Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University proudly showcases the work of undergraduate honors students by sharing this collection exclusively with the ASU community.

Barrett accepts high performing, academically engaged undergraduate students and works with them in collaboration with all of the other academic units at Arizona State University. All Barrett students complete a thesis or creative project which is an opportunity to explore an intellectual interest and produce an original piece of scholarly research. The thesis or creative project is supervised and defended in front of a faculty committee. Students are able to engage with professors who are nationally recognized in their fields and committed to working with honors students. Completing a Barrett thesis or creative project is an opportunity for undergraduate honors students to contribute to the ASU academic community in a meaningful way.

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Description
The purpose of this thesis study was to examine whether the "war on cancer" metaphor influences cancer perception and treatment decision. A total of 249 undergraduates (152 females) from a large southwestern university participated in an online survey experiment and were either randomly assigned to the control condition (N=123) or

The purpose of this thesis study was to examine whether the "war on cancer" metaphor influences cancer perception and treatment decision. A total of 249 undergraduates (152 females) from a large southwestern university participated in an online survey experiment and were either randomly assigned to the control condition (N=123) or to the war prime condition (N=126). Participants in the control condition did not receive the metaphor manipulation while participants in the war prime condition received the subtle "war on cancer" metaphor prime. After the prime was given, participants read a scenario, answered questions related to the situation, and responded to demographic questions. The results suggested that, compared to participants in the no-prime condition, participants exposed to the war metaphor were more likely to (a) view melanoma as an acute disease, (b) choose chemotherapy over molecular tests, and (c) prefer more aggressive treatment. These findings illustrated the unintended consequences of the "war on cancer" slogan. The results were encouraging and in the predicted direction, but the effect size was small. The discussion section described possible future directions for research.
ContributorsShangraw, Ann Mariah (Author) / Kwan, Virginia (Thesis director) / Neuberg, Steven (Committee member) / Cavanaugh Toft, Carolyn (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2015-05
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Description
Social proof and mismatch of self-preference have been assumed to play an important role in the inference of value. They can be influential factors when it comes to decision-making in a mate-selection environment. In this thesis study, participants took an online survey in the form of a dating website. They

Social proof and mismatch of self-preference have been assumed to play an important role in the inference of value. They can be influential factors when it comes to decision-making in a mate-selection environment. In this thesis study, participants took an online survey in the form of a dating website. They answered a series of questions about the traits they would like to see in a potential mate. They were then presented with four potential mates and asked to rank them by their preferences. The results show that participants most preferred the potential mate with a high social proof and a low mismatch of self-preference and least preferred the potential mate with a low social proof and a high mismatch of self-preference. When comparing just social proof and mismatch of self-preference, there was not an interaction effect between the two. I conclude that even though social proof is a powerful influencing factor by itself, it did not have the power to trump the mismatch of self-preference.
ContributorsAkhter, Sumbal (Author) / Kwan, Virginia (Thesis director) / Knight, George (Committee member) / Cohen, Adam (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (Contributor)
Created2012-12