The motives for wife abuse are complex. There are several social and psychological explanations that have been suggested as the underlying rationale for wifebeating. Psychological testing with battered women is rare and what testing that has been done has been limited to interviews and …

Themes Elicited By The Senior Apperception Test In Institutionalized Older Adults, Nancy A. Stock

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the major themes elicited by the 16 stimulus cards of the Senior Apperception Test (SAT) (Bellak, 1975). The SAT was administered to 40 institutionalized male and female volunteers from seven nursing homes in the central Illinois region. They ranged in age from 61 to 97 years of age. There were 20 females (mean age = 78.6 years, S.D. = 8.3 years) and 20 males (mean age = 78.l years, S.D. = 10.4 years). All subjects were initially given a brief organic screening device to rule out those subjects with severe or moderate …

The Relationship Between Empathy And Socially Deviant Behaviors In Delinquent Adolescents, Terrie L. Fisk

Masters Theses

Past research has demonstrated that empathy, traditionally defined as the ability to discriminate, label and then experience the emotional response of another, acts as an inhibitor of aggressive behavior. Additional evidence has shown an increase in empathic functioning can be the result of various empathy training strategies. It has recently been hypothesized that aggressive behavior might be decreased as empathic functioning increases. The present study sought to determine if an inverse relationship existed between empathy and socially deviant behavior, which is a less extreme degree of aggression characterized by disruptiveness and attention seeking. In addition, it was hypothesized that if …

An Exploratory Investigation Of The Relationship Between Personality And Intelligence With Community-Living And Institutionalized Elderly Females, Richard D. Stolp

Masters Theses

The Hand Test and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale were administered to 25 institutionalized (Mage = 80.00) and 25 community-living (Mage = 72.92) elderly females to investigate personality differences between the two groups, and to explore the relationship between personality and intelligence in regard to the aged. It was discussed that the results of the present study should be interpreted with caution, since significant age and educational differences were found between the groups that may have contributed to the results. The hypothesis concerning greater personality deterioration in institutionalized subjects than in community-living subjects was given partial support inasmuch as depletion …

An Exploratory Study Of Black And White College Students On The Hand Test, Marie Clark

Masters Theses

In the past Blacks have not been used in the construction or development of norms for psychological tests, though they are routinely administered to Blacks. Several researchers have made an effort to determine whether tests which have been standardized on White subjects are applicable to Blacks (Megargee, 1966; Johnson & Sikes, 1965; Mussen, 1953). These authors found that differences in personality of Blacks and Whites on personality tests should not be used to make inferences unless the two groups are matched on a number of prominent variables.

In general, the research suggests that there are significant differences between Black and …

Effects Of Distance And Sex On Verbal Productivity And Anxiety, Peter Lindsay Rogers

Masters Theses

The present study was designed to determine whether physical distance between male and female interviewees and a female interviewer affected verbal productivity and anxiety level when interviewees discussed academic, social, and personal topics. The interview was conceptualized as an information-gathering interview. Crucial variables in such interviews are client participation and information flow. Client verbal productivity appears to be directly related to these variables, and was used as one dependent variable to measure the impact of distance on interviewee verbal behavior. A self-report measure of anxiety, the Fear Thermometer was used as a second dependent variable.

The experimental distances used in …

A Comparison Of Police And Criminal Personality Characteristics As Measured By The Mmpi, Dale Ray Fuqua

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Predicting Delinquent Sub-Types With The Social History Questionnaire, Charles S. Sulcer

Masters Theses

A major problem encountered in the juvenile courts concerns the large number of young offenders placed on probation, as well as the seriousness of their violations. Representative studies by Jenkins and Glickman (1947), Hathaway and Monachesi (1953), and Shinohara and Jenkins (1967) have pointed out the complexities of delinquent behavior by indicating that most legal authorities are often unable to determine who will repeat illegal acts.

This problem necessitates some objective approach toward identifying potential repeaters and non-repeaters. Such a technique would be useful in studying the early stages of delinquent behavior and provide a means of studying the growing …

Male And Female Anti-Feminism: A Further Examination Of The Authoritarian Personality, David L. Arntzen

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

A Comparison Of Incarcerated And Non-Incarcerated Women Based On The M.M.P.I., Rose Marie Carter

Masters Theses

The field for research on women offenders provides an extensive opportunity for scientific investigation. Many writers (Gibbons, 1971; Cunningham, 1964; Sutherland, 1968) have discussed the causes of crime and their resulting social implications. Organized mass presentations of the movement of crime among women is negligible. Today female incarcerates make up approximately 11 per cent (Lerner, 1972) of the total number in state and federal penitentiaries. Previous research (Cunningham, 1964) on female felons found poor self-concept, excessive dependency and pathological emotionality to be a consistent pattern in women criminals. Other research (Apfeldorf, 1971; Guze, 1959) found criminal and non-criminal groups could …