Social Psychology Commons^™

Explicit Weight Biases Are Curvilinear: Testing Pathogen Avoidance, Intergroup Relations And Socialization Theories., Lauren Chaunt

Honors Projects

The present study builds on research (Malloy et al. 2011) that weight bias is best fit by a curvilinear function, that is; trait judgments should vary significantly as a function of weight. More weight bias should be elicited by those body types at extreme weights (i.e., skeletally thin and morbidly obese). Targets at such extreme weights were included to adequately test a new theoretical model of weight bias termed the Pathogen Avoidance Theory. Other theories of weight bias were also considered; Socialization and Intergroup Relations. Participants were presented with six female body types varying in weight and were then asked …

Examining The Effects Of Fear Of Failure, Self-Efficacy And Gender Role Conflict In Male And Female Engineering Students, Krista L. Nelson

Doctoral Dissertations

The field of engineering continues to have significantly fewer women engineers than men. Engineering has long been considered to be a male dominated career, with fewer women receiving bachelor's degrees in engineering and gaining employment in the engineering field. The present study was an attempt to determine influencing factors that discourage women from pursuing engineering as an educational and career choice. The current study examined gender role conflict, self-efficacy, and fear of failure as potential factors influencing women's preferences to pursue an engineering degree. Both male and female genders were participants in the research to determine gender differences for these …

Effects Of Social Influence In Transformational Christian Worship Experiences, Maggie J. Tietz

Scripps Senior Theses

There exists a severe deficit of studies exploring the psychological aspects of Christian worship experiences despite worship’s importance in Christianity and in many people’s lives. Transformational worship experiences can have lasting effects on one’s outlook and psychological functioning (Chou, 2008; Cutler, 1976; Ellison & George, 1994; Fife, Adegoke, McCoy, & Brewer, 2011; Salsman, Brown, Brechting, & Carlson, 2005), yet very few studies have investigated these experiences. The current study sought to explore the effects of group size and style of worship on participants’ feelings of deindividuation and focus on others within the congregation. Seventy-six middle aged adults from a range …

Intergenerational Support Systems: An Exploration Of Multigenerational Support Exchange, Ariela N. Litman

Scripps Senior Theses

Post-recession, middle-aged parents may provide various types of support to their grown children and parents. In the current study, parents age 40 to 60 (N =92) reported on a survey the support and affection they exchange with each child over age 18 (N =169) and each parent (N=185). The middle-aged generation (G2) differentiated among children (G3) and parents (G1) within families, and provided emotional, financial, and practical help on average to their children. The more dependent the child (G3), the more support was exchanged. Dependence was measured on normative status like education, employment, disability, and crisis as well as the …

Nobody Studies Groups Anymore, Donelson R. Forsyth

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

When Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was asked about the level of gang activity in his city, he explained “I’m not a sociologist or an anthropologist, so I can’t share with you the root causes of gang violence that you see in urban areas” (Sims, 2007). He did not include “social psychologist” on his list of experts on gangs, because social psychologists don’t study gangs—in fact, social psychologists don’t even study groups anymore. That is why Lee Ross, Mark Lepper, and Andrew Ward (2010), in their chapter on history in the Handbook of Social Psychology concluded that (a) the study …

The Psychological Benefits Of Participation In Leisure Pursuits For Adolescents, Caitlyn Mckay

Honors Theses and Capstones

This paper looks to better understand the effects leisure has on adolescents. Leisure is an important past time for adolescents since they have so much free time to pursue activities. The adolescents, their parents, recreation programmers, and school officials should be aware of the benefits and risks associated with different leisure pursuits so they can better help the adolescents’ transition into an adult who has a high level of psychologically well-being. After the different effects are analyzed, this paper offers recommendations to recreation programmers. These recommendations account for the different factors of leisure. Overall, this paper is an analysis of …

Assumptions And "Facts" About College Self-Reported Sexual Behavior, Emily M. Pariseau

Senior Theses and Projects

Many young people of today view sexual intercourse with a very casual attitude. The terms “hooking up” and “friends-with-benefits” have been introduced to our vocabularies. While young people are, on average, losing their virginity at the age of 17, they are holding off on marriage until their mid-to-late 20’s (Bogle, 2008; Bianchi & Casper, 2000), and that combination leaves many years for sexual experimentation. The present study was conducted to investigate some of the factors that may influence the decisions that young people are making when it comes to their sexual lives. An online survey developed for this study was …

Reading Between The Lines: Gender Perception Of Lean Media, Jennalee Conner

Masters Theses

Over the years, communication methods have evolved from face-to-face conversations to computer-mediated communication including: e-mail, instant message, and text message interactions. Since the methods have changed, a large aspect of communication, nonverbal cues, have become nearly impossible. These methods of communication that lack nonverbal cues are therefore referred to as lean media because they lack the richness of facial expression, vocal expression, and immediacy. In order to modify more recent forms of communication to include nonverbal cues, individuals have created their own nonverbal cues. While each individual is unique, though, genders normally tend to think or behave in similar fashion. …

The Effect Different Synchronous Computer Mediums Have On Distance Education Graduate Students' Sense Of Community And Feelings Of Loneliness, Lorene Heuvelman-Hutchinson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Because distance education is such a rapidly developing educational venue, knowing what factors impact success must be known. Loneliness and sense of connectedness, or community, are issues facing graduate distance education students. These issues may influence retention. The theoretical framework of a Community of Practice assisted in understanding the development of community using computer-mediated communication (CMC) systems. The research questions answered included whether the type of synchronous CMC used (text- or video-based) could impact loneliness and community from a distance. An experimental design (randomized subjects, control group, posttest only) was used with distance education graduate students to address the research …

Media, Military, Militarism: Media Consumption, Awareness Of U.S. Military Foreign Policy, And Support For War, Daniel James Patten

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

This study examines the relationship between the media, attitudes towards supporting war, and military awareness. Online survey data were collected from a four-year university located in a heavily militarized area. This study found that having knowledge of Afghanistan and Iraq War facts negatively affected one's decision to support war and was the strongest predictor of this decision. The media was not found to be a significant predictor impacting this knowledge when controlling for other variables. Political ideology and other related variables were found to be more influential of this knowledge. These findings imply that the public may be imprudently supporting …

Applying Ajzen's Theory Of Planned Behavior To A Study Of Online Course Adoption In Public Relations Education, Ann Knabe

Dissertations (1934 -)

This study used Icek Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior to research public relations faculty intentions of teaching online. All of the main predictor variables (Subjective Norms, Attitude toward the Act and Perceived Behavioral Control) were statistically significant at varying degrees in predicting intent to teach public relations online. Of the three, Subjective Norms was found to be the strongest predictor of Intention. Collectively, Subjective Norms, Attitude toward the Act and Perceived Behavioral Control explained 49% of the variance in intent to teach a public relations course online. Subsequent tests, however, revealed a poor model fit when the Theory of Planned …

Defining And Measuring Self-Concept Change, Jonathan Gore, Susan Cross

Jonathan Gore

The self-concept and the manners by which it changes are two of the most important, and challenging, areas of psychological study. In this review, we define the self-concept as a multifaceted psychological construct, composed of a variety of characteristics. People with low self-esteem, incremental theorists, self-monitors, and people with a high uncertainty orientation and relational self-construal are mentioned as some of the types of people who are likely to undergo change. Various approaches to measuring the self-concept and investigating it across cultures are also discussed. Recommendations for future research include utilizing an intraclass correlation coefficient measure of change, and accounting …

Acting In Our Interests: Relational Self-Construal And Goal Motivation Across Cultures, Jonathan Gore, Susan Cross, Chie Kanagawa

Jonathan Gore

Relationally-autonomous reasons (RARs) are motives for behavior that take into account one’s close relationships. A cross-cultural model tested the hypotheses that (a) people with a highly relational self-construal will pursue their goals for RARs, and (b) RARs will predict positive goal outcomes after controlling for variance explained by personally-autonomous reasons (PARs) and social support. One hundred seventy Americans and 219 Japanese completed a well-being and self questionnaire then generated and rated seven goals on several attributes. Results showed that relational self-construal was associated with RARs for goals. RARs predicted effort directly and predicted progress and purpose in life indirectly for …

Public Support For Military Interventions Across Levels Of Political Information And Stages Of Intervention: The Case Of The Iraq War, Cigdem V. Sirin

Cigdem V. Sirin

This study examines the effect of political information levels and intervention stages on the formation and continuity of public support for military interventions by analyzing survey data pertaining to the 2003 military intervention in Iraq. The results show that before and immediately after the launch of the intervention, politically uninformed individuals expressed higher support for the war compared to politically informed ones. However, as the intervention proceeded and casualties were incurred, higher rates of decrease in support were observed among the politically uninformed. Politically informed individuals, on the other hand, demonstrated more stable levels of support throughout the course of …

Elementary School Students' Foreign Language Learning Demotivation: A Mixed Methods Study Of Korean Efl Context, Tae-Young Kim Dr., Hyo--Sun Seo

Dr. Tae-Young Kim (김태영, 金兌英)

This mixed methods study investigates Korean elementary school students’ foreign language learning demotivation and their teachers’ perception of student demotivation. A questionnaire was conducted with 6,301 elementary school students from Grades 3 to 6 to examine their motivational changes. This revealed a decrease in all motivational constructs – instrumental, intrinsic, integrative, parental/academic extrinsic motivations – as the students advanced throughout the school grades. The findings were further analyzed by using interviews and open-ended questionnaires with 17 English teachers. They attributed the students’ demotivation to three elements: 1) the negative impact of the English teacher such as incongruence with students’ needs, …

The L2 Motivational Self System Of Korean Efl Students: Cross-Grade Survey Analysis, Tae-Young Kim

Dr. Tae-Young Kim (김태영, 金兌英)

Due to the increase in international trade, mass transportation, and information technology, the role of English as a global language has changed, and conventional EFL/ESL motivation needs paradigmatic reconstruction. This study compares Dörnyei’s (2009) recent proposal of a second language (L2) motivational self-system with Gardner’s (1985) socio-educational model by investigating 2,783 Korean students’ English learning motivation from Grades 3 through 12 in 14 different schools. The cross-grade survey results indicated that Korean EFL learners’ motivational intensity showed a curvilinear pattern, which means their motivation consistently decreased until Grade 9 but increased from Grades 10 to 12. A series of regression …

Korean Secondary School Students' L2 Learning Motivation: Comparing L2 Motivational Self-System With Socio-Educational Model, Yoon-Kyoung Kim, Tae-Young Kim

Dr. Tae-Young Kim (김태영, 金兌英)

In order to confirm ecological validity of Dörnyei’s second language motivational self, the present study investigated 495 South Korean secondary school students’ L2 learning motivation and motivated behavior by using a questionnaire survey. The participants’ ideal L2 self, ought-to L2 self, integrativeness, and instrumentality were examined and compared to identify which motivational factor had the most effect on their motivated L2 learning behavior. Among Korean secondary school students, the concept of integrativeness was replaced with the ideal L2 self as a more appropriate concept for understanding Korean secondary school students’ L2 learning motivation. As for instrumentality, promotional aspects demonstrated a …

Korean Efl Students' Amotivation To Learn English: An Activity Theory Analysis, Tae-Young Kim

Dr. Tae-Young Kim (김태영, 金兌英)

By using Dörnyei’s (2009) L2 motivational self-system, this qualitative study investigates 39 Korean EFL students’ amotivation of English learning, or the lack of motivation. Theoretically, the study was guided by Leont’ev’s (1978) activity theory, which emphasizes the unique mediation between the individual (as an active agent representing ontogenetic human development) and the social domain. I argue that an AT perspective can coherently explain students’ amotivation by paying attention to the students’ socioeducational contexts. Particularly, hakbul, or degreeocracy widespread among students and parents in Korea, is attributed to be the major reason for student amotivated but sustained English learning.

The research …

A Closer Look At The Relationship Between Superstitious Behaviors And Trait Anxiety, Brandy Futrell

Brandy Futrell

This study examines the relationship between superstitious behaviors and trait anxiety. Researchers randomly selected participants from college campuses for a 28-question survey measuring superstitiousness and the 20-question State-Trait-Anxiety-Inventory (STAI) to measure symptoms of anxiety. Results show a positive correlation between superstitious behaviors and an increase in anxiety symptoms. Significant gender differences were found; women scored higher on superstitiousness survey and the STAI-X2 test. Superstitious behaviors were a significant indicator for developing trait anxiety.

Looking At China’S Great Leap Forward From A Systems Perspective, Brandy Futrell

Brandy Futrell

China’s Great Leap Forward (GLF) campaign of 1958-1961 led by Mao Tse-Tung resulted in a horrendous famine that cost millions of lives. This paper examines the campaign from a systems perspective across the individual, group/societal, and regulatory levels. Looking at each level illustrates errors that explain how the GLF failed.