Social Psychology Commons^™

Holistic Health And Hawaii's Renewable Energy Future, Richard M. Esterle

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Collective efficacy, time urgency, and health literacy have been a focus of research since the 1970s. Researchers have demonstrated that these factors influence health and decision making. However, researchers have yet to establish how these factors may be connected to the achievement of policy aims that impact holistic or environmental health. This study utilized the health belief model, social cognitive theory, time urgency theory, health education and promotion theory, Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory, and the Meikirch model. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if the factors of collective efficacy, perceived time urgency, perceived health literacy, ethnicity, age, …

Use Of Facebook As A Social Support System To Maintain An Individual's Resource Pool, Michelle Fontaine

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Stress affects individuals' physiology, mood, behavior, and cognitive abilities. Social support has been found effective in buffering stress. The social networking site Facebook allows individuals to connect to others to share stories, pictures, and general life events and, in so doing, offers a means of social support that bridges geographical distances for friends and family. There is limited research, however, on whether using Facebook buffers against stress. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the use of Facebook for social support using the conservation of resources theoretical model of stress management. Fifty-seven Facebook users over the age of …

Measuring Self-Perceived Clinical Preparedness With Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, And Transgender Clients, Kimerly D. Patterson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Counselors and counselor educators must serve clients regardless of culture, race, disability, sexual orientation, and age. Counselor educators have attempted to stay abreast of new methods to enhance counselor competencies to adequately counsel lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) clients. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine the extent of the relationship between self-perceived clinical preparedness of working with LGBT clients and self-perceived attitudinal awareness towards LGBT clients as moderated by levels of religious commitment of licensed professional counselor (LPC) using a feminist and multicultural theory framework. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) quantitative analysis software program …

Identity Style Preference And Marriage Among Black Americans, Russell Klumpp

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Blacks marry less and divorce more than any other racial demographic in the United States. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine identity style preferences in relation to attitudes toward marriage and marital satisfaction among Black Americans. Identity style is the way in which a person approaches and processes information that has the potential to affect self-identity. Identity style theory suggests there are three primary styles (informative, normative, and diffuse-avoidant) and that each person will eventually settle upon a preferred style. All participants in this study were United States citizens, over the age of 18, and self-identified as …

The Sexual Identity Development Of Gay Men In China, Stephen Pijanowski

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Limited research describes the impact of ethnic groups and mores, especially those of Asian ethnicities, on the development of a global queering theory of sexual-identity development. The purpose of this grounded-theory study was to investigate the sexual-identity development of homosexuals in a non-Western collectivist culture and the extent of influence Western gay expatriates have on Chinese gay males' sexual-identity development. Five identity-development models served as the theoretical foundations of this study: Cass, Troiden, McCarn and Fassinger, D'Augelli, Gock, and the conceptual theory of global queering. NVivo aided in data organization, while coding and analysis were applied to the data. Individual, …

The Hostage/Crisis Negotiation Team Member's Perception Of The Mental Health Professional, Timothy Quigley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Hostage/crisis negotiation has been described as a complex verbal dance between the negotiator and the subject. While one of law enforcement's most effective tools and most significant developments in law enforcement and police psychology over the past several decades, the acceptance of mental health professionals (MHP) on a hostage/crisis negotiation team is ambiguous. This study examined how mental health professionals working with hostage/crisis negotiation teams are perceived, if there is positive small group socialization within teams, whether the outcome of incidents is affected by designation of the MHP as a team member versus a consultant, and whether prior law enforcement …

Silent Hands: A Leader’S Ability To Create Nonverbal Immediacy, Linda Talley, Samuel R. Temple

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Nonverbal immediacy is a core element of a leader’s ability to lead followers. Nevertheless, there are no empirical studies regarding a link between a leader’s hand gestures and followers’ perceptions of immediacy (attraction to someone) or nonimmediacy (distancing). Guided by Mehrabian’s theory of nonverbal behavior, this study included one independent variable segmented into seven levels (positive hand gestures defined as community hand, humility hands, and steepling hands; three defensive gestures, defined as hands in pocket, arms crossed over chest, and hands behind back; and neutral/no hand gestures) to test for immediacy or nonimmediacy. In this experimental study, participants (n …

Expressions Of Optimism Bias And "Self" Versus "Other" Perceived Controllability In The Context Of Military-Related Risks, Lauren Lachica-Muschett

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This study aimed to examine expressions of optimism bias and perceived controllability specifically regarding risks often associated with military service. Optimism bias refers to people’s tendency to believe they are less susceptible to experiencing negative life events compared to others. Previous studies show high levels of optimism bias are associated with strong perceptions of personal controllability. Optimism bias is a significant aspect of health promotion research particularly in the field of general occupational health and safety (OHS). However, optimism bias has never been investigated in the military OHS domain. Given the number of risks associated with military occupations, examination of …

The Role Of Psychosocial Factors In The Non-Medical Use Of Prescription Stimulants Among Undergraduate Greek-Life Members, Kathleen May

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The non-medical use of prescription stimulants (NMUPS) is a growing concern across U.S. college campuses. Amphetamine misuse increased from 7.7% to 11.1% among undergraduate students over the past decade. Research has identified Greek-life members are twice as likely to report NMUPS in comparison to non-Greek-life members; however, little is known about social and psychological factors contributing to this discrepancy. While researchers have identified specific personality characteristics significantly correlated with higher levels of reported NMUPS, including sensation seeking and internal restlessness, currently little is known about social factors related to NMUPS. It is important to examine psychosocial variables motivating NMUPS in …

The Effect Of Religious Dress On Perceived Attractiveness And Trustworthiness, Courtney Swank

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The hijab, a symbol of modesty and privacy in the Islamic faith, negatively affects ratings of perceived attractiveness. Although postcolonial feminism strives to portray women as not one universal group, but as an incorporation of different races, ethnicities, social classes, and other cultures, the Western world may not be where it endeavors to be. In this study the impact of the hijab on people’s perceptions of attractiveness was examined. Participants rated four target photos of the same woman with and without a hijab, and with or without cosmetics. Attractiveness and trustworthiness was then assessed in each condition, between genders, in …

Well-Being Concepts And Components, William Tov

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Well-being is a broad, multifaceted construct. This chapter reviews different ways of defining and measuring well-being and the implications this has for understanding the correlates and causes of well-being. Hedonic well-being (HWB), eudaimonic well-being (EWB), and other conceptions of well-being are discussed. Specific components and aspects of HWB are elaborated on. These include the distinction between affective and cognitive well-being. Major aspects of affective well-being include valence, frequency versus intensity, arousal, and interpersonal engagement. Major aspects of cognitive well-being include life satisfaction, life evaluation, and domain satisfaction. Processes underlying the structure of cognitive well-being are discussed including top-down versus bottom-up …

Intimate Partner Violence, Interpersonal Aggression, And Life History Strategy, Aurelio José Figueredo, Paul Robert Gladden, Jeanmarie Bianchi, Emily Anne Patch, Phillip S. Kavanagh, Connie J. A. Beck, Marcela Sotomayor-Peterson, Jiang Yunfan, Norman P. Li

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

We integrate life history (LH) theory with “hot/cool” systems theory of self-regulation to predict sexually and socially coercive behaviors, including intimate partner violence (IPV) and interpersonal aggression (IPA). LH theory predicts that a variety of traits form LH strategies: adaptively coordinated behavioral clusters arrayed on a continuum from slow to fast. We test structural models examining 2 propositions: (a) “hot” cognitive processes, promoted by faster LH strategies, increase the likelihood of sexually/socially coercive behaviors that make up IPV and IPA; (b) “cool” cognitive processes, promoted by slower LH strategies, buffer against the likelihood of sexually/socially coercive behaviors that make up …

Predicting Student Learning: The Roles Of Rapport, Immediacy, Learning Alliance, And Citizenship Behavior, Susan A. Talley

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Rapport, immediacy, learning alliance, classroom citizenship behavior, and observed classroom citizenship behavior were examined for their prediction of both affective and cognitive learning. The measure of observed classroom citizenship behavior was created for the purposes of the current study. Observed classroom citizenship behavior positively correlated with classroom citizenship behavior. Specifically, the involvement, affiliation, and courtesy subscales correlated with overall classroom citizenship behavior and their respective subscales but not with other citizenship behavior subscales. This suggests that only certain types of citizenship behaviors relate to the engagement or observation of those behaviors. Observed citizenship behavior was also found to be correlated …

Men's Receptivity To Mental Health Help Seeking Intervention Messages: The Effects Of Message Sender Gender And Message Content, Faye Lafond

Scripps Senior Theses

Men are much less likely to seek out mental health care services than women, despite having equally significant mental health related needs. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of the construction and delivery of intervention messages designed to encourage men to seek help for mental health concerns. 225 men in the United States were randomly assigned to one of 4 vignette conditions featuring a pro-mental health help seeking message, varying based on the gender of the sender of the message (male vs. female) and based on the inclusion of information concerning misconceptions about therapy (inclusion vs. …

Revenge Pornography: The Influence Of Perpetrator-Victim Sex, Observer Sex And Observer Sexting Experience On Perceptions Of Seriousness And Responsibility, Adrian J. Scott, Jeff Gavin

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Purpose: Drawing on gender-role stereotypes and defensive attribution theory, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of perpetrator-victim sex, observer sex and observer sexting experience on perceptions of seriousness and responsibility in the context of revenge pornography.

Design/methodology/approach: In total, 239 university students read one of two versions of a hypothetical scenario, responded to items concerning their perceptions of the situation described, and responded to items concerning their sexting experience.

Findings: Men were more likely to believe the situation was serious when it involved a male perpetrator and a female victim rather than vice versa. However, perpetrator-victim …

Gender Differences In Perceived Stigma Among Sexual Minorities And Their Related Health Practices, Sara Kay Richardson

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Stigma, which is partially determined by social norms within specific cultures, can affect individuals in many ways such as direct negative treatment and discrimination as well as medical, social, and psychological disadvantages and problems. Lesbian women, gay men, bisexuals, and pansexuals have endured a long history of stigmatization in the United States (Herek, 1991). There is further evidence suggesting that bisexuals are especially susceptible to stigmatization, not only from heterosexuals (Herek, 2002), but from lesbian women and gay men as well (Ochs, 1996). I hypothesized that among sexual minorities men would report higher levels of perceived stigma than would women, …

Decisional Bias As Implicit Moral Judgment, Toni Spring, Herbert D. Saltzstein

Publications and Research

Decisional bias (false alarm rate) when judging the guilt/innocence of a suspect is offered as an implicit measure of moral judgment. Combining two data sets, 215 participants, ages 10-12, 13-15, and 16-18 watched the visually identical film involving a person setting a fire, framed either as (a) intentional but not resulting in a fire (BI-NF), (b) unintentional but resulting in a major fire (NI-F), or (c) intentional and resulting in a major fire (BI-F). After watching the film, participants identified seriatim who of six individuals was the perpetrator and how certain they were. The data were subjected to a signal …

The Horse's Ass: A Survey Of Comediology, William M. Fisk

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

What is comedy? Can someone learn to be funny? Are there rules or guidelines for the production of laughter, the universal language? This paper, which outlines an investigation of successful comedians and the production of a short film, determines to aggregate as many of the relevant prerequisites of inducing giggles as possible, especially as they relate to the audiovisual medium of cinema.

Neighborhood Cohesion, Neighborhood Disorder, And Cardiometabolic Risk, Jennifer N. Robinette, Susan T. Charles, Tara Gruenewald

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Perceptions of neighborhood disorder (trash, vandalism) and cohesion (neighbors trust one another) are related to residents’ health. Affective and behavioral factors have been identified, but often in studies using geographically select samples. We use a nationally representative sample (n = 9032) of United States older adults from the Health and Retirement Study to examine cardiometabolic risk in relation to perceptions of neighborhood cohesion and disorder. Lower cohesion is significantly related to greater cardiometabolic risk in 2006/2008 and predicts greater risk four years later (2010/2012). The longitudinal relation is partially accounted for by anxiety and physical activity.

Do Flashbulb Memories Transmit Across Generations? 9/11 As A Case Study, Shanique Meyler

Student Theses

Psychologists have only recently begun to examine the extent to which personal memories transmit across generations. When they have, they typically focus on family stories (see Merrill & Fivush, 2016) or memories of historical events (Svob & Brown, 2012). The present study extends this line of research to flashbulb memories, or memories of an individual’s circumstances when first learning about a consequential, historical event (Brown & Kulik, 1977). To this end, the present study examines the extent to which flashbulb memories surrounding the events of the terrorist attacks on 9/11 transmit to the next generation. The results suggest that flashbulb …