Social Psychology Commons^™

Conceptualizing Discursive Analysis As A Culturally Contextualized Activity, Stephen Baffour Adjei

The Qualitative Report

Discursive psychology recognizes the primacy of the social and relational nature of human life. Research participants whose discourses (empirical data) we analyze do not exist independent of material and social world. In this paper, I attempt to develop an understanding of discursive analysis of social and psychological phenomena as a culturally contextualized activity in which discursive researchers analyze and interpret participants’ discourses in the light of the cultural context in which the discourses are embedded. First, I provide a brief background to discursive psychology. Second, I discuss the cultural embeddedness of discursive analysis. I then conceptualize discursive data analysis as …

Heroic Consciousness, Scott T. Allison

Heroism Science

This article describes heroic consciousness – how heroes perceive, experience, and think about the world. I describe the transformation of consciousness from its pre-heroic state to its heroic state. Pre-heroic consciousness is characterized by nescient and maladaptive thinking, dualism, separation, mono-rationality, and a naïve sense of empowerment. Heroic consciousness is exemplified by nondualism, unity, transrationality, and the wisdom of tempered empowerment. Heroic consciousness is achieved via three routes: (1) traversing the hero’s journey, (2) effective use of specific spiritual practices, and/or (3) participation in hero training programs. I discuss the implications of heroic consciousness for individual and global well-being.

The Feedback Effect: Does Exposure To Interviewer Feedback Affect An Observer's Perception Of Veracity And Guilt?, Kayla A. Harrod

Student Theses

Historically, assessing deception has been rooted in the belief that a guilty suspect displays signs of anxiety. Based on a suspect’s physical demeanor and other behavioral cues presented during an interrogative session, law enforcement personnel (LEP) will utilize a set of techniques to elicit information about a crime. One such technique is the administration of feedback, which is the verbal assessment of a suspect’s guilt. The issue that stems from administering feedback lies not only in how it is given but also how it is received and interpreted by others. In a two-part study, the possibility of a “Feedback Effect” …

The Role Of Bilingual Interactional Contexts In Predicting Interindividual Variability In Executive Functions: A Latent Variable Analysis, Andree Hartanto, Hwajin Yang

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Despite a growing number of studies on bilingual advantages in executive functions (EF), their findings have been inconsistent. To shed light on this issue, we aimed to address both the conceptual and methodological limitations that have prevailed in the literature: failure to consider diverse bilingual experiences when assessing bilingual advantages or to address the task impurity problems that can arise with EF tasks. Drawing on the adaptive control hypothesis and control process model of code-switching, we adopted theory-driven and latent variable approaches to examine the relations between bilingual interactional contexts and EF. By administering 9 EF tasks to 175 bilingual …

Marker Of Difference: Historical Construction Of Stigmatization Toward Zainichi Koreans, Hyomin Lee

Scholarly Undergraduate Research Journal at Clark (SURJ)

Abstract

This paper explores the historical construction of stigmatization toward Zainichi Koreans in Japan, as well as the consequences of such stigmatization. Zainichi Koreans are a minority group of ethnic Koreans living in Japan as special permanent residents, a unique identity formed as a result of the history of Japanese war imperialism and post-war nationalism. Zainichi Koreans have been residing in Japan for many generations now, and are no different from Japanese except for their ethnicity, or lack of Japanese blood. The homogeneity of Japan that boasts of pure Japanese blood is constantly conflicted by the long-term presence of Zainichi …

Does Ethnic Identity, In-Group Preference, And Acculturation Protect Latinas With A History Of Interpersonal Trauma From Developing Symptoms Of Ptsd?, Evelyn M. Ramirez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Previous research suggests ethnic identity, a sense of belonging to a particular cultural group, may be protective against symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, the role of ethnic identity, in-group preference (i.e., an individual’s preference for interactions with members of their own ethnic group) and acculturation (i.e., the level of comfort with the mainstream culture) have not been investigated as protective factors for Latinas with a history of interpersonal and sexual trauma. In this study, ethnic identity, in-group preference and acculturation were assessed via self-report on the Scale of Ethnic Experience in two samples of undergraduate Latina and non-Latina …

Emotion Processing Deficits In Psychopathy: Does Cueing To Relevant Facial Features Increase Cognitive And Emotional Empathy?, Shawn E. Fagan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Psychopathy is a multifaceted disorder characterized by a lack of cognitive and emotional empathy. The traditional model of psychopathy divides the disorder into two factors: Factor 1 consists of the interpersonal and affective traits of psychopathy while Factor 2 measures antisocial behaviors and lifestyle choices. The attention-to-the-eyes hypothesis argues that psychopathic individuals have impaired emotion recognition (specifically for fear) due to deficits in orienting attention to salient facial features like the eyes. Psychopathic individuals also display blunted autonomic responding to emotional stimuli, though whether this is due to attention-orienting deficits remains to be clarified. The present project investigated whether empathy-related …

Impact Of Religiosity And Level Of Acculturation On Cultural Alignment: An Exploration Of Terror Management Mechanisms Among Muslim American Women, Farah T. Goheer

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

ABSTRACT

Impact of Religiosity and Level of Acculturation on Cultural Alignment: An Exploration of Terror Management Mechanisms among Muslim American Women

by

Farah Taha Goheer, M.A.

Advisor: Joel Sneed, Ph.D.

Background: Terror management theory (TMT) is based upon the notion that human beings require ongoing psychological protection from the unyielding, existential threat of death. A large body of evidence has shown that human beings manage death-related terror by aligning with and endorsing the dominant views of their cultural worldviews. Notably, as immigrants experience a new culture, worldviews become rearticulated to incorporate elements of host and heritage cultures. However, it is …

Fashion Brand Love: Application Of A Cognition–Affect–Conation Model, Tae-Im Han, Dooyoung Choi

STEMPS Faculty Publications

A large numbers of studies have supported the crucial role of brand love in consumer–brand relationships; however, research that examines fashion brand love and its relationship with cognitive aspects and self-concept congruency remains limited. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify important factors that are associated with fashion brand love. A questionnaire in which participants provided self-reported responses was created to measure the constructs and structural equation modeling (SEM) and independent sample t-tests were conducted to test the hypothesized relationships. Our results indicated that consumers who know more about fashion brands are more likely to have stronger emotional …

Situational Factors Influencing Receptivity To Bullshit, Mitch Brown, Lucas A. Keefer, Shelby J. Mcgrew

Faculty Publications

Individuals are motivated to maintain a sense of meaning, and enact cognitive processes to do so (e.g., perceiving structure in the environment). This motivation to find meaning may ultimately impact humans’ interpretation of "bullshit", statements intended to convey profundity without any meaning. Conversely, subtle cues threatening the meaningfulness of bullshit may elicit greater skepticism. Three studies tested situational factors predicted to heighten or diminish susceptibility to bullshit by changing motivations to seek meaning. We employed diverse methods including symbolic meaning threat (Study 1), social exclusion (Cyberball; Study 2), and manipulating cognitive fluency (Study 3). Taken together, the results indicate basic …

How Prototypicality Influences Inferences And Discrimination Towards Gay Men, Adam Beam

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

I assessed the influence prototypicality has on judgements individuals make about gay men. It has been demonstrated that individuals make inferences regarding a person’s traits and group membership based upon a person’s perceived prototypicality (Ambady, Hallahan, & Conner, 1999; Stephan & Stephan, 1989; Wilkins, Kaiser, and Rieck, 2010). I hypothesized that highly prototypical gay men would be perceived to be more identified with the gay community, possess more negative stereotypes of gay men, engage in more activities associated with the gay community, receive less positive feelings from others, and experience more discrimination. Additionally, perceived group identification and negative stereotyping were …

Development Of The Mate Expulsion Inventory, Nestor Maria

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Although humans engage in committed, long-term pair bonds, many romantic relationships end because one partner no longer desires to be in the relationship. Much of the literature on romantic relationship psychology and behavior has focused on mechanisms related to maintaining a partner. Mate retention behavior functions to deter romantic partners from defection and fend off potential alternative partners. However, when individuals are in a relationship where the costs of remaining in the relationship outweigh the benefits of leaving the relationship, mate expulsion, not retention, may be the desired goal. The present thesis examines mate expulsion behavior and psychology with the …

A Time For Creativity: How Future-Oriented Schemas Facilitate Creativity, Brandon Koh, Angela K. Y. Leung

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

According to the creative cognition approach, extraordinarily creative ideas are rare because people often generate ideas by retrieving and incrementally modifying concepts from accessible schemas. Grounded in social schema research, we hypothesize that a future-orientation is a means to broaden thinking through activating change and progress schemas, which in turn facilitates creativity. We first offered qualitative evidence that people generally hold a schema that the future is inundated with change and progress. In three experimental studies, we established the creative benefit of future-oriented (vs. present-oriented) thinking in divergent thinking tasks. Further, we offered support that schemas of change and progress …

An Examination Of The Predictors Of Stalking Myth Acceptance And Perpetration, Amber Wallace, Corinne L. Mcnamara

The Kennesaw Journal of Undergraduate Research

Although interpersonal violence, such as stalking, is prevalent among college students, the factors that predict and contribute to a culture of campus violence are still obscure. Parallel to the established link between rape myth acceptance and rape perpetration, research has emphasized the ways in which stalking myth acceptance, societal attitudes, and false beliefs about stalking, normalize and perpetuate its occurrence (Lippman, 2015; McKeon, McEwan, & Leubbers, 2015). To further understand this dynamic, we examined the relationship between demographic variables, stalking myth acceptance (SMA), and stalking perpetration (SP) in a convenience sample of college students. Statistical analyses indicated that gender and …

Watch Me Give: Narcissism As A Moderator To Donating To A Nonprofit, Austin Prewett, Charles Elliott, Paul A. Story

The Kennesaw Journal of Undergraduate Research

With increased online connectivity in the current generation, more non-for-profit organizations are focusing their efforts on producing online marketing appeals. It has, therefore, become necessary to identify the effect some appeals have on different people. The present study seeks to determine whether an organization offering increased recognition will result in a greater willingness to give by people with narcissistic personalities. Additionally, it will determine if “willingness” to give or “amount” given are different between genders or employment status, as prior research suggests. Results indicated that whether the organization offered increased recognition or not, narcissism did not affect willingness to give …

Masculinity In Fraternities: Impact On Campus Sexual Violence, Alisha K. Ram

PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal

The literature on fraternities and sexual violence has suggested that some fraternity members are more likely to adopt and maintain the values found in hegemonic masculinity (Sanday, 2007). This is significant as it can aid our understanding of how fraternities and hegemonic masculinity play a part in promoting and engaging in sexual violence. This paper investigates existing literature on masculinity and how hegemonic masculinity is enforced through fraternity participation. The literature review explores condoned behaviors and beliefs that endorse negative masculine values, which are fostered in the social fraternity lifestyle between brothers. Those values paired with the strong male social …

Self-Transcendent Emotions And Social Media: Exploring The Content And Consumers Of Inspirational Facebook Posts, Katherine R. Dale, Arthur A. Raney, Qihao Ji, Sophie Janicke-Bowles, Joshua Baldwin, Jerrica T. Rowlett, Cen Wang, Mary Beth Oliver

Communication Faculty Articles and Research

Although a great deal of research has examined the potential negative effects of Facebook, studies also show that Facebook use can lead to various positive effects. This study builds on this positive effects scholarship: together, the two studies presented herein aim to provide an understanding of the inspirational content available on Facebook and the way social media users in the United States encounter, recall, and interact with this content. Results from the quantitative content analysis in Study 1 show that inspirational Facebook posts contain similar frequencies of hope and appreciation of beauty and excellent elicitors when compared with other forms …

Beyond A Reasonable Doubt: A Discourse Analysis Of Forensic And Psychological Truth In Child Narratives, Elizabeth Samson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation draws on a hermeneutically-informed modification of Potter and Wetherell’s (1987) discourse analysis methodology to explore how child memory and experience are conceptualized in two widely-used forensic psychology training manuals. Current research about child testimony tends to focus on how well children can factually recount their experiences, or on optimizing interviewer performance so as to obtain accurate accounts and minimize the risk of distorting children’s memories. Results of this discourse analysis include: 1) frequent advisement of evaluator caution, objectivity, and thoroughness, since evaluators are understood as responsible for preserving the accuracy of children’s memories during the evaluation process; and …

Reclaiming Embodiment: An Existential-Phenomenological Exploration Of Women’S Tattoos, Ashley Gill

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a phenomenological research study about the lived experiences of women who elected to get tattoos in the last five years. Due to historical and present discourses on female embodiment and persistent stigmas and pathologies often associated with tattoos, I sought to generate meaningful knowledge about the lived experiences of women who have voluntarily chosen this form of body modification. I conducted phenomenological research interviews with nine participants about personal meanings, decision making processes, and lived experiences of embodiment (capturing existential themes of lived body, spatiality, relationality, and time) before and after tattooing. I applied thematic interpretation of …

Judging Facial Expressions Of Emotion: Effects Of Gender, Raine Palladino

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined how quickly people recognize happy, neutral or angry emotional expressions on faces that varied in gender presentation and femininity/masculinity of facial features. Facial features influenced judgments of emotion more for women than men. Neutral expressions were more likely seen as angry on a woman’s face.