Social Psychology Commons^™

Clusters Of Individuals Experiences Form A Continuum Of Persistent Non-Symbolic Experiences In Adults, Jeffery A. Martin

CONSCIOUSNESS: Ideas and Research for the Twenty-First Century

Persistent forms of nondual awareness, enlightenment, mystical experience, and so forth (Persistent Non-Symbolic Experience) have been reported since antiquity. Though sporadic research has been performed on these experiences, the scientific literature has yet to report a large-scale cognitive psychology study of this population. Method: Assessment of the subjective experience of 319 adult participants reporting persistent non-symbolic experience was undertaken using 6-12 hour semi-structured interviews and evaluated using grounded theory and thematic analysis. Results: Five core, consistent categories of change were uncovered: sense-of-self, cognition, affect, perception, and memory. Participants’ reports formed phenomenological groups in which the types of change …

Influence Of Career Orientation And Expectations On Levels Of Burnout In Law Enforcement Officers- An Exploratory Study, Kelsey A. Keady

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Law enforcement officers will encounter many stressors in their careers. These stressors originate from a variety of sources and prolonged exposure can result in many negative outcomes, including burnout. This is especially concerning, as burnout can result in poorer work performance and more negative interactions with those whom these individuals serve. While burnout should be a significant source of concern, there is relatively little research on different factors that may contribute to burnout. In 1980, Cherniss proposed four career orientations: Self-investors, Social Activists, Careerists, and Artisans. Research has supported that different orientations experience different outcomes and levels of burnout. Another …

The Impact Of Social Media On The Self-Esteem Of Youth 10–17 Years Old: A Review Of The Literature, Jasmine M. Daniels

Dissertations

The world of technology has expanded quickly and vastly since its inception. The creation of social media sites and applications has changed the ways in which youth interact, connect, and share with one another. As the number of social media sites and applications increases, so does their use by adolescents. During adolescence, youth are undergoing the process of identity development and self-esteem is an important part of this development. During this developmental period, adolescents’ self-esteem is likely to be affected by the feedback they receive online through social media sites. There is limited research available that specifically evaluated the impact …

The History Of Sex Education In The United States: With Application To South Dakota, Lauren A. Lavin

Honors Thesis

Due to the lack of standards set forth by South Dakota, sex education is varied and non-standardized across the state. The goal of this study is to understand what a typical sex education class in South Dakota looks like. A survey was sent to sex educators in South Dakota to assess the demographics of educators, the amount of time spent on sex education, and what topics of sexual health they currently teach in grades 1-5, 6-8, and 9-12 in comparison with the topics they believe should be included in an ideal sex education program. The results show that ideal topic …

Memory And Stereotypes For Lesbian/Gay Characters, Amber Rose Williams

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Stereotype-consistency bias refers to the idea that people tend to remember stereotypical information about others better than non-stereotypical information (Fyock & Stangor, 1994). Limited research has examined how people may use stereotype-consistency bias when recalling information about LGBT characters in narratives (Bellezza & Bower, 1981; Clark & Woll, 1981; McGann & Goodwin, 2007; Snyder & Uranowitz, 1978). This line of research suggests that, instead of genuinely remembering stereotypical information better, participants tended to guess stereotypical answers to questions they do not know. In contrast to those studies, the experiment I conducted for this thesis suggests that heterosexual young adults tend …

The Mediating Effects Of Drinking Refusal Self-Efficacy On The Associations Between Alcohol Protective Behavioral Strategies And Alcohol Use Outcomes, Kray Scully

Dissertations

Alcohol use continues to pose a serious public health problem at universities across the U.S., largely due to the extent of consumption and frequency of negative consequences experienced among college students. Alcohol protective behavioral strategies (PBS-A) are an empirically supported repertoire of safe drinking behaviors college students can use to monitor and control their alcohol consumption as well as limit harm while drinking. However, there remains a need to better understand how cognitive mechanisms, such as drinking refusal self-efficacy (DRSE), help explain college student safe alcohol use behaviors to enhance evidenced-based intervention and prevention efforts. Recently, studies that examined the …

Socialism's Specter: The Effect Of Persuasion On Implicit Attitudes Towards Socialism, Amber Yanez

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Anti-socialist propaganda and media have swayed individuals to skepticism and fear about socialism. The propaganda, however, does not reflect necessarily the truth about socialism, in its persuasion against it. Media often uses persuasion techniques to influence opinions and beliefs. The primary focus of this study was to assess whether persuasion could be used to persuade participants’ implicit attitudes towards socialism. Participants were persuaded with pro-socialism content, anti-socialism content, and neutral content; and then completed an Implicit Association Test. It was hypothesized that the participants in the pro-socialism condition would have an implicit bias towards socialism, the participants in the anti-socialism …

You Are Resilient: Trauma-Informed, Strengths-Based Treatment For Low-Ses, Urban Youth, Courtney Molina

Dissertations

The focus in this review was to explore the benefits and optimal use of trauma-informed, strengths-based care for the therapeutic treatment of low-socioeconomic status (SES), urban youth. Specific focus was given to evidence-based research on the treatment of emotional and behavioral dysregulation among low-SES, urban youth. The review was guided by the following research questions: How can emotional and behavioral dysregulation be symptoms of trauma among low-SES, urban youth; What makes trauma-informed and strengths-based care optimal for the treatment of low-SES, urban youth with dysregulation; and What are clear guidelines for providing trauma-informed, strengths-based care to low-SES, urban youth with …

The Prevalence And Predictors Of Complementary And Alternative Medicine (Cam) Use Among Racially/Ethnically Diverse College Students, Hermella Misiker

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Background: National data on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use, available through the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), convey higher prevalence of CAM use among college students compared to the general U.S population. NHIS findings also highlight non-vitamin non- mineral (NVNM) products are the most widely used form of CAM in the U.S. The purpose of this study was to identify the socio-cognitive and demographic predictors of CAM and NVNM use among a racially/ethnically diverse college student body.

Methods: An online survey was used to collect data from 392 University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) undergraduate, graduate, and professional students. …

Eyewitness Recall And Identification Accuracy: Effects Of Stress In An Extreme Haunt And A Haunted House, William Blake Ridgway

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The impact of stress on eyewitness recall and identification accuracy has been studied extensively but with somewhat inconsistent results. Understanding the effects of stress are important if they are to be generalized to victims or witnesses of real crimes. This study consisted of two experiments that used an extreme haunt and a haunted house to examine attendees’ ability to recall details of and identify actors encountered, as a function of state anxiety and in the context of Deffenbacher’s (1994) catastrophe model of memory performance under anxiety. The results showed that physiological (i.e., heart rate) and psychological (i.e., State Anxiety Inventory) …

Exploring The Relationship Between Mindfulness, Self-Compassion, And Empathy In Student Therapists, Nicole Montes

Dissertations

Literature suggests that the practice of mindfulness may foster self-compassion within the practitioner. Mindfulness is also associated with increased empathy towards others. The current study explored the relationship between a mindfulness intervention and student clinicians’ levels of self-compassion and empathy towards a mock “client.” Graduate student clinicians were randomly assigned to two groups: one that participated in a mindfulness exercise then viewed a mock client video, and another that did not participate in the mindfulness exercise and went directly to viewing the mock client video. Participants’ levels of empathy towards the client and self-compassion were measured. The results revealed no …

The Effects Of Podcasts On Mental Health Stigma, Sarah N. Dure

Student Theses

Research indicates that media can have both negative and positive impacts on mental health stigma and self-stigma. No studies, to our knowledge, have examined the impact of audio media representation (podcasts) on mental health stigma. Our study therefore examines the effects that both positive and negative portrayals of mental illness in a news podcast would have on mental health stigma. We hypothesized that participants assigned to podcast conditions that primed for mental illness would lead participants to attribute an incident to mental illness. Additionally, we hypothesized that listening to a podcast that speaks negatively about individuals with mental illnesses would …

Romantic Relational Aggression Among College Students: A Moderated Mediation Study Of Attachment Style, Romantic Jealousy, Mate Value, And Relationship Investment, Skylar Hicks

Dissertations

Most of the research on intimate partner violence has concentrated on overt physical and verbal aggression, and less is known about relational aggression in the framework of romantic relationships. Relational aggression is more prevalent in college students’ romantic relationships compared to physical aggression and may be a risk factor for intimate partner violence. Additionally, a number of adverse correlates have been associated with romantic relational aggression, suggesting that it is worthy of study independent of its association with intimate partner violence. The present study explored the relationships among adult attachment, romantic jealousy, mate value, relationship investment, and romantic relational aggression …

Dominant Narratives In The Migratory Discourse Of Colombia; An Analysis Of The Content Of Speech In Local Television News And The Opinions Of Colombian Citizens, Jennifer Andrea Moya Castano

Graduate Masters Theses

Colombia is an underdeveloped country that has little experience as a host country of migrants. The massive arrival of Venezuelans has sparked a number of social concerns. Currently, Colombia is the largest recipient of Venezuelans in the world, with 1.5 million Venezuelans. The lack of regulatory migration policies and programs or institutions that support migration processes makes this phenomenon more difficult at a large scale. However, the Colombian government has made efforts to support the Venezuelan population, which have been contested by some Colombian citizens. State actors, non-state actors, and Colombian citizens have all been forming and developing a range …

Does Race Matter? An Examination Of Defendant Race On Legal Decision Making In The Context Of Actuarial Risk Assessments, Riley Davis

Master's Theses

Numerous examples show how consideration of extra-legal factors, like defendant race, in legal decision-making are contributing to the overrepresentation of minorities in the legal system. Because triers of fact may be less familiar with risk assessment results presented by expert witnesses, there is a need to examine how legal decision-making is being affected by race in this context. This study aimed to examine whether individuals are in fact relying on race as a factor above empirically supported expert opinions of actual violence risk predictions. The sample consisted of 280 participants recruited from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. To test the primary hypothesis …

Healthy Identity Development Among Black Same-Gender Loving Men: A Mixed Methods Approach, Byron D. Brooks

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Black Same-Gender Loving Men (BSGLM) are a population at the juncture of multiple marginalized identities, which may make it difficult to successfully form their identity due to experienced racism and heterosexism from communities to which they belong. Current paradigms of racial/ethnic and sexual identity do not fully capture the complexities of identity development among BSGLM. Moreover, there is scant literature available detailing what the process of identity development looks like among this population and which factors influence identity development among BSGLM. As such, the current study used an exploratory sequential mixed methods design to first discover what healthy identity looks …

The Role Of Potential For Interaction In Parasocial Relationships, Aaron Bermond

Master's Theses

Previous research suggests that individuals can develop parasocial relationships, or strong emotional attachments to figures in the media. While these relationships typically only involve a one-way exchange of information (target to viewer), viewers still receive many positive benefits that are typical of friendships and other interpersonal bonds. The current literature on parasocial relationships provides detailed information on why they are formed, who forms them, and why they are useful, yet no research has investigated whether the potential for interaction between a media figure and a viewer moderates their psychological effects. We proposed that the most beneficial types of parasocial relationships …

An Evaluation Of Different Measures Of Social Problem-Solving: Using Ecological Momentary Assessment, Dana B. Goetz

Dissertations

The present study recruited a sample of undergraduate college students and examined the extent to which three measures of social problem-solving measured the construct of social problem-solving. A self-report measure (i.e., Social Problem-Solving Inventory-Revised Long), analogue task (i.e., the Means-Ends Problem-Solving task), and ecological momentary assessment (i.e., a diary card on real-life events) were compared. It was hypothesized that the three measures would assess different aspects of social problem-solving. The analogue task would theoretically be a measure of ability to generate solutions to a problem, the diary card would theoretically measure implementation of solutions in real-life, and the self-report measure …

Foster Positivity Amid Covid-19 Challenges, David Chan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Many behaviours have encouraged positivity during the pandemic. More can be done to create communities that nurture positive attitudes and experiences

Changes In Prenatal Testosterone And Sexual Desire In Expectant Couples, Wei Xiang Sim, William J. Chopik, Britney M. Wardecker, Robin S. Edelstein

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

During the transition to parenthood (TTP), both women and men report declines in sexual desire, which are thought to reflect an evolutionarily adaptive focus on parenting over mating. New parents also show changes in testosterone, a steroid hormone implicated in both parenting and mating, suggesting that changes in sexual desire may be associated with changes in testosterone. To test these associations, we followed a sample of heterosexual couples expecting their first child across the prenatal period. We examined prenatal changes in testosterone and two forms of sexual desire (solitary, dyadic). Expectant mothers showed prenatal increases in testosterone, and women's higher …