Social Psychology Commons^™

Collective Autonomy Restriction: A Theoretical Model And Empirical Investigations, Adrian Rivera-Rodriguez

Doctoral Dissertations

Collective autonomy refers to a group’s freedom to define and practice their own cultural and social identity without interference from other groups. According to the “threat and defense” hypothesis of collective autonomy restriction, group members are motivated to defend their collective autonomy from outside restriction. However, the psychological processes that influence advantaged vs. disadvantaged group members perceptions of collective autonomy, as well as the specific strategies they use to protect collective autonomy, have yet to be articulated. This dissertation presents three manuscripts that examine the social conditions and psychological processes that shape advantaged and disadvantaged group members’ perceptions of collective …

The Collateral Consequences Of Criminal Stigma In Higher Education: Investigating Barriers To Institutional Access And Social Inclusion, Hannah K. Chimowitz

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation explores the collateral consequences of criminal record stigma within the realm of higher education, an important institutional domain that is recognized as facilitating social mobility and providing opportunities for individuals with criminal histories. I develop an integrative theoretical framework and present two empirical studies. Study 1 investigates the relationship between criminal screening in undergraduate admissions applications and campus crime rates, as well as Black undergraduate enrollment rates. Using the Common Application's removal of criminal history questions as a natural experiment, I employ propensity score methods and estimate a series of latent growth curve models using structural equation modeling. …

Examining Shifts In Racial Attitudes In The Aftermath Of George Floyd’S Death And The 2020 Blm Protests, Se Min Suh

Doctoral Dissertations

The killing of George Floyd in the summer of 2020 instigated one of the largest social movements in the United States history. Despite the wealth of research that has evaluated the efficacy of social movements using different social outcomes (Andrews, 1997; Biggs & Andrews, 2015; Branton et al., 2015; Enos et al., 2019; Gillion, 2012; Schwartz, 2016), less attention has been given to how social movements that concern racial issues impact racial attitudes (Riley & Peterson, 2020). Thus, the current research aimed to examine how Americans’ racial attitudes shifted in the period immediately following the onset of BLM protests. We …

For The Love Of Teaching: Pre-Service Teachers’ Experience Of Moral Education, Anne Marie Foley Ruiz

Doctoral Dissertations

Moral aspects of teaching arise each and every day, yet we lack information about how prepared teachers feel about this critical aspect of teaching. This multi-case study explores perceptions of five pre-service teachers in an elementary teacher education program in Western Massachusetts. A series of interviews explore their histories prior to the program and their experiences in the program as related to the pre-service teachers’ orientations to the moral work of teaching. Research questions address the awareness and self-efficacy of student teachers in implementing the moral aspects of teaching. Using Thematic Analysis (Braun & Clark, 2006), this study explores beliefs …

On The Importance Of Perceived Interpersonal Safety: Antecedents And Consequences Of Living A Subjectively Safe Life, Stylianos Syropoulos

Doctoral Dissertations

The need to be and feel safe is a fundamental human need. Despite extensive theoretical arguments on the subject, and research on relevant concepts, empirical work on what it means to feel interpersonally safe (i.e., in the presence of others or in social environments in general) is scarce. This dissertation presents four investigations that seek to address this gap. It also seeks to highlight the consequences of feeling interpersonally safe for our mental and physical health, and to what degree healthy and high-quality close relationships influence how safe we feel. Chapter 1 is a literature review summarizing theories underlying these …

Negotiation And Peacemaking In Conflict Narratives: The Influence Of Narrative Reminders Of Peace Processes On Attitudes Toward Protracted Conflicts Via Zero-Sum Beliefs, Quinnehtukqut Mclamore

Doctoral Dissertations

“Hegemonic” conflict narratives help reinforce intergroup conflict through focus on ingroup victimhood, denying outgroup narratives, and advancing beliefs that the conflict is “zero-sum” in nature. Many researchers have used narrative-based interventions to shift exclusive focus on ingroup victimhood and denial of outgroup narratives, but relatively little attention has been paid to the role of zero-sum beliefs. Here, I argue that narrative primes recalling past peace processes can potentially be used to shift zero-sum beliefs, thereby shifting conflict-relevant outcome variables indirectly. In two survey studies of American participants (Studies 1 & 2), I found evidence that participants who read about the …

The Roles Of Identity And Beliefs About Social Change In Decision Making Processes For Identity-Laden Social Change Efforts, Joel Ginn

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation presents three investigations into distinct processes that attempt to explain people’s decision making around social change action in three identity-laden domains. Chapter 1 reviews existing literature and theory on how social identity and social change beliefs can impact social change action. Chapter 2 examines identity-based motivated cognition by showing how identification as a meat-eater leads to biased estimates of meat reduction’s climate change impacts. Chapter 3 examines cisgender student reactions to faculty who use gender pronouns as an inclusion strategy for transgender and gender nonconforming students to examine if this action leads to stereotyping and judgement. Chapter 4 …

The Impact Of #Metoo On Reasons For Sexual Assault Disclosure, Cheryl H. Tien

Doctoral Dissertations

Sexual assault is a long-standing widespread problem. Yet, despite the high prevalence of sexual assault, it is the most underreported crime of all crimes reported to the police (Bureau of Justice, 2018). The #MeToo movement has had a significant impact on the way in which sexual assault survivors disclose their experiences and the reasons they disclose. Disclosure appears to be an important factor in survivors’ healing from their assault, with increasing coping, greater attachment to others, and positive growth cited as effects of disclosure provided that the response to the disclosure is positive to the survivor (Ahrens & Aldana, 2012; …

Reducing Homonegative Prejudice Towards Gay And Bisexual Men By Targeting Diverse Sexual Orientation Beliefs: A Replication And Extension Study, Kevin Matthew Fry

Doctoral Dissertations

This study aimed to replicate and extend the first true experiment to investigate the impact of diverse sexual orientation (SO) beliefs on homonegativity (Fry et al., 2020). We performed an experiment to determine if targeting multiple types of SO beliefs could be more effective in reducing homonegative prejudice towards gay men, binegativity towards bisexual men, and infrahumanization towards gay and bisexual men than just focusing on beliefs about biogenetic determinants of SO. We randomly assigned 200 participants (57% men, 78% white) to a treatment or control condition. Participants in a treatment condition read an essay that summarized: (1) research implying …

Sexual Harassment As A Narrative Contest, Christine Vossler

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines how stories shape both the perpetration of sexual harassment and the experiences of victims during and after sexual harassment. During and after the experience of sexual harassment, a narrative contest transpires between the harasser, victim, and others who contribute to the contest by engaging in the formal and informal conversations that follow known experiences of harassment in the workplace. I analyze 22 public statements, interviews, and investigative reports, including statements from men accused of sexual harassment, women who were sexually harassed, and bystanders. A narrative framework, including concepts of narrative believability and story credibility, is used to …

Assessing Impacts Of Negative Stereotypes And Designing Theory-Driven Interventions To Support Underrepresented Minorities In Stem, Deborah Wu

Doctoral Dissertations

The underrepresentation of women, racial ethnic minorities, and first-generation college students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields in the United States has been well-documented. Members of these minority groups face negative stereotypes casting doubt on their abilities in these fields, which can cause the concern that they will be judged through the lens of the stereotype and devalued. This concern is called social identity threat. This dissertation presents three investigations focusing on the experiences of underrepresented students in STEM, examining when and how altering situational contexts increases or decreases their vulnerability to social identity threat. Chapter 1 is …

Quiet Ego And Well-Being: The What, Why, And How -- An Investigation Of The Implications Of The Quiet Ego For Psychological Well-Being, Guanyu Liu

Doctoral Dissertations

Ego is that which constructs and evaluates the concept of self in that it processes information and interprets objects (e.g., people, experiences) and labels them as part of the self (or not). To put it another way, ego is an active experiencer, perceiver, and doer that constructs, maintains, and regulates our sense of self and our relationships with others. Ego processes information in different modes. The mode that has been most extensively studied is the egotistical-narcissistic one because it fits well with the predominant cultural ideology of being individualistic and being motivated by self-interest. Thus, what has largely been ignored …

Am I Stigmatized? An Experimental Examination Of High-Status Experiences Of Stigma., Christopher F. Silver

Doctoral Dissertations

Stigma is a highly researched aspect of social psychology primarily focusing on outgroup perceptions of stigma or the behaviors associated with high-status individuals toward low-status individuals. Two studies sought to explore high-status perceptions of perceived stigma, focusing on the common variables associated with stigma within low-status groups. This was to address a growing perception among high-status individuals that they experience stigma given their identity. As a focus, this study sampled White Males (Study One) and Christians (Study Two) from the United States. As part of experimental manipulation, we presented participants with three potential conditions. Condition one where participants read an …

Multiple Identities In Sport Fandom: Balance, Conflict, & Negotiation, Aaron Mansfield

Doctoral Dissertations

Simultaneous to the sport industry’s ascent, obesity has become an issue of growing societal concern. Scholars have explored the role of social-psychological identification in both fandom and physical health, but have not yet explored the intersection of the two. Throughout life, individuals must negotiate all of their identities, including their attachment to sport teams, yet understanding of role identity within sport management is limited. Likewise, scholars have noted the need for greater illumination of the relationship between fandom and physical well-being. I address these gaps through three studies. In Study One, I completed semi-structured interviews with individuals who consider both …

Really, You Should Be Thanking Us: Paternalism And Instrumental Gratitude Expectations, Greg Larsen

Doctoral Dissertations

Intergroup helping is sometimes motivated by paternalistic narratives about recipients being incapable of making good choices. Five studies investigated whether paternalistic perceptions of recipients encouraged members of groups that provide help expect gratitude from recipients, and whether receiving gratitude and affirmation from recipients was rewarded when it was given. I first found preliminary evidence that paternalistic perceptions of recipients affects the way that members of a helper group respond to recipients’ responses to help (Study 1). I then found that believing paternalistic narratives about recipients did increase participants' expectations that recipients should show them gratitude, and that these expectations did …

Recategorization Threat, Fear Of Fat, And Antifat Prejudice, Katherine Fritzlen

Doctoral Dissertations

Learning one is similar to a stigmatized group can threaten one’s identity and cause disassociation from that group. However, how would learning of an immutable similarity with a stigmatized outgroup, implying possible recategorization into that group, affect prejudice towards that group? In the current investigation, we explored how receiving feedback that one has a high genetic predisposition to become obese in the future affected implicitly- and explicitly-assessed antifat attitudes. Participants (N = 216) were provided feedback indicating they either did or did not have a high genetic predisposition for obesity, or given no feedback (control condition). We found for …

Shadows Of The Past: The Effects Of Movements' Past Strategy On Third-Parties' Support For Its Current Strategy, Seyed Nima Orazani

Doctoral Dissertations

Social movements benefit from third-party support in waging social change. The budding literature on the effects of social movements’ strategy (violent vs. nonviolent) on third-parties’ willingness to support and join the social movement has mainly regarded social movements’ strategy as something fixed and unrelated to its past strategy. Using varied contexts, I investigated how social movements’ past strategy may affect, if any, third parties’ moral perception of the current strategy of social movements and how this perception translates into third parties’ (un)willingness to support and join social movements. In the context of the conflict between hate groups and counter-protestors in …

Perceptions Of Female Veteran Military Sexual Trauma: A Phenomenological Study, Lindsey Fairweather

Doctoral Dissertations

Military sexual trauma (MST) occurs at devastating rates to service members, by service members, and is widely misunderstood, qualitatively understudied, and reporting may be procedurally biased. The purpose of this study was to phenomenologically explore the lived experiences of female veteran MST survivors with their leadership (chain of command/supervisors) and understand how military culture effects these individuals. A feminist-theory conceptual framework was applied to contextualize hegemonic hypermasculine military culture and the divide and damage it may cause to female service members before MST, when surviving an MST event, and when surviving post-MST fallout.

This study included 10 participants who were …

Social Signals For Change: Examining The Role Of Interpersonal Communication For Positive Ecological Progress, Meaghan Guckian

Doctoral Dissertations

It perhaps goes without saying that society is collectively failing to meet the challenges posed by climate change and natural resource management, among other issues. Stagnated efforts may in part be driven by social processes that have been shown to shape whether, how, and to what extent individuals engage with environmental issues. In light of these stalled efforts to advance positive change, there is a pressing need to broaden our understanding of the normative processes that support the formation and maintenance of situation-appropriate social norms. In this dissertation, I integrate research from various fields to explore the role of interpersonal …

Developing A Model Of Sexism-Based Traumatic Stress, Marcus Cherry

Doctoral Dissertations

In contemporary society, women regularly endure sexist microaggressions—messages that convey aversive, demeaning sexist slights toward women. Sexist microaggressions have been associated with anger, depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, job stress, increased risky health behavior and trauma. Additionally, sexist microaggressions effects are cumulative and can result in the internalization of sexist beliefs and undermine selfcompassion. Research suggests that these distortions of self-views and self-regard can in part contribute to the development of trauma symptoms. Notably, research has found that prolonged exposure to sexism, in general, has been associated with trauma symptoms. However, the traumatic effects of sexist microaggressions have remained largely theoretical. …

How Tempered Radicals Pursue Ideological Change Within Their Organization, Saleh M. Bajaba

Doctoral Dissertations

Organizations that are adaptive, diverse, and socially responsible are often built by employees who are able to implement change “under the radar” of those in the organization who would ordinarily fight significant change. These “tempered radicals” are insider activists who serve as the catalyst for incremental constructive changes which, over time, build better organizations. Unfortunately, little is known about what motivates tempered radicals to enact changes within their organizations. In order to better understand the motives of these internal change agents, I develop a measure of tempered radical motives (TRM). In Study 1, I develop a measure of TRM by …

An Examination Of The Relationships Between Message Framing, Regulatory Focus, And Psychological Reactance On Risky Health Decision-Making Among College Students, Mallory B. Garza

Doctoral Dissertations

Excessive alcohol use and risky sexual behaviors are common health-related concerns among college campuses throughout the United States. Previous efforts to thwart such risky health behaviors have resulted in limited success. Therefore, it is crucial that researchers learn how to effectively communicate with college students in ways that increase healthy behaviors and decrease unhealthy behaviors among this particular population. The purpose of the current study was to examine the effects of message framing, regulatory focus, and psychological reactance on motivating college students to take a more proactive approach in regard to their health and wellbeing. Data from this study were …

Television And Perceived Control: A Longitudinal Study Of The Cultivation Of Powerlessness Among Millenial Adolescents, Fernando Rodriguez

Doctoral Dissertations

Cultivation research has observed the long term subtle contribution of television mediated storytelling on the perceptions and beliefs of American viewers for fifty years. Early criticisms of cultivation argued the associations of viewing amount and fear of victimization were spurious and explained away by personality traits such as perceived control or authoritarianism. This project frames perceived control as a cognitive assessment of the personal ability to cope with life challenges. As a cognitive assessment, perceived control is assumed to be in constant revision. From a life-course approach, the symbolic cultural environment (which includes television) is seen as providing context and …

Public Attitudes Toward Collective Action: Three Social Psychological Investigations In Malaysia, The United States And Israel-Palestine, Hema Preya Selvanathan

Doctoral Dissertations

Collective action often aims to elicit a response from the broader public. This dissertation presents three distinct but interrelated investigations on the societal outcomes of collective action among both high- and low- status groups in society, grounded in a range of social and political contexts. Chapter 1 provides an integrative literature review that identifies the motivation for the present research. Chapter 2 examined whether and how collective action organized by a social movement can shape the public’s subsequent attitudes toward the movement and its goals, in the context of the electoral reform Bersih movement in Malaysia. Chapter 3 investigated when …

Three Investigations Into The Dynamics And Implications Of Identity-Protective Cognition For Public Responses To Environmental Problems, Daniel A. Chapman

Doctoral Dissertations

In the case of responding to climate change and related environmental problems, opinions about the best course of action have become starkly polarized along ideological lines. The identity-protective cognition thesis posits that when individuals experience a sense of challenge to these identities, they are motivated to engage in cognitive shortcuts and other reasoning processes to protect these identities against threat. In this research, I discuss three investigations into identity-protective cognition in the context of responding to environmental problems, applying the broader identity-protective cognition framework to a diverse set of theoretical and practical questions. Chapter 2 highlights research exploring the effect …

Conceptualization And Measurement Of Adolescent Prosocial Behavior: A Two-Study Mixed Methods Investigation, Shereen El Mallah

Doctoral Dissertations

Prosocial behavior is a multifaceted construct that may be expressed and received in a myriad of ways, thereby posing several challenges in measurement. Undoubtedly, significant advancements in the measurement of prosocial behavior have been made since the construct first found its way onto the research stage; however, a few fundamental problems persist with regard to: 1) the absence of a universally employed definition, 2) substantial variation in operationalization and measurement of the construct, and 3) inconsistent reports regarding the nature of prosocial development during the transition between adolescence and young adulthood. These issues are further compounded under conditions of adversity …

Regulating Relationship Needs Via Joint Consumption: An Attachment Perspective, Jana M. Rosewarne

Doctoral Dissertations

Attachment style functions to regulate affect in relationships. I hypothesized that consumer decisions serve a similar purpose, producing distinct patterns of product preferences depending on people’s attachment goals. In a series of studies, I found that attachment avoidance predicted reduced preference for products framed as meeting closeness relationship goals and greater preference for products framed as meeting autonomy goals. The link between attachment anxiety and product preference depended on consumers’ emotions (S2) and relationship commitment (S3). Attachment style also predicted differences in the extent to which consumers thought about their partners when choosing products and their perceptions of how consumption …

The Neural Correlates Of Stereotype Threat And The Stereotype Inoculation Model In Young Women, Chaia Flegenheimer

Doctoral Dissertations

A promising intervention technique for stereotype threat effects is the stereotype inoculation model (SIM), which utilizes in-group role models to counteract stereotype-induced pressures. However, it remains unclear how the SIM may impact neural mechanisms during stereotype threat, including negative feedback bias (increased attention to undesirable feedback). The following three studies aim to examine the behavioral (Study 1) and neural (Study 2) markers of ST in women and how these markers are influenced by the SIM (Study 3). In each study, participants completed a non-traditional math task (the approximate number task). In the first two studies, one group was told the …

A Program Evaluation Of A Drug And Alcohol Family Treatment Program, Katrina Ramirez

Doctoral Dissertations

The current study is a program evaluation at John Muir Behavioral Health, Center for Recovery. The research determined the effectiveness of the program at Center for Recovery that is offered to patients that struggle with substance use disorder and their families. The purpose of this study is to assess patients’ behavioral, cognitive and social/environmental factors as it relates to their commitment to sobriety and examine how the involvement of family members influences the patient’s recovery process. I utilized a mixed methodology of quantitative and qualitative interviews of patients and family members. The findings suggest depressive symptoms were negatively correlated with …

Mediators And Moderators Of Childhood Family Adversity And Adult Cortisol Response: The Role Of Marital Conflict Behavior, Jeffrey P. Winer

Doctoral Dissertations

Childhood family adversity influences behavioral and physiological response processes to acute interpersonal stress. Additionally, conflict behaviors in marriage are primary determinants of stress response and related psychological problems in adulthood. As little research has examined these two important literatures simultaneously, further work is warranted to clarify the role of marital conflict behavior in the relation between childhood family adversity and adult cortisol response to conflict. The current study examined relations between childhood family adversity, observed marital conflict behaviors, and salivary cortisol in response to acute marital conflict among 228 different-sex newlywed couples. We examined intrapersonal “actor” effects as candidate mediators …