Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes both ASU Theses and Dissertations, submitted by graduate students, and the Barrett, Honors College theses submitted by undergraduate students.
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- Creators: Kwan, Virginia
- Creators: Kwok, Connie
Description
The purpose of this thesis study is to widen the understanding of the effect culture on self-improvement. Past research found that Japanese students, when compared to their North American counterparts, are more likely to strive for self-improvement by persisting when they encounter academic setbacks. In addition to North Americans and Asians, this thesis examines South Asians as well. It is hypothesized that South Asians will have similar levels of self-improvement as East Asians. This thesis also looks at possible explanations for why culture affects self-improvement. Two variables, future self-connectedness and growth mindset, are proposed as these explanations. It is hypothesized that culture affects future self-connectedness and growth mindset, and those two variables in turn influence self-improvement.
For this thesis, 100 undergraduate and recent college graduates completed online self-report measures. Results of independent t-tests showed that there were no significant differences between South and East Asians in self-improvement, which is consistent with what was hypothesized. There were also no differences between South and East Asians in future self-connectedness or growth mindset. The two Asian groups were then combined and compared to North Americans. Further independent t-tests were run, and results found that while the trend was as expected and Asians exhibited higher levels of self-improvement than North Americans, they did not exhibit significantly higher levels. There were also no significant differences between North Americans and Asians in growth mindset, however, North Americans had significantly higher levels of future self-connectedness than Asians, contrary to expectation. Results of mediation regressions found that neither future self-connectedness nor growth mindset significantly explained the effect of culture on self-improvement.
For this thesis, 100 undergraduate and recent college graduates completed online self-report measures. Results of independent t-tests showed that there were no significant differences between South and East Asians in self-improvement, which is consistent with what was hypothesized. There were also no differences between South and East Asians in future self-connectedness or growth mindset. The two Asian groups were then combined and compared to North Americans. Further independent t-tests were run, and results found that while the trend was as expected and Asians exhibited higher levels of self-improvement than North Americans, they did not exhibit significantly higher levels. There were also no significant differences between North Americans and Asians in growth mindset, however, North Americans had significantly higher levels of future self-connectedness than Asians, contrary to expectation. Results of mediation regressions found that neither future self-connectedness nor growth mindset significantly explained the effect of culture on self-improvement.
ContributorsShaikjamaludeen, Shaikhameedha (Author) / Kwan, Virginia (Thesis director) / Shiota, Michelle (Committee member) / Davis, Mary (Committee member) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-12
Description
Hand-coding systems of measuring facial expressions were developed to study and analyze human emotions, but they are time-intensive and thus seldom used. As technology has advanced, new computer software programs, such as Affectiva, were developed to code facial expressions automatically using artificial intelligence and machine learning. Since this technology is still new, Affectiva and its validity remain understudied, and no psychological research has been conducted to compare Affectiva computer coding and hand coding of children’s emotions. The purpose of this study was to compare hand and computer coding of children’s expressions of emotion during a videotaped parent-child interaction. The study answered the following questions: 1) Do hand and computer coding agree?; and 2) Are hand and computer coding in higher agreement for some emotions than others? The sample included 25 pairs of twins from the Arizona Twin Project. Facial expressions were coded from videotape by a trained and reliable human coder and using the software Affectiva. The results showed that hand and computer coded emotion were in agreement for positive, but not negative emotions. Changing the context of the interaction to elicit more negative emotion, and using the same indicators of each emotion in computer and hand coding are suggested to improve the comparison of computer and hand coding.
ContributorsKwok, Connie (Author) / Lemery-Chalfant, Kathryn (Thesis director) / Davis, Mary (Committee member) / Miadich, Samantha (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05