Social Psychology Commons^™

Examining The Effectiveness Of A Social Learning Curriculum For Improving Social Skills And Self-Regulation Behaviors In Middle School Boys With Autism Spectrum Disorder Or Social Skill Deficits, Jessica Beth Bolton

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Social skill deficits are hallmark characteristics noted in children with autism. The behavioral indicators of autism, including language impairments, display of preservative behaviors, and restricted interests contribute to the social difficulties experienced by children with autism. The current paper provides a review of the relevant literature on theoretical contributions to social skill deficits in autism. A review of the use of cognitive behavioral therapy and social skill training programs and curriculums that have been shown to be efficacious at targeting deficits and improving social skills is provided, with a focus on treating children with high functioning autism (HFA) and Asperger’s …

I Love You (But I Can't Look You In The Eyes): Explicit And Implicit Self-Esteem Predict Verbal And Nonverbal Response To Relationship Threat, Julie Longua Peterson

Dissertations

Research has revealed the value of studying communication patterns, both verbal and nonverbal, in couple conflict discussions (Gottman & Levenson, 2000; Noller, Feeney, Bonnell, & Callan, 1994). In fact, the study of behavioral reactions to relationship conflict has been central to predicting important relationship outcomes, such as relationship satisfaction and breakup (e.g. see Gottman, 1998 for a review). The goal of the current dissertation was to explore how explicit (i.e., conscious, deliberate) and implicit (i.e., unconscious, automatic) self-esteem correspond to people's self-reported approach and avoidance verbal and nonverbal behaviors following a relationship threat manipulation (Study 1) and people's observer-rated approach …

Language Exclusionary Behavior And Attitudes Toward Immigrants, Christine L. Bennett

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Immigrants often speak languages that natives do not understand, leading to intentional or inadvertent ostracism, which in turn may increase perceptions of threat. For example, English language participants excluded from a conversation in Spanish report more negative reactions than participants excluded in English (Hitlan, Kelly, & Zarate, 2010). Integrated threat theory (ITT) suggests that there are four threats that lead to prejudice toward outgroups such as immigrants: realistic threat, symbolic threat, intergroup anxiety, and negative stereotypes (Stephan, Ybarra, & Bachman, 1999). The current study expanded upon prior research by ostracizing participants in English, Spanish, or Arabic and then measuring participants' …

Cosmetic Surgery Pictures: Does Type Of Picture Affect Acceptance Of Cosmetic Surgery And/Or Body Image?, Lindsay Nicole Fuzzell

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The researcher investigates the effect of viewing positive and negative cosmetic surgery images, with short descriptive scenarios, on acceptance of cosmetic surgery. Two hundred ninety-nine participants were assigned to view one of three conditions: positive before/after cosmetic surgery pictures and an accompanying scenario, negative pictures and scenario, or no pictures or scenario (control), followed by the Acceptance of Cosmetic Surgery Scale (ACSS, Henderson-King & Henderson-King, 2005), the Body Parts Satisfaction Scale (Berscheid, Walster, & Bohrstedt, 1973), and the Physical Self Description Questionnaire (Marsh, Richards, Johnson, Roche, & Tremayne, 1994). There was a significant relationship between ACSS Intrapersonal subscale and picture/scenario …

From Infanticide To Activism: The Transformation Of Emotions And Identity In Self-Help Movements, Verta Taylor, Lisa A. Leitz

Peace Studies Faculty Books and Book Chapters

Taylor and Leitz trace processes of collective identity construction and politicization among women suffering from postpartum psychiatric illness who have been convicted of infanticide. Joining a growing body of research suggesting that self‐help and consumer health movements can be a significant force for change in both the cultural and political arenas, Taylor and Lietz examine one such movement, a pen‐pal network of women incarcerated for committing infanticide. Taylor and Leitz show how a sense of collective identity fostered by the pen‐pal network triggered a profound emotional transformation in participants, allowing them to convert shame and loneliness into pride and solidarity, …

Intentionality, Responsibility, And Social Grouphood, Sherisse Webb

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation examines the theories of collectivity or social grouphood presupposed by accounts of collective intentionality, collective action and collective moral responsibility. I consider the intentionalist theories of social grouphood proposed by John Searle and Margaret Gilbert, Larry May’s conceptual account of social grouphood, and Paul Sheehy’s realist conception of social grouphoood. All three approaches are found to be problematic. The theories of Searle and Gilbert fail to adequately explain the causal relationship between collectives and their members, the heterogeneity of social groups and non-voluntary social groups; May’s theory is problematic insofar as it relies on sameness among individual group …

It’S Like Jumping Out Of A Plane Without A Parachute: Incarceration And Reintegration Experiences Of Provincially Sentenced Women In Atlantic Canada, Jennifer Robena Bernier

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Women are now the fastest rising prison population in the world (Balfour & Comack, 2006). As more and more women are being incarcerated, it becomes increasingly important to understand how they experience imprisonment, as well as their transition back to the community. Scholarly work on women’s incarceration and reintegration is limited. In Canada, the majority of research on reintegration, and otherwise, has focused on the federal correctional system. The goal of this study was to gain a greater understanding of the incarceration and reintegration experiences of women in the provincial correctional system. In order to achieve this goal, I conducted …

Prejudice With A Conscience: How A Strong Moral Identity Relates To Greater Prejudice, Moira P. Shaw

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The present research investigated the effects of moral licensing on prejudice for participants with a strong moral identity. It predicted that, because people with a stronger moral identity are especially motivated to be moral, they would be strongly affected by moral licensing effects on prejudice. Three experiments tested this prediction by measuring moral identity, experimentally manipulating and measuring three sources of moral license (moral affirmation, moral superiority, and moral threat), and measuring inter-group prejudice. The results demonstrated that with moral affirmation and moral superiority, a strong moral identity relates to greater prejudice (Experiment 1), moral superiority moderates the relation between …

Two Sides Of The Same Coin: Biculturalism, Cultural Ideologies, And Perceptions Of Cultural Change, Stephanie Ann Quezada

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Ethnic minorities are adopting a bicultural identity to simultaneously identify with their heritage culture and mainstream American culture. While much research has investigated the extent to which ethnic majority and minority groups differentially respond to cultural ideologies, bicultural reactions to cultural ideologies remain uninvestigated. Bicultural individuals' differential endorsement of cultural ideologies has critical implications for implementation of assimilation and multiculturalism in multicultural societies. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to test the extent to which the salience of cultural identity predicts bicultural individuals' endorsement of assimilation and multicultural ideologies. Identity saliency was manipulated for bicultural Latino Americans and …

Learning From Our Conflicts, Gerald R. Williams

Vol. 2: Service & Integrity

This devotional address was given to the BYU student body on June 27, 2006.

How Does Sport Team Identification Compare To Identification With Other Social Institutions?, Shelley Elizabeth Smith

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

As social beings, people naturally form identifications with various social groups within their environment. Individuals gain benefits by forming identifications with groups, such as increased self-esteem and psychological support. Past research has examined the identification people form with various social groups, but no research has examined with which of these social groups people form the strongest identification. This study examines the strength of identification with various social groups within one’s life. It is predicted that individuals will indicate a stronger identification with a sport team than with any other social group. Secondly, it is predicted that identification with a sport …

Differences In Computer Mediated Versus Face To Face Negotiation, Melissa Oates

Psychology and Child Development

Ninety Cal Poly students participated in a study to test the hypothesis that e-negotiators would be more likely than face-to-face (FTF) negotiators to employ unethical or competitive negotiation styles in a subsequent negotiation after being lied to in a previous negotiation. Sixty-four Cal Poly students were randomly assigned to partake in a computer mediated or FTF negotiation over the sale of a car. After the initial negotiation was completed, buyers in each condition were led to believe they had been lied to about the accident history of the car. Participants then completed The Incidents in Negotiation Questionnaire by Robinson, Lewicki, …

Interpersonal Perception Of Narcissism In An At-Risk Adolescent Sample: A Social Relations Analysis, Sarah June Grafeman

Dissertations

The current study utilized Kenny's (1994) social relations model to explore the interpersonal consequences of narcissism in an at-risk adolescent residential sample. Members of two platoons (N= 47) attending a 22-week military-style intervention program completed a self-report measure of narcissism and rated one another on narcissism-related traits as well as social status within the peer group. Interpersonal ratings demonstrated small but significant consensus as well as self-other agreement for narcissism-related traits. Individuals with relatively high levels of self-reported narcissism were perceived by peers as hostile, competitive, and likely to engage in future delinquent behaviors. Self-reported narcissism was also associated with …

Effects Of Anxiety Reducing Interventions On Performance Anxiety In Graduate Nurses, Georgita Tolbert Washington

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Every new nursing graduate is challenged to successfully transition from student to professional nurse. The stress involved in that transition can manifest itself as performance anxiety, a type of anxiety occurring when someone is the focus of attention and is fearful of interactions or of being humiliated or embarrassed. It occurs only in specific situations. The new graduate's performance is the focus of attention and evaluation. Further, the need to interact with other professionals, patients, and families can create anxiety about performance. No studies have examined performance anxiety in graduate nurses.

Use of cognitive behavioral therapy, progressive muscle relaxation, and …

Well-Being On Planet Earth, Ed Diener, William Tov

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The Gallup World Poll allows a look at how humanity is flourishing, based on the answers of survey respondents sampled from across the globe. Several conclusions are clear. First, how people are doing depends enormously on the society in which they live, and nations vary from doing very well to extremely poorly. In terms of subjective well-being, nations vary greatly, in both judgments of overall life and in positive and negative emotions. The best predictors of global life judgments were income and ownership of modern conveniences, whereas the best predictors of emotions were social factors such as the control of …

The Hard Embodiment Of Culture, Dov Cohen, Angela K. Y. Leung

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The way humans move and comport their bodies is one way they (literally) carry their culture. In pre-wired embodiments, body comportment triggers basic, evolutionarily prepared affective and cognitive reactions that subsequently prime more complex representations. Culture suffuses this process, because (1) cultural artifacts, affordances, and practices make certain body comportments more likely, (2) cultural practices, rituals, schemas, and rules promote the learning of an otherwise underspecified connection between a given body comportment and a particular basic reaction, and (3) cultural meaning systems elaborate basic affective and cognitive reactions into more complex representations. These points are illustrated with three experiments that …

Culture, Psyche, And Body Make Each Other Up, Dov Cohen, Angela K. Y. Leung, Hans Ijzerman

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The commentaries make important points, including ones about the purposeful uses of embodiment effects. Research examining such effects needs to look at how such effects play themselves out in people's everyday lives. Research might usefully integrate work on embodiment with work on attribution and work in other disciplines concerned with body–psyche connections (e.g., research on somaticizing versus “psychologizing” illnesses and hypercognizing versus hypocognizing emotions). Such work may help us understand the way positive and negative feedback loops operate as culture, psyche, and body make each other up.

Communicative Correlates Of Satisfaction, Family Identity, And Group Salience In Multiracial/Ethnic Families, Jordan Soliz, Allison R. Thorson, Christine E. Rittenour

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

Guided by the Common Ingroup Identity Model (S. L. Gaertner & J. F. Dovidio, 2000) and Communication Accommodation Theory (C. Shepard, H. Giles, & B. A. LePoire, 2001), we examined the role of identity accommodation, supportive communication, and self-disclosure in predicting relational satisfaction, shared family identity, and group salience in multiracial/ ethnic families. Additionally, we analyzed the association between group salience and relational outcomes as well as the moderating roles of multiracial/ethnic identity and marital status. Individuals who have parents from different racial/ethnic groups were invited to complete questionnaires on their family experiences. Participants (N = 139) answered questions about …

Implicit And Explicit Alcohol Expectancies Drinking Motives Alcohol Use And Alcohol Problems: A Comprehensive Evaluation Of College Student Drinking, Matthew R. Pearson

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The present study examined the relationships among implicit alcohol expectancies (automatic, nonconscious expected effects of alcohol), explicit alcohol expectancies ( deliberate, conscious expected effects of alcohol), drinking motives (self-reported reasons for drinking), alcohol use, and alcohol-related problems among college students (n=2 l l ). As predicted, explicit alcohol expectancies were mediated by drinking motives. Implicit alcohol expectancies (as measured by Single-Target Implicit Association Tests) were expected to have direct effects on alcoho I use, but the data did not support these predictions. Unexpectedly, implicit sociability expectancies significantly predicted alcohol problems even when controlling for alcohol use. Replicating previous research, alcohol …

Emotional Expression Of Capacity And Trustworthiness In Humor And In Social Dilemmas, Norman P. Li, Daniel Balliet

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Humor and social dilemmas are two disparate areas that have been linked to emotions. However, they tend to have been studied apart from considerations of emotion and emotional expression. We provide an overview of how such areas might be illuminated by Vigil's socio-relational framework, and how capacity and trustworthiness are communicated in humor and social dilemmas.

Deep Rationality: The Evolutionary Economics Of Decision Making, Douglas T. Kenrick, Vladas Griskevicius, Jill M. Sundie, Norman P. Li, Jessica Yexin Li, Steven L. Neuberg

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

What is a “rational” decision? Economists traditionally viewed rationality as maximizing expected satisfaction. This view has been useful in modeling basic microeconomic concepts, but falls short in accounting for many everyday human decisions. It leaves unanswered why some things reliably make people more satisfied than others, and why people frequently act to make others happy at a cost to themselves. Drawing on an evolutionary perspective, we propose that people make decisions according to a set of principles that may not appear to make sense at the superficial level, but that demonstrate rationality at a deeper evolutionary level. By this, we …

Culture As Common Sense: Perceived Consensus Versus Personal Beliefs As Mechanisms Of Cultural Influence, Xi Zou, Kim-Pong Tam, Michael W. Morris, Sau-Lai Lee, Ivy Yee-Man Lau, Chi-Yue Chiu

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The authors propose that culture affects people through their perceptions of what is consensually believed. Whereas past research has examined whether cultural differences in social judgment are mediated by differences in individuals’ personal values and beliefs, this article investigates whether they are mediated by differences in individuals’ perceptions of the views of people around them. The authors propose that individuals who perceive that traditional views are culturally consensual (e.g., Chinese participants who believe that most of their fellows hold collectivistic values) will themselves behave and think in culturally typical ways. Four studies of previously well-established cultural differences found that cultural …

Attachment: The Antidote To Trauma, Joshua Straub

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Trauma and loss in life are inevitable. And all too often the traumatic experience itself can be enough to paralyze the mental, emotional, and spiritual state of any given person. Unable to interpret the traumatic experience, many instead are left defined by it. Helping clients discern the objective experience and their subjective reactions to it will help free them from the emotions and beliefs that subsequently control their lives. Based on the most relevant attachment theory research and clinical techniques, this workshop teaches the attentional strategies necessary to helping clients overcome trauma.

The Formation Of "Outsider" Through Labeling And Sentence Lengths For Immigrants Of Hispanic Descent., Jeremy Jason Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if individuals who supported denying citizenship to children of foreign parentage and making English the sole language spoken in the United States held the opinion that a sentence length over 15 years was appropriate for non-U.S. individuals. Other purposes were to determine if individuals with high religiosity or who carried a lethal weapon also held the opinion that a sentence length over 15 years was appropriate for non-U.S. individuals.

Pearson's Chi-Square was used to determine if a significant relationship existed between the independent variables and the dependent variable. The data indicated that …

Why Was I Rejected? How The Attributed Reason For Social Rejection Impacts Subsequent Behavior., Brian Curtis Nelson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

It is proposed that differences in rejection attribution could yield variations in subsequent prosocial behavior. To test the attribution hypothesis, 109 participants were randomly assigned to a performance based rejection, a personally based rejection, or a control condition and then worked with an ostensible partner via the Internet to develop uses for a common household item. Prosocial behavior was measured by the number of uses a participant generated (working harder for the team). When generating creative uses, participants in the rejection conditions performed significantly worse than nonrejected participants (F(2,74) = 4.576, p<.05, r²=.11). However, in contradiction …

Scarred Images: Using Appearance As A Motivator To Reduce Driving Under The Influence Of Alcohol, Mary-Theresa Mcnabb

Dissertations

In response to continued driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) amongst young adults and increased drinking and driving amongst females, the current study aimed to decrease such risky behavior using threats to appearance as a deterrent. One hundred and thirty-three undergraduates at the University of Southern Mississippi completed a threepart study after sequential assignment to one of three groups, a no-photo group, a crash scene photo group, or a personalized-photo group. Baseline measures were taken concerning participants' alcohol-related behaviors. One week later all groups were given statistical information commonly available in DUI prevention pamphlets together with strategies to avoid …

The Relationship Of Psychology And Social Interest To Disciplinary Infractions Committed By Women Prison Inmates, Katie Lynn Rye Olbinski

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study is a direct extension ofNoble's (2006) research that showed that psychopathy and social interest are related to disciplinary infractions committed by male inmates. While Noble's (2006) population used male inmates, this study examined the relationship of these constructs to female inmates' disciplinary infractions. Psychopathy is defined by a lack of empathy, egocentricity, and superficial charm (Cleckley, 1964). Social interest, on the other hand, is characterized by a willingness to cooperate with others and an ability to accept responsibility (Kaplan, 1991 ). Participants in this investigation were 114 female inmates from a prison facility within the Indiana Department of …

Interrelations Among Personality, Religious And Nonreligious Coping, And Mental Health, Jude Martin Henningsgaard

Dissertations

Religion's involvement in the coping process remains an underexplored area of coping research despite most psychologists agreeing that religion is integral to this process for many individuals. Interestingly, there is some disagreement among psychologists regarding whether religious coping can be "reduced" to nonreligious coping (Siegel, Anderman, & Schrimshaw, 2001). To better understand how religious and nonreligious coping contribute uniquely to the prediction of mental health outcomes, the study's first and second goals were to determine the incremental validity of each type of coping, above and beyond the other. The study's third goal was to determine whether select coping strategies mediated …

Effects Of Spritual Well-Being, Religious Coping, And Hardiness On Parenting Behaviors In Low Socioeconomic Status Families, Jane Elizabeth Schenck Varner

Dissertations

Children from low socioeconomic status families are at risk for poor academic, emotional, and behavioral outcomes (Owens & Shaw, 2003). Multiple variables have been associated with resiliency in such families (Walsh, 2003). Spiritual and religious constructs have demonstrated positive effects on quality of life (Perrone, Webb, Wright, Jackson, & Ksiazak, 2006), emotional well-being (Davis, Kerr, & Kurpius, 2003; Calicchia & Graham, 2006), and positive health outcomes (Edmondson et al., 2005) in various populations. Previous research has not examined the relationship between spiritual and religious variables and resiliency, nor has previous research considered how the religious, spiritual, and resiliency variables affect …

Exploring Erotic Plasticity As An Individual Difference Variable: Theory And Measurement, Lorraine Benuto

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Baumeister's theory of female erotic plasticity is supported by a significant body of data suggesting that female sexuality is more malleable and more greatly influenced by cultural and contextual factors than male sexuality. Sex differences notwithstanding, it is reasonable to theorize that erotic plasticity might also vary across individuals. Based on a thematic/conceptual organization of relevant current literature, we explored erotic plasticity as optimally encompassed by six dimensions: (1) changes in sexual attitudes over time, (2) changes in sexual behaviors over time and across context, (3) fluidity of sexual behaviors along a same-sex/opposite-sex continuum (evidence of attraction and/or sexual involvement …