Social Psychology Commons^™

Examining Dehumanization Of Individuals With Schizophrenia, Brianna Drake

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

Objective: Previous literature examines dehumanization of marginalized groups; though, most of this work focuses on ethnic and racial groups. Currently, there is a gap in the literature examining the extent to which people with mental illness are dehumanized. This study examined whether people with schizophrenia are dehumanized (relative to other marginalized groups, such as drug addicts). Furthermore, this research will investigate if using “person-first” language can attenuate dehumanization.

Method: Participants (n = 310) were recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk to complete a measure of dehumanization and demeaning needs for each of the nine targets (i.e., self, close friend, lawyer, elderly, …

What Makes A Good Relationship? Examining The Role Of Psychological Needs On Relationship Satisfaction Moderated By Attachment, Kristin Rutland

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

Objective: The current study examined the relative importance of psychological needs as predictors of relationship satisfaction and how differences across dimensions of adult attachment moderate these relationships. Through the examination of psychological needs, relationship satisfaction, and attachment questionnaires, it was predicted that psychological needs predict relationship satisfaction differently across the attachment spectrum, with attachment serving as a moderator of these associations.

Method: Data was collected from online crowd sourcing software, Amazon Mechanical Turk (Mturk). There were one hundred and fourteen participants, ranging from 18-78 years of age (M = 27.39, SD = 11.21), who were currently involved in a romantic …

Climbing The Masculine Hierarchy: Examining Constructions Of Masculinity Through Incel Identities, Alyssa Jewel Davis

All Theses

In a gender-segregated digital space known as the Manosphere, a group of men calling themselves “Incels,” or involuntary celibates, express feelings of hostility and hatred towards women. Incels hold a low position on a masculine hierarchy where the men who hold the most power in society are those who have access to women’s emotional and sexual services. Incels are characterized by feelings of entitlement to women’s services and aggrievement by their inability to access them. As a result, they often appear to fantasize about or engage in acts of violence to compensate for their lack of masculine privilege. However, there …

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 …

Our Bodies, Our Stories: Mental And Physical Self Connection As A Protective Factor In Sexual And Gender Minorities, Emerson A. Todd

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The mind and body connection has been actively examined in neuroscience and developmental psychology backgrounds. Sociological theorists posit ways that individuals develop a sense of self through mind, body, and the social world. While research on the connection between the mind and body in disabled and aging populations is common, less is known of the everyday impact of these connections for other minority populations. The present study uses mixed-methods research to explore the relationship between mind and body and the impacts on internal and social life. The quantitative aspect of the study found significant relationships between physical and mental health …

Perceived Longevity Of Mrna Technology Increases Support For Covid-19 Vaccines, Scott Eidelman, Emily M. Vance, John C. Blanchar, Katelynn Kallodaychask, Yuna Shimomoto, Kaori Yamasaki

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Among the reasons for Covid-19 mRNA vaccine hesitancy are the vaccines' relative newness and, consequentially, concerns about their risks and safety. In this research, we address these reasons by manipulating the perceived longevity of the technology underlying mRNA Covid-19 vaccines (i.e., how long participants think these technologies have been in existence). An internet sample of American adults (N = 433) was shown one of the two versions of a timeline of medical events with 'creation of mRNA vaccines' placed to its left or right. The placement of mRNA vaccine creation on the left-end of the timeline resulted in Covid-19 mRNA …

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 …

Reevaluating The Factor Structure Of The Family Resilience Assessment Scale For African American College Students, Quandrea Rachelle Harper

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to reevaluate the initial validation process of the Family Resilience Assessment Scale (FRAS) and to validate the measure for use with African Americans. Although the FRAS has been previously validated using a sample from the general population in the U.S. and has demonstrated cross-cultural utility, its applicability for use specifically with African Americans is inconclusive, as demonstrated by preliminary research findings. In the current study, data were collected from a sample of African American college students to conduct an exploratory factor analysis using all 66 items initially included in Sixbey’s validation study, and a …

Social Comparison And Shifting In Quantitative Performance, Ashlee Pardo

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Research has produced conflicting results in terms of whether positive stereotypes enhance or impair the performance of individuals who have both positively- and negatively-stereotyped identities. Shih, Pittinsky, and Ambady (1999) found that relative to a no identity control group, Asian women performed better on a mathematics test when their positively-stereotyped identity was salient (i.e., ethnicity) but worse when their negatively-stereotyped identity was salient (i.e., gender). In contrast, Cheryan and Bodenhausen (2000) found that both positive and negative identity salience in Asian women led to reduced performance relative to a no identity control group. In the current study, I aimed to …

An Intersectional Study Of Perceived Academic Climate And The Imposter Phenomenon In Psychology Students, Kelsey Braun

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Social exclusion in higher education can occur at multiple levels (e.g., systemic, institutional, interpersonal, individual), and individuals simultaneously hold multiple social identities that could influence their perceptions of academic climate. The current study utilized a mixed-methods convergent parallel design to explore the impact of multiple social identities, perceptions of academic climate, and the imposter phenomenon among psychology students. In the quantitative portion, participants (N = 142) completed an online survey related to gender centrality, academic climate, and imposter phenomenon. Gender group comparisons revealed that cisgender men indicated poorer perceptions of climate than cisgender women and gender minorities, but imposter …

Daily Variation In Prioritizing Positivity And Well-Being, Lahnna I. Catalino, William Tov

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Prioritizing positivity is the tendency to use pleasant states (e.g. contentment, joy) as a key criterion to structure daily life. Research shows that people who tend to possess this trait are happier (between-person effect), but a separate question remains: on days people prioritize positivity, relative to their own baseline, do they feel happier (within-person effect)? In a sample of college students (n = 301) who completed a 2-week diary study resulting in 3,894 reports, we evaluated this hypothesis using hedonic and eudaimonic indicators of well-being. We also tested whether between-person differences in prioritizing positivity (measured as a trait and mean …

Resisting Problematic Smartphone Use: Distracter Resistance Strengthens Grit's Protective Effect Against Problematic Smartphone Use, Shi Ann Shuna Khoo, Hwajin Yang

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Recent studies suggest that grit serves as a protective trait against maladaptive smartphone use. However, little is known about possible boundary conditions, such as cognitive abilities, that could modulate the relations. Evidence suggests that the cognitive functions that underlie goal-maintenance abilities—specifically, inhibition—could moderate the relations of the two subfactors of grit (i.e., grit-consistency and grit-perseverance) with problematic smartphone use. Hence, we investigated the moderating roles of two core aspects of inhibition: prepotent response inhibition and resistance to distracter interference. Testing college students (N = 237, Mage = 21.8 years, 73.4% female), we found that only resistance to distracter interference, but …

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 …

Distress And Growth In The Black Community, Devin A. Noel-Harrison

Research Psychology Theses

Racial discrimination is an unfortunate reality that people of color regularly experience. This leaves lasting impacts on the health of individuals and communities. With the increased use of social media, videos depicting violence against black bodies are widely circulated. The consequences of being exposed to these race related traumatic events online (TEO) can be damaging to the mental health of the black community, maybe even more so if one’s racial identity is important and salient to their overall wellbeing. Though witnessing these race related TEO often lead to posttraumatic stress, positive change may also be possible known as posttraumatic growth.

Music: Seeking Pleasure, Emotional Language, Ritualized Communication, Jillian N. Gerlach

Interdivisional Studies Summer Fellows

The impetus for my project was how I view listening to music as a spiritual or religious experience. Listening to music, instead of practicing religion, satisfies my inclination toward spirituality. In the introduction to my paper, I outlined how music exists in my life. I thought it was valuable to provide my unique experience to give context to my research. I created a diagram that delineates how I interact with music and the benefits I derive from listening to music. During this self-reflection, I realized listening to music functions like a ritual for me. I noticed my individual ritualized listening …

Closeness In Interethnic Friendship (Arabic, Javanese, Tionghoa): A Qualitative Study On Adolescents Living In Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia, Fadjri Kirana Anggarani, Avin Fadilla Helmi, Claudia Rosari Dewi

Makara Human Behavior Studies in Asia

This study aims to describe the formation process of the closeness in interethnic friendship among adolescents living in Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia. A qualitative study using grounded theory method is employed. Study participants comprised five adolescent girls, aged 16–17 years, with the following interethnic friendships: Javanese–Arabic–Tionghoa, Javanese–Arabic, and Javanese–Tionghoa. Data on the formation process of closeness in interethnic friendship were collected using semi-structured interview referring to the Closeness Interethnic Friendship Guideline for Adolescents. Data were analyzed using initial coding, focused coding, axial coding, and theoretical coding. Results reveal seven composites of closeness in interethnic friendship: disclosure, comfort, compatibility, reappraisal of …

Attitudes Of The Colleges Of Education Students Towards Individuals With Mobility Disabilities In Jordan, Khalid Mohammed Al Jundiu

Journal of the Association of Arab Universities for Research in Higher Education مجلة اتحاد الجامعات العربية للبحوث في التعليم العالي

This descriptive study aimed to survey the attitudes of students at the College of Education towards individuals with motor disabilities in Jordan, in order to benefit from it in knowing the extent of the need for programs to change negative attitudes towards individuals with disabilities. The population of the current study consists of all Jordanian public universities for the first semester of the academic year 2020/2021. The study sample consisted of (712) male and female students. It was randomly selected from seven public universities Jordan. The researcher built a scale to achieve the aims of the study. The researcher used …

Interactions Between Sex And Pet Ownership On Attitudes Toward Children, Aya Dudin, Mayra Linne Almanza-Sepulveda, Katherine T. Cost, Geoffrey B. Hall, Alison S. Fleming, Jonathan Freedman

People and Animals: The International Journal of Research and Practice

Background: Many people are attached to their pets. This attachment shares characteristics with the parental attachment to children. Previous studies have established a sex difference in attitudes about children; women compared to men report more positive attitudes about children. However, whether this sex difference is attenuated by owning and caring for pet(s) has not been investigated. Methods: In a sample of non-parents, we investigated the following: (1) whether the established main effect of sex on attitudes about children was moderated by pet ownership using a 2 (male, female) x 2 (pet owner, non–pet owner) design; and (2) whether the established …

Psychology In The Modern World, Kutay Agardici

Open Educational Resources

This syllabus is created for the two courses I will be teaching at City College in the psychology dept. Topics include cognition, language, learning, memory, nature vs. nurture, abnormal psychology, social psychology, etc.

The Psychological Empowerment Impact Of Twitter Microblogging: The Case Of #Stopasianhate During Covid-19 Pandemic, Natnaree Wongmith

Theses - ALL

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a surge in anti-Asian hate incidents across the US (Misra et al., 2020). As a response to the alarming escalation in xenophobia and racism resulting from the pandemic, #StopAsianHate and #StopAAPIHate have been employed to shed light on the issues. Twitter can effectively assist protestors to participate in the movement by facilitating collective effort, efficiently disseminating the information, and encouraging the discussion about a topic (Chon & Park, 2020). Social media has been recognized for its contribution to one's empowerment in various domains, allowing the marginalized group to regain their sense of power …

Differential Evaluation Of Straight And Gay Men For Nonverbal Effeminate Behavior, Art D. Marsden

Theses - ALL

The purpose of this study was to determine how violation of gender-based expectancies might influence attitudes toward men who differ by sexual orientation (i.e., straight or gay). While other studies have examined attitudes toward gay and straight men who differ by gender expression, their designs may have been susceptible to demand effects; this study was specifically designed to avoid such methodological issues. This research was informed by Expectancy-Violation Theory (EVT) and the Black Sheep Effect, which together suggest that an effeminate straight man should be evaluated by other straight men more negatively than an effeminate gay man because the former …

The Impact Of Environmental Variability On Perceptions Of Parental Ability From Bodily Cues, Kaitlyn Boykin

Master's Theses

This study aimed to extend work considering how bodily cues appear diagnostic of parental ability. I examined body adiposity and sexually dimorphic features for women (i.e., breast size) and men (i.e., muscularity). I further considered how salience of resource scarcity might heighten perceptions of a potential mate as an effective parent when possessing features that connote underlying resource availability (e.g., body fat). Participants were primed with resource scarcity or a control condition before assessing parental affordances of female and male targets. Targets were orthogonally manipulated to possess high and low levels of adiposity. Female targets were manipulated for breast size …

Reconsidering The “Acculturation Gap”: Mother-Adolescent Cultural Adaptation Mis/Matches And Positive Psychosocial Outcomes Among Mexican-Origin Families, Jinjin Yan, Lester Sim, Jiaxiu Song, Shanting Chen, Su Yeong Kim

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Previous studies have linked parent-child cultural adaptation mismatches with adolescents’ maladjustment without addressing how intergenerational mis/matches are related to positive aspects of adolescent development and parental outcomes. Using data from 604 Mexican-origin families (adolescent sample:54%female, Mage = 12.41, range = 11 to 15), response surface analysis was conducted to investigate how mother-child mis/matches in cultural adaptation (acculturation, enculturation, English and Spanish proficiency) are associated with adolescents’ and mothers’ resilience and life meaning. Adolescents and mothers reported greater resilience and meaning when they matched at higher, versus lower, levels of acculturation, enculturation and English proficiency; adolescents reported more resilience when they …

Emotional Experiences Of Muslim Americans Regarding The Intolerance Displayed By Non-Muslims, Munder Abderrazzaq

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

Muslims in the United States report experiencing unequal treatment and racial profiling from non-Muslims. Recent literature (Simon et al., 2018) suggests the need for further research on the intolerance displayed by majority members from the point of view of minority members in the United States. The unwillingness or refusal to respect or tolerate individuals from a different social group or minority groups, who hold beliefs that are contrary to one’s own, is referred to as intolerance. The display of intolerance among members of different cultural and religious backgrounds can hinder the discovery of new information needed to promote positive social …

She’S Just Not That Into Me: Sexual Self-Concept Among Heterosexual Men Who Identify As Involuntary Celibates, Kyle J. Justin, Dustin K. Shepler, Joseph R. Kinel

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Emerging adult men experiencing involuntary celibacy are increasingly self-identifying as “incels.” Popular culture has painted a negative view of incel men. Nonetheless, almost no research has addressed the experiences of incels or systematically compared incels to their peers to identify whether actual differences exist in psychological functioning. In this study, we surveyed a total of 129 emerging adult men (75 incels and 54 non-incels) to determine if and how incels differ from their non-incel peers. MANOVA results indicated that incels disproportionately struggled with low self-esteem, social anxiety, difficulty approaching women, and optimism about partnered sexual experiences compared to their non-incel …

Algorithmic Manipulation: How Social Media Is Shaping Our Theology, Ethan Jago

Liberty Theological Review

The average individual in Generation Z spends nine hours a day on social media and derives over 62% of the information retained from social applications such as YouTube and Instagram. Social media applications are designed to track and adapt a user's activity to custom-tailor their internet experience resulting in a controlled, one-sided view of the information flow custom-tailored to an individual's usage, which subtly changes the disposition concerning the interpretation of theological and biblical truths. The algorithm of social media responds adapts and directly impacts individuals in what they think, purchase, and places they visit. Social media is not neutral …

Comparing Crime Scene Trajectories: Sexual Versus Nonsexual Serial Homicides, Jonathan T. Dixon

Student Theses

When faced with a possible serial offender, crime linkage analysis is crucial in identifying which crime scenes belong to the same offender. Thus, when analyzing behavioral consistency to link crimes, it is essential to use a classification model that is empirically tested and is based on the type of crime being investigated. Several classification models examine patterns of consistency and change using a combination of thematic and behavioral subgroups; however, they are tested using sexual and nonsexual crime scenes, which some recent literature argues are two distinct types of homicide and should be examined separately. The present study tests the …

Masculinity Instability And Ideologies As Predictors Of Ipv Perpetration: The Mediating Role Of Relationship Power, Emma Christine Marioles O'Connor

Dissertations and Theses

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is considered to be a pervasive and devastating social issue and is disproportionately perpetrated by men (CDC). Masculinity ideologies, which are comprised of male role norm expectations, inform boys and men about what it means to be and to not be "a man" and have been established as a predictive factor of men's IPV perpetration. These ideologies serve to maintain existing social hierarchies that entitle men to seek socially dominant and powerful positions in society, as well as within their intimate relationships. Further, masculinity is considered to be unstable, subject to threat, and in need of …

Successful Women Majoring In Stem Have Higher Optimism And Lower Stigma Consciousness, Bridget Muise, Bettina Casad

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Women are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. We had 607 women majoring in STEM complete an online questionnaire reporting levels of coping, rejection sensitivity, stigma consciousness, and optimism and grade point average (GPA) was collected from school records. Results showed that higher rejection sensitivity predicts lower GPA even with higher coping skills. This indicates that even with good coping skills, higher fear of rejection for one's gender had a stronger effect on the academic performance of women in STEM. Additionally, higher optimism predicts higher GPA, but only for women with lower gender stigma consciousness. Optimism seems …

Sociability Moderates The Negative Association Between Covid-Related Disruptions And Life Satisfaction, Amna Khan, Katherine L. Fiori

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Disruptions in individuals’ lives during the COVID-19 pandemic have been associated with increased mental health problems and decreases in life satisfaction, although recent research indicates that these effects are not uniform across individuals. The purpose of the present study was to examine the role of sociability in moderating the association between COVID-related disruptions and life satisfaction in a sample of adults. Using data from an online survey given to N = 166 adults, COVID-19 disruptions related to conflicts with household members or roommates and disruptions in care during the pandemic were negatively associated with life satisfaction. Sociability was found to …