Social Psychology Commons^™

Psychosocial Analysis Of An Ethnography At The Cuyahoga County Public Defenders Office, Ernest M. Oleksy

The Downtown Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal Written and Peer-Reviewed by Mandel Honors College Students at Cleveland State University

Too often, social science majors become jaded with their field of study due to a misperception of the nature of many potential jobs which they are qualified for. Such discord is prevalent amongst undergraduates who strive for work in the criminal justice system. Hollywood misrepresentations become the archetypes of the aforementioned field, leaving out the necessity and ubiquity of accompanying desk work. Still other social science majors struggle to identify theoretical interpretations in praxis.

“A New Way Of Thinking”: Frantz Fanon’S True Opinion On Violence, Caroline D. Renko

The Downtown Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal Written and Peer-Reviewed by Mandel Honors College Students at Cleveland State University

In an attempt to clear Frantz Fanon’s name, on account of his opinion on the role of violence in decolonizing a nation, this paper focuses on two important chapters in his last book, The Wretched of the Earth. By closely reading his articulation of the Algerian war and the wounds brought on by mental illness at such a time, Fanon’s true opinion concerning violence becomes clear. For too long, he has been seen and used as a proponent for inciting violence, but this is a misconception that has been perpetuated by devaluing the importance of his descriptions of the …

Climate Grief Hits The Self-Care Generation, Avichai Scher

Capstones

As the effects of climate change intensify, emotional anguish over the future of the planet is emerging. This piece looks at a 10-step program to deal with climate grief "Good Grief."

At Uplift Climate, a conference on climate change for people under 30 held annually, the creators of Good Grief presented their program. The conference focused on climate justice for Native Americans, who have been dealing with climate grief for a long time.

The setting highlighted the class divide of who is affected by climate change. The effects of climate change are now so strong, that climate grief is hitting …

Religious Motivation, Priming And Their Effects On Sexist Language, Bridget Bard, Hank Rothgerber

Undergraduate Theses

This experiment delves into the potential effects of sexist language used in the Christian religious context on increased use of sexist language, and endorsement of sexism on an individual level. In order to demonstrate a relationship between these two variables, an experiment was designed. Participants were exposed to either a religious or neutral priming session and were then immediately asked to complete several scales and measures of sexist language, sexism, and their level of intrinsic religious motivation. The hypothesis was that participants who ranked lower on intrinsic religious motivation, and who received a religious prime, would generate increased sexist language …

Murmurs Of Revolution: Mythical Subversion In Dostoevsky, Connor Guetersloh

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Throughout history, cultural designation has been plagued by unpredictability. It is all but impossible to know when the next revolution, violent or subtle, will arise and turn systems on their heads, systems appraised as carved in stone. If it is all but impossible, then the possibility still remains: Is there a hidden link to be discovered, to track and predict the outcomes of social unrest bubbling beneath the surface of society? I suggest that there is; this hidden link can be traced back to the field of semiotics, and primarily moves in a swift, subtle manner. Said link is known …

Zombie Culture In Past And Modern Mythologies, Lehua Johnson

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

In modern media the notion of a zombie brings to mind the images of rotting flesh, a desire for flesh, and surviving in a desolate post-apocalyptic world. While zombies have certainly evolved into a niche genre separate from horror and science fiction, it is imperative that the origins of this modern-day phenomenon are explored and analyzed in an academic context. From the empty threats of the goddess Ishtar in ancient Mesopotamia to urban legends of former Haitian slaves, the foundation of zombie culture provides strong insight to humanity’s fear of losing itself to mere corporeal forms. Zombie culture is the …

Trustworthiness Appraisal Deficits In Borderline Personality Disorder Are Associated With Prefrontal Cortex, Not Amygdala, Impairment, Eric A. Fertuck, Jack Grinband, J. John Mann, Joy Hirsch, Kevin Ochsner, Paul Pilkonis, Jeff Erbe, Barbara Stanley

Publications and Research

Background

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is associated with sensitivity to signals of interpersonal threats and misplaced trust in others. The amygdala, an integral part of the threat evaluation and response network, responds to both fear- and trust-related stimuli in non-clinical samples, and is more sensitive to emotional stimuli in BPD compared to controls. However, it is unknown whether the amygdalar response can account for deficits of trust and elevated sensitivity to interpersonal threat in BPD.

Methods

Facial stimuli were presented to 16 medication-free women with BPD and 17 demographically-matched healthy controls (total n = 33). Participants appraised fearfulness or trustworthiness …

Wellness And Prevention Program Sustainability Design For Clark University Athletics Department, Emily Corbett

Sustainability and Social Justice

The purpose of this work is to design a wellness based prevention program that is tailored to fit the campus community within Clark University, Worcester, MA, called the Peer Athletes Advocating for Wellness (PAAW) initiative. This paper first presents the current research on wellness related issues within a college campus, specifically surrounding sexual violence. It then outlines the current sexual violence prevention programming that takes place yearly for incoming first year students at Clark University, as well as a one-time initiative during which student athletes participated in the sexual violence prevention programming. There is a review of the current most …

Race, Social Class, And Child Abuse: Content And Strength Of Medical Professionals’ Stereotypes, Cynthia J. Najdowski, Kimberly M. Bernstein

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

Black and poor children are overrepresented at every stage of the child welfare system, from suspicion of abuse to substantiation. Focusing on stereotypes as a source of bias that leads to these disparities, the current study examines the content and strength of stereotypes relating race and social class to child abuse as viewed by medical professionals. Doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals (Study 1: N = 53; Study 2: N = 40) were recruited in local hospitals and online through snowball sampling. Study 1 identified stereotype content by asking participants to list words associated with the stereotype that …

Immortal Melancholia: A Psychoanalytical Study Of Byronic Heroes, Kathryn Frazell

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

This culminating project examines Byronic heroes using psychoanalytic theory across four case studies in media, including classic literature, theater, film, and television. The Byronic hero is a literary archetype inspired by the poet George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824). Typical characteristics include angst, arrogance, cunning intelligence, criminality, desire, passion, dominance, and otherness. The characters I have chosen to study include Mr. Rochester from Jane Eyre (1847), the Phantom from the 2004 film The Phantom of the Opera, James Bond from the 2012 film Skyfall, and Damon Salvatore from the hit television series The Vampire Diaries (2009-2017). Through examining the …

The Role Of Dialect Words In Children’S Social Decisions, Madison Rose Myers-Burg

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recent research suggests that young children are capable of distinguishing between phonetically dissimilar spoken accents, yet have difficulty distinguishing between phonetically similar accents (Wagner, Clopper, & Pate, 2013). The present study aimed to determine whether the presence of dialect-specific vocabulary enhances young children’s ability to categorize speakers. Participants completed four training trials in which they were familiarized with photos of two children: one of whom used American English labels for test objects and one of whom used British English labels. After training trials, participants completed eight test trials in which they were asked to infer which target child would use …

Burning Community Integration And Disability, Christopher Shane Brace

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Individuals with anxiety and depression have always been marginalized and stigmatized. Individuals with “hidden” disabilities are encouraged by society to keep them hidden, or face ridicule and persecution. Society decreases their sense of self-worth, and self-efficacy by destroying any perception of normalcy. Social support resources are vital for individuals with anxiety and depression’s continued mental health. As time goes on the individuals experience a decrease in the amount of available resources, at the same time the need for them increases. These individuals need a way to quickly replenish their social resources and the Burning Man regional network creates a unique …

The Impact Of Black Lives Matter Movement Publicity On Juror Decision Making, Emily R. Nerness

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Others have investigated separately whether general pretrial publicity (PTP) or racial salience have an impact on juror decision making, but no one has explored a potential connection between the two. With information about the Black lives matter (BLM) movement recurring in the media, the question arises of whether news about the BLM movement can increase racial salience, thereby influencing juror decision making. The present research addressed whether 1) exposing participants to pro-BLM or negative-BLM news articles would influence verdicts and guilt ratings when compared to a control group, 2) whether this PTP effect would be different for Black versus White …

Do Male And Female Soccer Players Differ In Helping? A Study On Prosocial Behavior Among Young Players, Paul A. M. Van Lange, Zoi Manesi, R. W. J. Meershoek, Minglian Yuan, Mengchen Dong, N. J. Van Doesum

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Acting prosocially can be quite challenging in one of the most salient intergroup contexts in contemporary society: Soccer. When winning is the ultimate goal, balancing self-interest with helping a fellow player in distress can be a tough decision; yet it happens. To date, we know little about what motivates soccer players to offer such help in the heat of the game. We propose that sex and what is at stake will matter in such prosocial dilemma situations. A pilot study (N = 107) indicated that female players may be more likely to help than male players, but this difference was …

Values Vs. Self-Interest As Determinants Of Attitudes: Through A Construal Level Theory Lens, (Sometimes) Self-Interest Wins, Austin D. Eubanks

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The present study (n = 335) attempted to conceptually replicate Hunt, Kim, Borgida, and Chaiken (2010) with a high-powered design to investigate whether values and self-interest differentially impact attitudes depending on psychological distance. Participants were assigned to complete a task that made self- or other-focused values more accessible, then indicated their attitudes about a student fee increase at a university to fund scholarships the participants would not be eligible to receive (thus going against their own financial self-interest for the well being of someone else). The memo describing the fee increase was manipulated such that the increase would be occurring …

Investigating Affective Pathways For The Influence Of Justification On Self-Control, Morgan Hill

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

People struggle with temptation in their everyday lives. Research often attributes failures in self-regulation to overwhelming and uncontrollable impulses. However, research also supports the idea that cognitive factors (e.g., justification) can license tempting behavior and allow individuals to behave in ways that run counter to their long-term goals. In addition, it is likely that affect plays a role in justification-based self-control failure. The current set of three studies investigated the role of affect in justification-based self-control failure. Study 1 tested the prediction that recall of past successes would result in increased positive affect. Study 2 assessed whether justification results in …

The Effect Of Changing Appraisals Of Current Life Success On Memories Of Love Towards Parents, Mario Herrera

Master's Theses

As we experience successes and failures in life, do we bias our memories of childhood? Cognitive appraisal theory would predict that emotions are elicited based on the current appraisal of an event or person. There is some research that these current appraisals can also distort memories of emotions surrounding an event. No past research has investigated whether current appraisal of life success would affect important autobiographical memories. Here, we examine the effects on childhood memory of love felt towards parents. Due to current appraisal theory, we expected memory of love towards parents would be prone to distortion and bias. We …

Motivation Predicts Self-Control Of Racial Bias After Viewing Alcohol Advertisements, Zachary Wolfgang Petzel

Dissertations

Exerting self-control shifts motivation toward rewarding cues (i.e., approach motivation) and impairs control of racial bias. However, whether approach motivation predicts deficits in control of racial bias is unknown. Exertion of self-control is also related to alcohol use, but whether exerting self-control shifts motivation toward alcohol-related cues is not established. Similar to exerting self-control, viewing alcohol-related cues shifts motivation and promotes racial bias. The current study examined the interaction between exerting self-control and viewing alcohol-related cues on approach motivation and its influence on racial bias. Participants (N = 71) exerted (or did not exert) self-control and then viewed neutral …

The Expression Of Gratitude As A Contributor To Marital Strength, Kandace R. Palmer

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

Abstract

Gratitude is an important positive emotion for personal and social growth. Because of innate human needs, gratitude strengthens and builds interpersonal connections (Carnegie, 1936/1981; Johnson, 2008; Lambert & Fincham, 2011). In light of more recent research on the expression of gratitude in dyadic relationships, gratitude is considered to be an essential emotion for communicating “responsiveness” and for marriage survival (Algoe, Fredrickson, & Gable, 2013; Algoe, Kurtz, & Hilaire, 2016; Algoe & Zhaoyang, 2016). When spouses express appreciation, sincerity is necessary for gratitude to strengthen a marriage (Gordon, Arnette, & Smith, 2011; Leong, 2012). Furthermore, insincere gratitude, or a belief …

The Constituent Women Of Violence Against Women, Wilmer Morales, Jocelyn Martinez, Samantha Amaro

Violence Against Women conference

The Violence against Women Initiative is a very important framework in a time in which women need a platform to be able to discuss the problems and inequality they face in society. Throughout history women have been demonized, abuse, and treated unfairly, which has affected the way women respond to acts of violence. However, recent events have allowed women to gain the courage to stand against acts including verbal, physical, emotional, and psychological abuse. Society, in general, has to be educated and be made aware of how to respond and meticulously act during events that violate the rights of women, …

Harnessing Social Norms To Increase Men's Interest In Heed Careers, Joanna R. Lawler

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Men’s underrepresentation in the female-dominated domains of healthcare, early education, and the domestic sphere, or HEED roles, remains a persistent problem despite the fact that such careers often afford more job security and wage growth than blue-collar work. A growing body of evidence suggests that their lack of participation in HEED roles is not merely due to a skills mismatch, but rather an identity mismatch. I hypothesized that using descriptive and injunctive norms to reframe a stereotypically feminine career as more compatible with manhood could effectively reduce this identity mismatch. More specifically, I predicted that using a dynamic descriptive norm …

Counting Members In My League: Mate Value Moderates Economic Effects Of Local Operational Sex Ratio, Zilin Yan

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

When local operational sex ratio skews toward a larger proportion of same-sex to opposite-sex individuals, should members of the surplus sex increase or decrease (economic) efforts on reproduction? Past research yielded mixed results. In light of the fact that modern humans are highly mobile and can relocate to communities that may offer better reproductive prospects, it may not always be a given that individuals facing same-sex skewed local community will become current-oriented with regard to reproduction; instead, they may contemplate whether their efforts will pay off and decide whether they prefer to wait for better situations later. The present research …

The Relationship Between Teamwork Knowledge And Teamwork Behavior, Jeeun Yi, Glenn E. Littlepage

River Cities Industrial and Organizational Psychology Conference

Many organizations utilize a team-focused work structure in the workplace. Researchers have studied how working as a team can improve organizational outcomes such as productivity and employee satisfaction (Katzenbach & Smith, 1993). However, not all teams make positive outcomes (Hackman, 1998). Previous research has shown that effective teamwork can facilitate group and organizational effectiveness (Salas, Stagl, Burke, & Goodwin, 2007). Various models of teamwork process have been developed (Marks, Mathieu, & Zaccaro, 2001; Rousseau, Aube, & Savoie, 2006; Salas, Sims, & Burke, 2005). A meta-analysis found a consistent relationship between the ten dimensions of teamwork identified by Marks et al. …

Dreamers And Values: An Urban And Suburban Community College Comparison, David A. Caicedo

Publications and Research

Although previous research on the role of post-secondary education in the lives of undocumented youth has offered insight regarding demographics, educational achievement, measures of well-being, and generational trajectories, less is known about these young immigrants’ values and beliefs regarding themselves, their relation to others, their futures, and the potential influence of their social surroundings on these values. The intersecting perceptual beliefs between self and higher education were investigated among 7 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) participants in 2 U.S. community colleges and were hypothesized to reflect two social environments: an urban (New York) and a suburban (New Jersey) setting. …

Common Sense And Common Nonsense: A Conversation About Mental Attitudes, Science, And Society, Daniel S. Levine

Psychology Faculty Publications - Archive

Daniel S. Levine's Common Sense and Common Nonsense observes human decision making, ethics, and social organization as illuminated by the scientific disciplines of neural network theory, neuroscience, experimental psychology, and dynamical systems theory. It is a book whose aim is advocacy as well as research. Its goal is to use an understanding of our brains and minds to better operationalize Aldous Huxley's admonition to "try to be a little kinder." It wanders over examples from sociology, politics, economics, religion, literature, and many other fields but looks at all as examples of a few common themes. The "common nonsense" of the …

Spatio-Temporal Distribution Of Negative Emotions In New York City After A Natural Disaster As Seen In Social Media, Oliver Gruebner, Sarah R. Lowe, Martin Sykora, Ketan Shankardass, Sv Subramanian, Sandro Galea

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Disasters have substantial consequences for population mental health. We used Twitter to (1) extract negative emotions indicating discomfort in New York City (NYC) before, during, and after Superstorm Sandy in 2012. We further aimed to (2) identify whether pre- or peri-disaster discomfort were associated with peri- or post-disaster discomfort, respectively, and to (3) assess geographic variation in discomfort across NYC census tracts over time. Our sample consisted of 1,018,140 geo-located tweets that were analyzed with an advanced sentiment analysis called ”Extracting the Meaning Of Terse Information in a Visualization of Emotion” (EMOTIVE). We calculated discomfort rates for 2137 NYC census …

05. Leadership And Communication, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

CORE

This module covers several topics in communication beyond public speaking. It emphasizes the importance of communication in general and how it relates to leadership. First, students will explore the ideas and applications of negotiation in leadership. To give students the skills to effectively speak and negotiate, the module also allows students to practice concepts of nonverbal communication such as subconscious body language. The module also demonstrates how a leader can use manipulation and persuasion, as well as the distinction between the two topics. Finally, the module has students critically analyze the ethics and necessity of political correctness.

03. Leadership And Religion, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

CORE

The purpose of this module is to encourage students to take a step back from their personal lives and their own religion in order to analyze religion as a whole and how it affects leadership, community, an individual’s decision making, etc. The module also focuses on the ways self-discipline is part of religion by tying the skill into the characteristics of religion and analyzing its presence in religious groups.

White-Identifying Populations' Perceptions Of Muslims In The United Kingdom And United States, Ashley Gilliam

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Much of Western society is engaging with complex ideas and events such as multiculturalism, immigration, assimilation, and terrorism. The United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US) are relevant to this larger discussion considering the 2016 finalization of the ‘Brexit’ decision to leave the European Union and the recent travel restriction policies in the US targeting some countries with Islam as majority religious affiliation. Given these events, my larger research question addresses how majority populations view minority groups. Several studies have provided a view of how Muslims in the West form their own identities (Hopkins, 2011; Modood & Ahmad, 2007; …

02. Psychodynamics, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

CORE

This module will facilitate various psychological models and review the six bases of power. Students will examine conformity to consensus and to authority. Students will gain a clearer understanding of their own psychological preferences and the concept of “acting for the greater good”. The module will also address self-awareness and how it relates to psychodynamics as well as leadership.