Social Psychology Commons^™

Predictors Of Attitudes Toward Transgender Men And Women, Emma Welch, Antoinette Fleming, Hailey Hatch

Annual Graduate Student Symposium

Transgender individuals experience prejudice (Elischberger et al., 2016; Norton & Herek, 2013) and have a much higher suicide rate (41%) than the national average, possibly due to this prejudice and discrimination (Haas, Rodgers, & Herman, 2014). Little research, however, has examined factors that may relate to greater levels of prejudice toward this group. The degree and expression of prejudice toward many types of targets differs by political orientation (Nail, Harton, & Decker, 2003), and empathy decreases prejudice toward some targets (Batson, Polycarpou, Harmon-Jones, Mitchener, Bednar, & Highberger, 1997). We hypothesized that conservatives would express more negative attitudes towards transgender individuals …

Perceptions Of Transgender Populations: An Educational Module To Increase Knowledge And Reduce Negative Attitudes, Dacia Oberhelman

Annual Graduate Student Symposium

Individuals who identify as transgender are at the receiving end of subtle and direct forms of negative attitudes and discrimination. These attitudes and discrimination remain despite the recent research emphasis on attitudes toward sexual minority populations and the large improvement in attitudes toward sexual minorities over the last few decades. Recent research related to transgender populations largely focuses on examining the existing attitudes, rather than attempts to reduce these negative attitudes. In the current study, we aim to increase knowledge about transgender populations and reduce negative attitudes by employing an online psychoeducational intervention module. Potential change in attitudes will be …

Body Language In The Classroom: Effects Of Gesturing, Maia Rolfe

Scholars Week

Body Language in the Classroom: Effects of Gesturing

This study was designed to give some insights into how body language could interact with teaching. This study tested if active gesturing (pointing) had an effect on the amount of a story that was remembered and on how likable someone who is presenting the story was perceived as being. Male and female participants watched a female presenter read a short story projected on a screen while either pointing to key words or not pointing. Then they wrote down as much of the story as they could remember and rated the likeability of …

Appraising Positive Aspects Of Shared History Through Contact- A Preliminary Model Of Reconciliation Among Hindus And Muslims Of The Kashmir Valley, Sramana Majumdar Dr

Peace and Conflict Studies

The long-standing political conflict in the Kashmir Valley has resulted in identity based polarization and subsequent displacement of communities. Reconciliation between Hindus (also known as Pandits) and Muslims is viewed as an important step in any sustainable effort towards conflict resolution and peacebuilding in the Valley. This paper begins by examining the much debated territorial and cultural concept of ‘Kashmiriyat’ and instead proposes an alternative lens that emphasizes on shared history as opposed to common identity. We approach reconciliation through a socio-psychological lens by examining the role of a shared cultural past and historical coexistence- or simply put as shared …

The Few And The Proud: Examining The Need For Belonging And The Need For Distinctiveness In Regards To Sport Choice, Thomas Derossett

Scholars Week

According to Sheldon and Bettencourt, feeling like you belong to a group has a significantly positive impact on mood. This directly relates to research which discusses how sport fans are more likely to consume sport if they feel like they belong. The sense of belonging drives the individuals to be a part of a group.

Distinctiveness is also an important part of personality. This is the concept that you stand out amongst the crowd. Much like belonging, it has been directly correlated to positive outcomes on mood. It is an innate biological need which drives individuals to form groups (Eastwick, …

My Best Friend Is A Smurf: Assessing Racism Through Children's Cartoons, Asheley M. Roberts, Morgan Owens, Tommy Derossett

Scholars Week

Modern racism, compared to old-fashioned racism, is more implicit due to modern pressures regarding racially sensitivity. Although the notion of being multicultural is positive, the pressure is problematic as it hinders psychologists’ ability to measure self-reported racism. That is, when Caucasian individuals are given measures regarding racial bias, they tend to answer in socially desirable ways in order to appear less racist. However, those socially desirable answers are then used as evidence of their prejudice. The current study is examining the notion that explicit self-report measures are flawed because they initiate stereotype threat. This threat occurs when an individual is …

Who Should I Marry: Advice From Parents, Robert Tucker

Scholars Week

When getting married people may worry about whether their parents will approve of their choice in a spouse. On the other hand, parents may want to be involved in their children’s choice. This study was centered on the question: Is there a correlation between adult children’s perceptions and feelings about their parents and their willingness to accept parental advice on marriage choices? A sample of 248 university students completed a set of questionnaires that measured their willingness to accept parental marriage advice, their overall feelings about their parents, and the health of their family relationships. Willingness to accept parental marriage …

I'M With Us, But Not With Them: A Study Of In-Group Bias And Political Party, Quinn Lambert

Scholars Week

The purpose of this research is to test the interaction of in-group/out-group bias and political parties. This research is especially necessary and timely due to the unstable and somewhat unorthodox political climate surrounding our country this year. Research by Olivola, Sussman, Tsetsos, Kang, and Todorov (2012) shows that voters identifying as Republicans showed a greater preference for candidates who fit the physical stereotype of a Republican (an older white male) even if that candidate was not a Republican. My research asks if in-group biases apply to perceptions of attractiveness and trustworthiness. I hypothesized that participants will be more likely to …

Attitudes About Nudity And Sexuality, Morgan Owens, Kesia M. Casey

Scholars Week

Nudity is the subject of art in sculptures and paintings, or more controversial pieces that include photography. Few studies have examined why society deems nudity as scandalous or negative. One study by Beggan, and colleagues (2014) compared perceptions of “adult” photos based on the target’s gaze. They discovered females who made eye contact with the camera were deemed more vulnerable and more objectified than males, which suggests, in addition to gender differences, it is the implied sexual content for which people are reacting. The current study investigated relationships between attitudes towards nudity and individual difference variables (e.g., political ideology, relationship …

Same Words, Different Impressions: How Accent Upstages Words In Communication, Alexandria Farris

Scholars Week

The current study investigated how different non-native accents of English are perceived. A person's accent can be used to take the place of the individual's race or any other marker used to make judgements (Shuck, 2006). Participants listened to a recording of one out of five non-American female speakers of English from Mexico, Russia, Germany, India, or China, or a female native speaker of American English; the participants heard either a formal or informal text and then evaluated the speaker on factors of competence, caring/goodwill, and trustworthiness. Demographic data on age, gender, languages spoken, extent travelled, and time lived in …

Deepening Community: Dispelling The Myth Of Small Through A Gospel Of The Small, Sarah R. Cordray

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This transformative, mixed-methods research project utilized a modified PAR in order to strengthen inter-relationships of a congregation and with its community. Intentional small acts of conversation and listening were utilized as the main tool to implement change, as participants were awakened from the myth of small-town living, in which assumptions of connectedness were made. This project was deepened through the use of key theoretical, biblical, and theological lenses, such as: community, social capital, open systems theory, transformational leadership, hearing, incarnation, perichoresis, and a sense of belonging. Results revealed a deepened sense of community, a growing awareness of inter-relationships, key differences …

Water, Sanitation And Hygiene In Rwamwanja Refugee Settlement, Katelyn Bergl

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

No abstract provided.

The Influence Of Culture On The Use Of Healthcare Services By Refugees In Southcentral Kentucky: A Mixed Study, Chika N. Ejike

Dissertations

The world as a global village has become a ubiquitous trope in the popular discourse, and Bowling Green, Kentucky, with its substantial immigrant population, may be considered an exemplar of this idealized community. It has become an ideal location for research regarding the challenges faced by immigrants. Due to the diverse cultural identities of the refugee/immigrant population, it is particularly well suited for studies into complex culturally dependent healthcare utilization patterns.

The central research question for the study was as follows: What are the healthcare-seeking behavioral patterns (as influenced by culture) among refugees at their nearest healthcare facilities? This mixed …

The Goal-Driven, Resilient, And Influential Teens Program In Kentucky High Schools: The Impact On Social And Emotional Learning And Influencing Factors, Brant Von Goble

Dissertations

In order to assess the effects of the Goal-driven, Resilient, and Influential Teens (GRIT) program on social and emotional learning and academic performance in high schools throughout Kentucky, data from several sources were compiled and analyzed. These sources included results from the Student Engagement and Performance (STEP) survey, an instrument developed by the Rock Solid Evaluation Team at Western Kentucky University and administered yearly to high school students and teachers, and school-level academic and socioeconomic data from the Kentucky Department of Education. Additional data on fidelity of GRIT program implementation were obtained from FranklinCovey, the GRIT program’s developer and publisher. …

Push To Pray: A Conceptual Framework For Significant Change In Prayer Frequency In One Church, Charles Alexander Elliott

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In recent years, an increasing amount of research has been conducted on the topic of personal spiritual practices, such as prayer. Fewer studies have been conducted on reasons for changes in the frequency of such practices within the church. Those that have addressed church behavior have most often measured attendance and membership. It is the goal of this study to conceptualize potential causes for changes in personal prayer practice at one church. A yearlong marketing campaign was used to help increase church attenders’ frequency of the personal spiritual practice of prayer. Two cross-sectional studies were conducted one-year apart and revealed …

Don’T Bring Me Down: People, Puzzles, And Social Loafing, David Haas

Senior Honors Projects

Identifiability (others knowing an individual’s effort) and social cohesion (personal attachment to a group) are both established influencers of social loafing (decreased effort when in a group). Much of the evidence indicates that identifiability and social cohesion are negatively correlated with social loafing. One hundred and sixty undergraduate students at a private northeast Ohio university participated in this experiment to examine the effect of identifiability and face-to-face contact on social loafing. There were independent groups of two variables: identifiability (yes or no) and group presence (present or absent). Participants worked on a puzzle for 15 minutes after which completed pieces …

Intercollegiate Athlete Perceptions Of Justice In Team Disciplinary Decisions, Jared M. Diaz

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The present study examined justice perceptions of an intercollegiate athlete who was punished for a team rule violation outside of competition. This scenario study is a modified replication of Severs’ (2009) study on justice perceptions of intercollegiate athletes; one additional factor, importance of the next competition, was examined in the current study. Perceptions of fairness and perceptions of likelihood of deterring future misconduct were examined using a factorial design with two levels of punishment severity (severe and moderate), two levels of misconduct severity (severe and moderate), two types of punishment distribution (consistent and conditional), and two types of game importance …

Hyper Masculinity; Influences And Prevention In Children, Brittany Doherty

Honors Senior Capstone Projects

This article is a research piece on hyper masculinity. It will discuss what hyper masculinity is, how it effects our society and the ways that we can prevent it. This is a review of many other articles pertaining to hyper masculinity. It also includes my attempt at combating hyper masculinity stemming from childhood interactions and beliefs. Research states that masculinity is ingrained into our children at a young age. This masculinity can transform to hyper masculinity in young men due to simple influences. It is important to combat this behavior at all stages of development. This article will focus on …

Attachment As Affirmation To Inhibit Health Risk Information Avoidance, Elizabeth C. Mccrary

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Previous research on information avoidance has revealed that people choose to avoid negative health information, but that this effect is interrupted by self-affirmation (Howell & Shepperd, 2013). The current study aimed to contribute to the field’s understanding of the conditions under which self-affirmation reduces information avoidance by using a unique affirmation: secure attachment figures. I hypothesized that activating a secure attachment would serve as the affirmation necessary for participants to choose to view their risk information for a fictitious enzyme deficiency. However, when given a choice, participants in both the experimental and control conditions chose to view this information. At …

The Body Image Culture Within Sororities: A Qualitative Study, Kyle Ross, Melissa Bene, Lisa Edwards, Rebeca Chlebnikow, Alexandra Dolla, Kristen Perone, Deanne Zotter

Psychology Student Work

No abstract provided.

Group Identity As A Source Of Threat And Means Of Compensation: Establishing Personal Control Through Group Identification And Ideology, Chris Goode, Lucas A. Keefer, Nyla R. Branscombe, Ludwin E. Molina

Faculty Publications

Compensatory control theory proposes that individuals can assuage threatened personal control by endorsing external systems or agents that provide a sense that the world is meaningfully ordered. Recent research drawing on this perspective finds that one means by which individuals can compensate for a loss of control is adherence to ideological beliefs about the social world. This prior work, however, has largely neglected the role of social groups in defining either the nature of control threat or the means by which individuals compensate for these threats. In four experiments (N = 466), we test the possibility that group-based threats to …

Heterosexual Allies' Confrontation Of Sexual Prejudice: The Effect Of Gender, Attitudes, And Past Allied Behavior, Kelly L. Lemaire

Dissertations (1934 -)

Confrontation of prejudice is one method that has been demonstrated to reduce future discrimination on behalf of perpetrators and non-target witnesses in the future. The current study sought to 1) determine whether the gender of the perpetrator, target, or witness of heterosexist prejudice affects witness’s reactions to prejudice, including confrontation, 2) understand if other factors including participants’ attitudes about society, gender roles, and gay men and lesbian women, as well as their general level of assertiveness and previous allied behaviors were predictive of confrontation behavior and 3) examine participant’s satisfaction with their responses and anticipated future responses in relation to …

Perceptions Of Gender Non-Conforming Men: The Impact Of Perceiver Gender, Relationship Status And Gender Role Ideology, Ciara A. Atkinson

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

Due to patriarchal gender role norms, the male gender has been historically afforded increased social status and prestige by way of social, political, and economic advantage. While men benefit from this privileged status, they experience many negative consequences from these norms as well. Male gender roles are more rigid than female gender roles, as demonstrated by previous research suggesting that men who deviate from prescribed gender roles are met with more social backlash than women (Siren, McCreary, & Mahalik, 2004). However, research on why this is the case is inconclusive.

Thus, the present study sought to examine variables associated with …

Preference Organization, Danielle M. Pillet-Shore

Communication

Conversation analytic research on “preference organization” investigates recorded episodes of naturally occurring social interaction to elucidate how people systematically design their actions to either support or undermine social solidarity. This line of work examines public forms of conduct that are highly generalized and institutionalized, not the private desires, subjective feelings or psychological preferences of individuals. This article provides a detailed and accessible overview of classic and contemporary conversation analytic findings about preference, which collectively demonstrate that human interaction is organized to favor actions that promote social affiliation (through face-preservation) at the expense of conflict (resulting from face-threat). While other overviews …

Does Distance Equal Length? : The Effect Of Relational Closeness On Length Of Sentencing In Child Sexual Abuse, Brittney Peiffer

Student Theses

Expectations of how family and friends are supposed to treat children may influence decision- making in child sexual abuse cases. These expectations can be understood from a moral code and moral violation perspective, such that broken moral codes formed by society can elicit negative emotions resulting in moral hypervigilance. Moral hypervigilance is the need to mediate the negative emotions elicited by the moral code violations with action, such as deciding the length of sentencing for a person who the moral code. This study examined the impact of relational closeness and victim gender on the length of sentencing for child sexual …

Cultural Influences On Time Pressure In The U.S. And Taiwan, Maribel Guevara-Myers, Helen C. Harton

Research in the Capitol

Levine and Norenzayan’s (1999) multicountry observational study investigated differences in time pressure due to cultural differences (individualism vs. collectivism). They found people in New York City walked more quickly down a sidewalk than people in Taipei, Taiwan. In this study, I investigated whether there would be a difference in walking pace in a smaller United States city (Des Moines, Iowa) compared to Taipei, Taiwan. I examined whether pace would differ by location—an outdoor shopping area vs. downtown. I also examined possible differences in time of day (12pm and 5pm) and day of week (Monday and Friday). The results were that …

Colorblind Attitudes And Religious Fundamentalism As Predictors Of Racial And General Campus Climate Perceptions, Jeongbin (Jenny) Song, Cindy Miller-Perrin

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

The present study aimed to understand the racial differences in perception of general and racial campus climate in college students, and investigate if colorblind attitudes and religious fundamentalism help explain these differences. A sample of 2,101 undergraduate students (M_AGE=19.59, SD_AGE= 2.33) attending a private, Christian college in Southern California served as participants in this correlational survey research. The sample consisted of 37.9% male (n=796), 62% female (n=1303), and 0.1% other (n= 2). The following racial/ethnic groups were represented in the sample: 3.4% Black (n= 72), 18.7% Asian ( …

Loneliness In Pepperdine Students, Brandon Vandyke, Haley St Martin, Ayelen Lee

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

No abstract provided.

The Apocalyptic Imagination And The Fundamentalist Mindset, Charles B. Strozier

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article explores the psychological meanings of the apocalyptic imagination in what I call a fundamentalist mindset. That mindset has its own long history but is newly relevant in the nuclear age. We no longer need God to bring about ultimate destruction. There are many facets of the fundamentalist mindset (for example, its intense literalism), but the focus in the article is on two: its kairotic sense of time and its rampant paranoia. These two facets interact synergistically around violence that is experienced by those who revel in it as moral in a totalistic sense. Killing becomes healing. The evil …

Suicide Terrorism: Performance Violence As Public Plunge, Gregory Saathoff

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article explores the relationship between the social psychology of the individual and the final abyss of suicide terrorism. The boy on the high dive is a metaphor for the fearful pause before the leap. For a young child, the dive is exciting and dangerous: the fearful pause is somewhat analogous to thoughts and feelings before the terrorist’s catastrophically destructive contemplated homicidal/suicidal behavior. If we think about the leap itself, there may be a better analogy. Is there any corollary to a specific group of suicide completers? What can be learned from others who have contemplated and undertaken perhaps the …