Personality and Social Contexts Commons^™

Utilizing The Alternative Model Of Personality Disorders (Ampd) To Identify Sexual Aggression In Men, Ryan Van Fossen

Dissertations and Theses

The current study examined the validity of the Alternative Model of Personality Disorders (AMPD) in predicting sexually aggressive cognitions in men. Specifically, this study examined the role of maladaptive personality traits and personality functioning’s relationship with sexually aggressive beliefs in comparison to the Five-Factor Model (FFM). This study recruited 300 male participants, aged 18 and older, who identified as male for both sex and gender, and identified as heterosexual. Participants completed measures of personality functioning, several personality traits, views about sexual entitlement, gender roles, rape myths, and token resistance to sex. Multiple regression and semipartial correlation analyses were used to …

The Dark Triad And Impulsivity: Predictors And Correlates Of Workplace Representative Task Problem Solving And Decision Making, Peter Kendall Glazer Jr.

Dissertations and Theses

This research investigated group and individual differences in decision-making and problem-solving on workplace representative tasks, and whether certain personality traits correlated with or were predictors of participant strategy. In parallel studies done online (N = 214) and in-person (N = 80) with Portland State University undergraduate School of Business students, performance was measured on two workplace representative tasks under two different difficulty conditions. The Number Place experiment resulted in two major findings: First, when given a comparatively easy task, women had more Time Remaining than men. However, this was moderated by the difficulty condition, such that men had more Time …

Examining Cultural Orientation As A Moderator: Attachment Style, Forgiveness, And Depression, Linghsi Liu

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the moderating role of cultural orientation on the relation between attachment style and forgiveness and between forgiveness and depression. It was hypothesized that a secure attachment style would be associated with greater dispositional forgiveness of both self and others. Specifically, for those high in collectivism, insecure attachment will be associated with greater other-forgiveness and for those high in individualism, insecure attachment will be associated with greater self-forgiveness. It was also predicted that self and other forgiveness would be associated with fewer depressive symptoms. Specifically, for those high in collectivism, other forgiveness will …

The Effects Of Offender Age And Offender-Victim Relationship On Modus Operandi Strategies To Lure The Victim, Hayley Lauren Tews

Dissertations and Theses

Research on the modus operandi (“method of operation”) of child sexual abuse (CSA) offenders has been useful in informing successful prevention programs (LeClerc, 2009). However, a gap in the literature regarding the strategies offenders use to lure potential CSA victims still remains. The present study seeks to examine the effects of offender-victim relationship and offender age on the use of strategies to lure victims for the purpose of committing CSA. Data for this study is taken from a larger investigation which included 854 identified adolescent and adult CSA offenders from nine different states. A 2 X 2 MANCOVA analysis revealed …

Coping With Interpersonal Conflicts At Work: An Examination Of The Goodness Of Fit Hypothesis Among Nurses, Robert Randon Wright

Dissertations and Theses

Increasingly, evidence indicates that workplace interpersonal conflicts (WIC) are the most upsetting/troublesome daily work stressors (Sulsky & Smith, 2007), and within the context of nursing, WIC is a problem of high prevalence and intensity (Baltimore, 2006; Farrell, 1999). In relation to coping with stressors such as WIC, Lazarus and Folkman (1984) established the transactional model of stress and coping, where cognitive appraisals of the stressor (e.g., perceived control) are central to coping and classified all coping behaviors as either problem-focused or emotion-focused. They also proposed the "goodness of fit hypothesis", which predicts that problem-focused coping efforts used to cope with …

Social Job Characteristics And Older Workers: Effects On Job Satisfaction And Job Tension, Jennifer Rae Rineer

Dissertations and Theses

The workforce in most industrialized countries is aging and becoming more age diverse, but few studies have examined the implications of age differences in the design of jobs. This study examined the role of age as a moderator in the relationship between job characteristics and two individual outcomes, job satisfaction and job tension. Specifically, the study focused on the relationship between social characteristics of the job (given social support, [received] social support, interdependence, interaction outside the organization, and feedback from others) and job tension and job satisfaction among Portland Water Bureau employees. Based in Socioemotional Selectivity (SES) theory (Carstensen, 1991), …

Workplace Cognitive Failure As A Mediator Between Work-Family Conflict And Safety Performance, Rachel Jane Daniels

Dissertations and Theses

The main goal of this thesis was to examine the effects of family-to-work conflict on safety performance. Data were collected from a sample of 134 employees, consisting primarily of construction workers. Results found that levels of conflict from the family role to the work role negatively affected participants' workplace cognitive failure, or cognitively based errors that occur during the performance of a task that the person is normally successful in executing. Workplace cognitive failure, in turn, was a significant predictor of levels ofsafety performance, both employees' compliance with safety procedures and the extent to which they participated in discretionary safety-related …

A Correlational Study Of Cognitive Style Measured By The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator And The Witkin Group Embedded Figure, Leith Wood Muessle

Dissertations and Theses

A review of the literature suggests a coincidence of personality characteristics among the cognitive styles defined by Field Dependence-Independence and the Myers-Briggs type preferences. This thesis proposed these independent measures of cognitive style tap common cognitive processes and hypothesized the Myers-Briggs dimensions of Extraversion-Introversion (EI), Sensing-Intuition (SN), and Judgement-Perception (JP) would correlate positively and Thinking-Feeling (TF) would correlate negatively with the dimension Field Dependence-Independence (FD-FI) as measured by the Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT). The relationships of gender, age, and intelligence to the prediction of field-dependence-independence were also tested.

Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Mo: Self And Close-Other Selection Of Personality Test Interpretations, Sheela Word

Dissertations and Theses

In a study investigating the ability of subjects and their close friends or relatives (close-others) to recognize subject personality test results under conditions which controlled for the Barnum effect, 64 male and female undergraduate psychology students were administered the California Psychological Inventory (CPI). Each subject later attempted to choose his or her own unidentified CPI profile from among three, and a close-other of the subject independently made the same selection. It was found that 57.81% of subjects and 45.31% of close others were able to correctly identify subject profiles; these results were significant at the .0001 and .05 levels respectively. …

Scl-90 Characteristics Of The Borderline Personality Disorder In A Day Treatment Setting, Jeananne Theresa Feagan

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this present study was to examine test performance of the Borderline Personality Disorder on the Symptom Checklist .(SCL-90). This investigation addressed whether the Borderline Personality Disorder has a distinctive profile on the SCL-90, and whether the profile is distinguishable in comparison with two other groups with mental disorders.

Femininity And Self-Esteem In Professional Women, Shirley Ellen Harper

Dissertations and Theses

Research in sex-roles has found masculinity and androgyny to be correlated with self-esteem while femininity has a low or negative correlation with self-esteem. Much of the research in this area is based in studies of androgyny. Androgyny is the ability to respond in a feminine or masculine manner, depending on the situation rather than being limited to only feminine or masculine behavior because of sex-role stereotypes. In the research on self-esteem some studies have reported androgynous individuals measure high in self-esteem. Other studies have found that masculine characteristics contribute more to the self-esteem than androgynous characteristics. These results, taken together, …

Level Of Aspiration And The Type A Coronary-Prone Pattern In Children, Wendy L. Kliewer

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of the present investigation was to examine aspects of assessment of the Type A behavior pattern, goal-setting behaviors displayed by Type A and B children, and parents' goal-setting behaviors toward their offspring.

Extraversion-Introversion And Sensitivity To Nonverbal Cues, Virginia Seiser

Dissertations and Theses

Sixty-five college students completed the Profile of Nonverbal Sensitivity (PONS) and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. The results did not support the hypothesis that introverts would be found to be relatively more sensitive to negative nonverbal cues than to positive cues, and that this difference would be greater for introverts than for extroverts. The outcome did not support predictions concerning the relationship between sensitivity to nonverbal communication and extroversion- introversion based on either Gray's fear-frustration hypothesis or Eysenck's general conditionability hypothesis of extroversion-introversion.

The results supported findings of earlier researchers that females are more sensitive to nonverbal cues than males, and …

Reliability And Validity Of A Scale To Measure Prosocial Behavior In Young Children, Susan Davis

Dissertations and Theses

The present study was designed to determine the reliability and validity of an observation code and rating scale developed by Smith (unpublished research) to measure prosocial behavior in young children.

Dance And Self Concept Change In Women, Robin Dale Anderson

Dissertations and Theses

Numerous authors in the field of dance therapy have proposed that dance movement employed as a psychotherapeutic tool yields positive gains in mental health for participants. Self concept is frequently cited as the mechanism affecting these gains. In order to explore the relationship of dance movement alone to self concept fifteen college women were tested with the Tennessee Self Concept Scale before and after participation in a course of dance with those of nineteen women enrolled in lower division psychology courses. An analysis of covariance showed no significant changes in self concept scores in either group. It was concluded that …

Closedmindedness As A Predictor Of Individual Decision-Making Behaviors, Annette I. Jolin

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine whether closemindedness is related to decision-making behaviors. The decision-making variables in this study were: Pieces of Information, Decision Change, Decision Confidence, Decision Accuracy and, post hoc, Decision Appropriateness. The measures of decision-making behaviors were obtained from four decision situations developed by the experimenter. Closemindedness was assessed using Rokeach's (1960) Dogmatism (D) scale.

An Analysis Of The Relationship Between Personality Characteristics Of Social Work Students And Choice Of Social Work Practice Area, Linda A. Yegge, Francie E. Buktenica

Dissertations and Theses

Due to curiosity about the "individual" vs. "social" intervention argument in the profession of social work, the authors of this study attempted to answer the question, “Do personality characteristics of Social Work Graduate Students influence their choice of social work practice?" Our hypothesis was that Introverts would be more inclined to focus on the individual in social work practice as opposed to Extraverts who would see societal change as a more pressing practice issue. Although our study identified no correlation between Introversion and Extraversion and social work practice orientation, there were some suggestions for further study. There appeared to be …

Personality, Counseling And The Cancer Patient, Janet March, Ann Maxwell

Dissertations and Theses

The researchers in this study are concerned about what factors are involved in determining who actually does seek out adjunctive counseling for help in dealing with their diagnosis. In particular, personality factors of those who have cancer are examined. The more known about what motivates a patient to seek counseling, the easier it will be to develop rehabilitation and supportive programs to meet the needs of cancer patients. Hence, sanction for a research project such as this lies in the fact that the question of motivation regarding adjunctive counseling has not been dealt with specifically in the past.

Changes In Personality Traits And Identification In Adolescent Female State School Residents, As A Function Of Length Of Residence, Mary L. Thompson

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of a significant exposure (six months) to a State School environment on selected personality traits and identity factors of adolescent girls. A second objective was to ascertain whether greater change takes place early in the period of residency (three months) or in a later stage. A third aim was to determine whether there is a significant difference in the degree of change between girls showing fewer pathological signs and healthier identity than those who show a greater number of such signs and a stronger delinquent identification.

Anxiety Level Of Graduate Students In Social Work, Sophia Kouidou-Giles, George Albert Mckee

Dissertations and Theses

This study was designed to determine (1) the trend of anxiety level of social work students, term by term, over the academic year; (2) the cyclical trend of anxiety level of social work students within each term and (3) the effects of age and sex on level of anxiety among social work students.

Anxiety was measured with the IPAT - 8 Parallel Form Anxiety Battery. This test was administered to twenty randomly selected first year students in the School of Social Work during the 1969-1970 academic year at Portland State University. Data was collected from six test administrations which …