Social Psychology Commons^™

Heuristic Expectations Of The Cinderella Effect As A Function Of Sexual Dimorphism In Men's Facial Structures, Lindsey Eagan

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Masculinized male faces have an ambivalent signal value, wherein perceivers recognize various coalitional benefits and costs. Within parenting domains, masculine men could afford protection toward their offspring despite potentially using more aggressive behaviors toward them. Nonetheless, the benefits of masculine fathers could be limited to their biological children while the costs toward stepchildren would be greater. Perceivers could develop implicit theories about parental behaviors as a visual corollary of the Cinderella Effect, or stepchildren’s greater vulnerability to abuse. Participants evaluated a series of masculinized and feminized male faces described as either biological parents or stepparents in domains related to positive …

How Many Parents Regret Having Children?, Payton M. Wooster

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

The present study experimentally investigates the number of parents who truly regret having their children. By using an unmatched count technique developed by Gervais and Njale (2020), participants (N = 751) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: an experimental “yes/no” agreement condition, the “target statement present” counting condition, and the “target statement not present” counting condition. Participants were also asked different questions regarding marital status, whether they had a disorder diagnosis, had a history of their parents being divorced, and other suspected moderator variables. Regret of having children was reported significantly less compared to previous studies (Piotrowski et …

The Effect Of Uncertainty On Explanatory Preference, Eli Schwartz-Yermack

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Previous research on political extremism has led to two competing perspectives. One views extremists as being more knowledgeable and informed about politics than moderates, while the other claims it is moderates who know more. These two views appear to have arisen from studies that examined different types of political knowledge. This phenomenon could be explained by extremists and moderates having different preferences when it comes to their consumption of political information. We hypothesized that participants indirectly manipulated to feel more extreme conviction in their political views by manipulating them to feel uncertain would prefer more simple explanations of political issues …

Longevity Bias, Ingroup Bias, And Culture: A Study In Modern Japan, Sophia Chier

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Japan has long been cited as the prime example of a collectivistic nation with many instances of ingroup bias, and is also known for its respect for things that are old. This research examined a proposed link between longevity bias, or the belief that things that are older are inherently better, and ingroup bias in a Japanese population by replicating the “art” domain in Eidelman et. al’s (2010) longevity bias study. Participants, undergraduates at a Japanese university, completed questionnaires that evaluated their aesthetic enjoyment of a painting, while also manipulating the participants’ knowledge of the artists’ nationality and the artwork’s …

Self-Confidence And Hormonal Contraceptive Use, Abigail Doran

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Hormonal contraceptives are widely used to regulate menstrual cycles, alleviate certain symptoms linked to reproductive hormones, and prevent pregnancy. However, women who take hormonal contraceptives may experience significant physical and psychological side effects such as increased rates of depression and changes in self-image. The current study examined self-confidence in women before beginning hormonal contraceptives and two months after using them. These participants were compared to a control group of naturally cycling women who were also assessed twice. I hypothesized that women would experience decreased feelings of self-confidence in several domains of their lives, compared to the naturally cycling women. Results …

(Nearly) All Roads Lead To Polarization: Cognitive Dissonance And The Inverse Relationship Between Polarization And Trivialization In The 2016 And 2020 Elections, Austin D. Eubanks

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The present study investigated cognitive dissonance theory—in particular, outcome-based dissonance, i.e., dissonance experienced from facing an outcome inconsistent with ones’ choice (in this case, preferring the candidate who lost the election)—in electoral contexts using the 2016 and 2020 American National Election Studies data (ns = 3,648 and 7,453, respectively). The particularly negative context of the 2016 and 2020 elections offered an opportunity to make a novel direct empirical comparison of choice valence between “hard/positive choices” (i.e., between two “good” alternatives) and “hard/negative choices” (i.e., between two “bad” alternatives) using real-world data. Results showed that after the election, respondents who preferred …

Freedom, Abortion, And Hypocrisy: The Effect Of Hypocrisy On Pro-Life Abortion Attitudes, Emily M. Vance

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Previous research suggests that highlighting the gap between inconsistent values can result in long-term attitude change (Rokeach, 1971), that feeling hypocritical might prompt pro-attitudinal behavior (e.g., Dickerson et al., 1992), and that a reactance decoy makes participants more receptive to subsequent persuasive messages (Schumpe et al., 2020). Drawing from these findings, the purpose of the present study was to investigate whether the impact of induced hypocrisy on pro-life abortion attitudes, an attitude commonly grounded in the value of freedom, depended on a reactance decoy. Consistent with Aronson et al.’s paradigm (1991), participants first publicly advocated for the importance of personal …

Examining Fear Of Negative Evaluation In Oral Contraceptive Users And Naturally Cycling Women, Emily Furlow

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Oral contraceptive use has gained popularity over recent decades and is currently the most used form of contraception. However, women who take oral contraceptives may experience significant side effects that impact their bodies, moods, and emotions. The current study examined fear of negative evaluation in women taking oral contraceptives and women who were naturally cycling following a social stress test. I hypothesized oral contraceptive users would have a higher fear of negative evaluation in comparison to naturally cycling women following the Trier Social Stress Test. Results did not support this hypothesis. There was marginal support for the opposite effect. Following …

The Impact Of Video-Taped Social Modeling On Alcohol Outcome Expectancies Of Young Adults And The Role Of Social Anxiety, Kyle Kevin Jackson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alcohol outcome expectancies (AOEs) represent people’s ideas about the effects of alcohol (Fromme, 1993). Positive AOEs particularly have been identified as a potential risk factor for hazardous drinking (e.g., Brown et al., 1985). The exact mechanisms that modify AOEs are not fully understood. Further, people higher in social anxiety may be especially receptive to social modeling due to attentional bias shift towards others in social contexts (Rapee & Heimberg, 1997). The current study examined how social anxiety and social modeling associate with AOEs. It was hypothesized that 1) those in the social modeling treatment condition would have higher social anxiety-adjacent …

The Influence Of Beliefs About Emotion On Avoidance Behaviors, Elise Warner

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The beliefs individuals hold about emotions have been shown to influence their tendencies to avoid distressing situations. While much of the work to-date has been on beliefs about whether emotions can be changed (i.e., malleability beliefs), there is research suggesting that the belief that emotions last for long periods of time (i.e., longevity beliefs) have important implications for emotion regulation (Veilleux et al., 2020). Thus, our aim was to examine the relationship between longevity beliefs and experiential avoidance. We predicted that greater longevity beliefs would be associated with greater avoidance tendencies, and that stronger beliefs in the moment would also …

Female Adults’ Experiences Of Sexual Harassment And Assault In The Presence Of Others: A Qualitative Analysis Of The Effectiveness And Consequences Of Bystander Intervention Strategies, Kayla Ford

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Bystander intervention programs aim to reduce the acceptance of violence against women by fostering prosocial behavior from community members, and often provide knowledge on behaviors associated with sexual risk and ways a bystander can intervene. However, there is limited knowledge on which intervention strategies are used, and how these interventions impact perpetrator behavior and incidence of verbal and physical harm to those involved. There is even less research on these phenomena from the perspective of the victim. To address these gaps, the current study utilized a qualitative approach to (1) identify bystander intervention strategies employed; (2) discuss trends of the …

The Effects Of Endogenous And Exogenous Progesterone On Ingroup Affiliative Bias, Abby Sibson

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Millions of women use hormonal contraceptives around the world and though the physical side effects are thoroughly described in the literature and clinical setting, the psychological effects have been largely ignored until recently. Recent studies have found that the use of hormonal contraceptives has an effect on women’s hormones and psychological well-being. The goal of the present research was to expand the current knowledge of the effect of hormonal contraceptives on women’s hormones and social behavior by examining how women with differing levels of progesterone due to menstrual cycle fluctuations (follicular or luteal phase) or using hormonal contraceptives (birth control …

Exploring The Divergent Social Dimensions Of Ceo Narcissism On Internal Firm Outcomes, Andrew Brandon Blake

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this study, I move away from the common clinical conception of narcissism in management to a novel two-dimensional concept and measurement of narcissism. Because these dimensions are shown to have divergent motives, goals, social strategies, and behaviors, I theorize that these differences in narcissism will have diverging effects on the firm. Then, I shift the conceptual focus of CEO narcissism research from the CEO as an agentic decision-maker seeking external praise for firm consequences to an implicit social strategist who prioritizes short-term interpersonal interactions in service of narcissistic supply. I examine four internal outcomes likely to be influenced by …

Hurting To Helping: Regret As A Potential Motivator Of Helping Behavior, Chandler Ann Findley

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Previous research has suggested that emotions can influence people’s motivation to engage in prosocial behaviors. Even negatively-valenced emotions, like sadness, guilt, and shame, have been shown to motivate prosocial behaviors. Exploratory analyses of a previous study indicated that regret may also motivate increased prosocial intentions, but no research has been published to experimentally test whether feelings of regret may motivate prosocial behaviors. Therefore, the present research seeks to experimentally manipulate participants’ current emotional state to empirically examine whether regret motivates greater helping behavior than other, similar negative emotions that have already been demonstrated to motivate prosocial behaviors in humans. These …

Collaborating With Big Brothers Big Sisters And Parents To Develop Caregiver-Initiated Mentoring, Meredith J. Scafe

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research shows that youth enrolled in formal mentoring programs often wait months before being matched with a mentor. This paper describes the development and pilot test of Caregiver-Initiated Mentoring (CG-IM), a program originally designed to equip caregivers to assist Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) mentoring program staff in identifying and recruiting mentors from their social network. Using a mixed-methods design, the initial efficacy of the CG-IM program was evaluated via a small pilot test. I broadly explored caregivers’ experiences participating in the CG-IM program and a BBBS staff member’s experience implementing it. Caregivers completed a post-survey that included quantitative measures …

Improving Depression Screening And Follow-Up Care In Underserved Populations, Alicia D. Hankins

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Student Works

Depression is a substantial source of financial, emotional, and physical burdens to patients and their families worldwide. It also disproportionately affects economically disadvantaged populations. To combat the depression crisis, The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) published guidelines to boost depression screenings of all patients presenting for healthcare services. A review of literature and the completed needs assessment confirmed low rates of depression screening in the rural primary care sector. This project took place in an outpatient primary care facility in rural Arkansas, where current depression screening tools were not being used. The goal was to increase the percentage …

The Association Between Adolescent Dating Violence And Internalizing Symptoms: Insecure Attachment As A Moderator, Jasmine Blake

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study examines whether insecure attachment styles moderate the relationship between adolescent dating violence (ADV) victimization and internalizing symptoms. It was hypothesized that an insecure attachment style would strengthen the existing relation between ADV victimization and internalizing symptoms. It was also hypothesized that this association would be stronger for girls than boys. One hundred and fifty-two adolescents participated in this study (M age = 15.61 years, SD = 1.086, 74.3% girls) and were asked to complete a survey that assessed ADV victimization, internalizing symptoms, and attachment style. Bivariate correlations did not reveal a significant associations between ADV victimization and …

The Effectiveness Of Peer To Peer Mentoring In Reducing Symptoms Of Depression And Anxiety In College Students, Ryan Harra

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

University counseling centers are struggling against resource constraints to meet the rising demand for mental health care. Peer-based mentoring programs offer the potential for an alternative approach to mitigate the increasing demand for treatment and improve overall psychological well-being among college students. However, research investigating peer mentoring programs on college campuses is lacking. This study evaluates program feasibility and potential effectiveness in reducing anxiety and depression symptoms among college students that underwent a 4-week peer mentoring program. Results from this preliminary study indicate peer-based programs may be more effective in reducing symptoms of depression (especially anhedonic depression) compared to anxiety. …

The Effects Of Alcohol Intoxication And Threats To Masculinity On Engagement In Sexual Aggression: Results From A Web-Based Survey Design And Alcohol Administration Study, Tiffany Lynn Marcantonio

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Background: Research examining the combined effects of men’s alcohol consumption and perceptions of their masculinity as precarious (e.g., viewing masculinity as easily threatened) on sexual aggression (SA) is lacking. The goal of this dissertation study was to assess if alcohol consumption and precarious masculinity are related to men’s SA via a web-administered survey (Study 1) and an in-person alcohol administration experiment (Study 2).

Methodology: In Study 1, two samples of young adult men (aged 18-30) were collected, 1) a community sample of 492 men and 2) a college sample of 478 men, to complete a 20-minute survey; participants answered questions …

Cognitive Tribalism: A Social Doxastic Model, Robert Ragsdale

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

How are facemasks – seemingly innocuous artifacts of the biomedical industry – currently embroiled in cultural wars? What motivates popular rejections of scientific consensus and messaging about the reality and consequences of anthropogenic climate change or the COVID-19 virus and vaccine? The puzzle is that (a) despite its being in everyone’s rational interests to have a well-informed public and body politic about collective threats, and (b) despite the public availability of accurate and reliable information, scientific messaging and public discourse surrounding climate change, COVID-19, and vaccine hesitancy, nevertheless, tend to be hijacked by political interest. Yet, if belief is essentially …

Children’S Social Judgments Of Others On The Basis Of Dialect-Specific Vocabulary, Madison Myers-Burg

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many studies suggest that young children prefer speakers who speak similarly to them. Children demonstrate social preferences for speakers of their own native language over speakers of a non-native language as well as for speakers of a familiar accent over speakers of an unfamiliar accent. Recent research suggests that young children will similarly show preference for speakers who use familiar dialect-specific vocabulary over speakers who use vocabulary specific to an unfamiliar dialect. The current study investigated potential motivations behind young children’s preferences for familiar dialect-specific vocabulary. Fifty participants ages fifty-one months to ninety-five months (Mage =72.6 months) viewed an animated …

Algorithms Vs. Human Nature: A Tale Of Selective Exposure, Dené E. M. Wamsley

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The public’s turn towards news websites and social media for news consumption has sparked anxiety over echo chambers, avoidance of opinion-challenging content, and potentially fragmentation and polarization among sociopolitical groups. Algorithms have specifically been blamed for increasing the ease of filtering out counter-attitudinal online content and potentially exacerbating selective exposure tendencies. However, longstanding classic psychological research has demonstrated the ubiquitous phenomenon of cognitive dissonance and selective exposure far before the internet became the primary tool for news consumption. Research investigating how algorithms directly influence online approach and avoidance behavior is unfortunately scarce. This dissertation work aimed to analyze the impact …

Present Limitations And Future Projections: Food Insecurity, Housing Insecurity And Optimism Among College Students, Amber Obermaier

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Within the last decade, research has identified wide-ranging disparities in access to basic needs among university students. These differences, such as a lack of adequate food and housing during university, provide a negative environmental experience with potential to limit one’s optimism or hope for the future. This research explores how basic needs insecurity and social vulnerabilities among college students are related to subjective assessments of their prospects for the future. The present study utilizes survey data from a random sample of college students (n=300) enrolled at an urban university in the Midwest region of the United States of America. Logistic …

Reactionism: The Motivation To Resurrect The Past, Derrick F. Till

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Subtle long-term societal changes, whether political, economic, or cultural, can be perceived as threats to personal freedoms and cause reactance (Brehm, 1966). Instead of rationalizing and accepting changing societal dynamics, I assert that some people compensate by reframing the past in ways that legitimize and perpetuate the reactant anger: reactionism. Reactance theory is predicated on the perception that the barrier to freedom is not self-inflicted, thus people should not perceive responsibility for the loss of freedom (Brehm, 1966). Additionally, the perception of threat may be driven in part, or at least enhanced, by perceiving others as having access to restricted …

Effectiveness Of Affective Based Intervention Depending On Personal Relevance To A Conspiracy Belief, Mallory Macdonald

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

With the increase in conspiracy theory beliefs, there is a need for intervention techniques. Do some intervention techniques work better when taking into account the personal relevance a person has towards a topic? One hundred and sixty undergraduate students first read an article that introduced the conspiracy theory and established personal relevance. To manipulate personal relevance, participants were told that a new vaccine mandate would be put into place either July 2023 or July 2031. Then, they considered an article that worked to intervene the conspiracy belief. Participants either read an article that was focused on affective or cognitive intervention …

Relationship Between Pet And Human Separation Anxiety On Owners’ Anxiety And Physical Health, Noah Ross

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Pet ownership has always been thought to be beneficial, but some recent studies have not been consistent with this statement. A possible explanation for this is an unhealthy overdependence that pets and pet owners have developed as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic. In this paper, I examine whether separation anxiety from pets, people, and separation behavior of pets could be predictors of anxiety and physical health. The first prediction was that pet and non pet owners differed demographically. Also, it was hypothesized that separation anxiety from humans, separation anxiety from pets, but not pet separation behaviors predicted anxiety and …

Effects Of Recess On Educational Outcomes In Elementary School Children, Katelyn Whitham

Health, Human Performance and Recreation Undergraduate Honors Theses

Introduction: Because physical activity is beneficial for physical and mental health, the declining opportunities to implement adequate recesses in schools are devastating for children. If educational outcomes are positively affected by increased recess time or quality, schools are more likely to receive funding for programs and resources that support this renovation to recesses, providing research in lacking topics. Purpose: The purpose of this systematic review is to find related, academic articles for cross examination of data collected on the effects that recess has on educational outcomes so that schools may use this as a resource to receive funding to increase …

#Metoo: The Literary And Social Impact Of Sexual Violence Narratives, Aura Comer

English Undergraduate Honors Theses

To fully understand the severity of sexual violence and its pervasiveness in America, I will present statistics of rape and sexual assault, as well as available legal court statistics of justice and punishment for offenders (or a lack thereof). However, there must be an acknowledgment of the disparity in information and representation pertaining to indigenous, LGBT+, immigrant, and minor communities. Note that these statistics do not speak to the complete pervasiveness of rape and sexual assault in the United States, given the negligent protection and lack of belief in victims, which results in victim silencing and a lack of reporting.

Utilization Of The Fundamental Attribution Error With Increased Immune System Inflammation, John Odom

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Immune system inflammation is associated with sickness behavior, depressive mood, and alteration of decision-making processes. Because of these cognitive effects, inflammation may also lead to increased use of heuristics, for example the Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE). In the current research, inflammation was experimentally increased using the influenza vaccine, with participants receiving either the vaccine or a placebo injection and completing a measure that tests for the FAE. There were no significant differences between the two conditions regarding the number of personal, situational, or overall attributions made by the participants in the measure that would indicate use of the FAE. However, …

Examining Difference In Social Perceptions Between Women Using Hormonal Contraceptives And Naturally Cycling Women, Caroline B. Johnson

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

The term “stress” refers to a person’s psychological and physiological response to the demands and pressures of the world around them (Farlex, 2021). Past research has shown that stress can have negative side effects on a person’s well-being (Aneshensel et al., 1991; Wunsch et al., 2017; Michie, 2002). Although people experience stress, some people perceive more stress than others. Perceptions are important because the way one understands certain conditions can elicit distinct emotional and physiological responses (Kemeny, 2003). An important factor that has not received a lot of attention is women’s use of hormonal contraceptives. In the United States, 24.4% …