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Description
This study was designed to investigate whether workplace positivity of full-time workers was related to health ratings. Positivity was conceptualized by a high rating of perceived work-performance, and work-engagement as defined by the Utrecht Work-Engagement Scale, including vigor, dedication, and absorption (Schaufeli, & Bakker, 2004). Health was measured utilizing the

This study was designed to investigate whether workplace positivity of full-time workers was related to health ratings. Positivity was conceptualized by a high rating of perceived work-performance, and work-engagement as defined by the Utrecht Work-Engagement Scale, including vigor, dedication, and absorption (Schaufeli, & Bakker, 2004). Health was measured utilizing the RAND SF-36 health survey including the eight subscales: overall, general health, physical and social functioning, emotional well-being, role limitations due to physical health or emotional problems, energy or fatigue, and bodily pain. All measures were collected simultaneously. It was predicted that perceived work-performance and all measures of work-engagement are positively associated with the aforementioned health ratings. Multiple regression analyses revealed that higher (positive) perception of work-performance and vigor were positively related to health ratings. Absorption was negatively related to health ratings. Dedication was only negatively related to physical functioning. These findings suggest that not all measures of positivity in the workplace are related to better health. Implications and future directions are discussed.
ContributorsFlores, Melissa Ann (Author) / Vargas, Perla A (Thesis advisor) / Burleson, Mary H (Committee member) / Hall, Deborah (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
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Description
The present study examined daily survey data collected from married couples over the course roughly 14 days. I investigated the relationships of the morning quality ratings of three distinct spousal interactions conversation (physical affection, and sexual activity) reported in mornings on later-day positive and negative affect, as well as next-day

The present study examined daily survey data collected from married couples over the course roughly 14 days. I investigated the relationships of the morning quality ratings of three distinct spousal interactions conversation (physical affection, and sexual activity) reported in mornings on later-day positive and negative affect, as well as next-day intensity of negative somatic symptoms (e.g. headaches, dizziness, aches and pains). Hierarchical linear modeling was used to estimate path models for both husbands and wives. Direct and indirect effects were observed. Results showed that quality of conversation and physical affection increased later-day positive mood for both husbands and wives; however, positive quality activity increased later-day positive affect for wives only. Quality of sexual activity decreased later-day negative affect for wives only. Less later-day negative affect decreased next-day intensity of symptoms for both husbands and wives. Lastly, quality of sexual activity decreased later-day negative affect, which decreased next-day somatic symptoms for wives. This was the only significant indirect effect. Implications are that high marital quality is important for maintaining psychological health for both spouses, and physical health, particularly for wives.
ContributorsVincelette, Tara (Author) / Burleson, Mary H (Thesis advisor) / Roberts, Nicole A. (Committee member) / Schweitzer, Nicholas J (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
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Description
Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES), is a conversion disorder thought to be linked to unresolved emotional distress. While some studies suggest that PNES patients do not attribute their somatic symptoms to severe psychological experiences (Stone, Binzer, & Sharpe, 2004; LaFrance & Barry, 2005), it is unclear what PNES patients do think

Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES), is a conversion disorder thought to be linked to unresolved emotional distress. While some studies suggest that PNES patients do not attribute their somatic symptoms to severe psychological experiences (Stone, Binzer, & Sharpe, 2004; LaFrance & Barry, 2005), it is unclear what PNES patients do think causes their seizures, and the psychological consequences of those attributions. The aim of the present study was to investigate PNES patients' attributions for their seizures, and to determine how these attributions relate to stress and emotion regulation. It was hypothesized that participants who attribute their seizures to something (i.e., have an explanation for their seizures) will have lower perceived stress and less difficulty with emotion regulation than those who are unsure of the cause of their seizures. Twenty-four PNES participants completed a questionnaire assessing seizure diagnosis, characteristics of seizure impact, perceived stress, psychological symptoms, emotion regulation, attributions for seizures, and coping resources. Contrary to the hypothesis, having an explanation for seizures, rather than being “unsure” of seizure cause, was related to greater perceived stress. While it would seem that attributing unpredictable seizure events to a cause would lower perceived stress and emotion regulation difficulty, this study indicates that an attribution to an unknown cause may be more beneficial for the individual.
ContributorsBarker, Mallory (Author) / Roberts, Nicole A. (Thesis advisor) / Miller, Paul A. (Committee member) / Burleson, Mary H (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
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Description
Humans are social beings, which means interpersonal relationships are important contributors to our psychological health. Our health and behavior is manifested through a dynamic cycle of interacting factors: environmental, personal, and behavioral. Contributing to this interaction, interpersonal relationships provide benefits such as increased social support and decreased loneliness. The care

Humans are social beings, which means interpersonal relationships are important contributors to our psychological health. Our health and behavior is manifested through a dynamic cycle of interacting factors: environmental, personal, and behavioral. Contributing to this interaction, interpersonal relationships provide benefits such as increased social support and decreased loneliness. The care and attention of relationship partners are communicated in multiple ways, one of which is interpersonal touch. Although touch can communicate positive feelings and support, it can also be used negatively in certain contexts. Unwanted or forced touch occurs when an individual experiences sexual or physical trauma. Experiencing this type of trauma often results in negative psychological consequences. Exactly how sexual or physical trauma—both of which involve unwanted touch—might influence an individual’s attitudes towards touch is important to explore. If an individual feels negatively about interpersonal touch due to previous experience of trauma, this might negatively influence the amount of current touch with a partner, and also the survivor’s psychological well-being.

In the current study, I proposed that previous occurrence of sexual or physical trauma would predict both decreased frequency of touch in a current intimate relationship and poorer individual well-being, and that these relations would be explained by negative touch attitudes. Results supported these hypotheses, suggesting that lingering negative touch attitudes following trauma could be an underlying mechanism affecting social and individual functioning. As seen in our model, these attitudes fully mediated the effects between previous sexual or physical trauma and individual well-being, as well as frequency of touch. This understanding can help provide further insight into the repercussions of trauma and the underlying mechanisms attributing to continued negative effects.
ContributorsHurd, Julie Ann (Author) / Burleson, Mary H (Thesis advisor) / Roberts, Nicole A. (Committee member) / Miller, Paul A. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Social gaze-following consists of both reflexive and volitional control mechanisms of saccades, similar to those evaluated in the antisaccade task. This similarity makes gaze-following an ideal medium for studying attention in a social context. The present study seeks to utilize reflexive gaze-following to develop a social paradigm for measuring attention

Social gaze-following consists of both reflexive and volitional control mechanisms of saccades, similar to those evaluated in the antisaccade task. This similarity makes gaze-following an ideal medium for studying attention in a social context. The present study seeks to utilize reflexive gaze-following to develop a social paradigm for measuring attention control. Two gaze-following variations of the antisaccade task are evaluated. In version one, participants are cued with still images of a social partner looking either left or right. In version two, participants are cued with videos of a social partner shifting their gaze to the left or right. As with the traditional antisaccade task, participants are required to look in the opposite direction of the target stimuli (i.e., gaze cues). Performance on the new gaze-following antisaccade tasks is compared to the traditional antisaccade task as well as the highly related ability of working memory.
ContributorsYonehiro, Jade Noelani Lee (Author) / Duran, Nicholas D (Thesis advisor) / Burleson, Mary H (Committee member) / Horne, Zachary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
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Description
This study investigated the potential influences of a marital interaction involving affectionate touch and/or positive relationship-focused conversation on physiological reactivity to a subsequent laboratory stress task, and whether depressive symptoms moderated these relations. It was hypothesized that 1) the stress task would cause cardiac sympathetic activation and cardiac parasympathetic withdrawal;

This study investigated the potential influences of a marital interaction involving affectionate touch and/or positive relationship-focused conversation on physiological reactivity to a subsequent laboratory stress task, and whether depressive symptoms moderated these relations. It was hypothesized that 1) the stress task would cause cardiac sympathetic activation and cardiac parasympathetic withdrawal; and that physical affection and/or positive conversation would 2) reduce sympathetic activation as indicated by cardiac interbeat interval (IBI), cardiac pre-ejection period (PEP), and finger pulse transit time (FPTT) and 3) reduce parasympathetic withdrawal (as indicated by respiratory sinus arrhythmia; RSA) in response to stress. Further, we expected that, compared to those lower in reported depressive symptoms, those higher in depressive symptoms 4) would show blunted cardiovascular activation in response to stress across experimental conditions; and after engaging in a positive marital exchange, 5) would demonstrate a smaller interaction-related reduction in stress-related sympathetic activation; but 6) show no difference in interaction-related reduction of stress-related parasympathetic withdrawal. Participants were 183 married couples who were at least moderately happy in their marriages and in generally good health. Participants completed a measure of depression (among other questionnaires) in an online survey, then attended a 3-hour laboratory session. After measuring baseline physiology with spouses in separate rooms, couples were then randomly assigned to either touch (while sitting quietly, then hug), talk (positive conversation, but no touch), both (touch while talking, then hug), or neither (sit quietly without touching or talking). Next, participants separately performed a stress-inducing speech task about their spouses’ strengths and weaknesses. Physiological indicators were recorded throughout the stress task. While positive conversation reduced husbands’ stress-related parasympathetic withdrawal, it predicted greater stress-related activation in wives’ PEP response. Stress reactivity (as indicated by FPTT) was reduced in husbands with lower depressive symptoms when the marital exchange included only touch or only talk, whereas for husbands with more depressive symptoms, there were no effects of the marital interaction. For wives, depressive symptoms predicted blunted cardiovascular activation regardless of positive interaction condition, as illustrated by smaller stress-related reduction in FPTT responses. Furthermore, higher self-reported depressive symptoms predicted larger interaction-related decreases in stress-related IBI responses in wives who experienced spousal touch. This study builds on previous work and is the first to explore how depressive symptoms may influence the relations between affectionate touch and stress reactivity.
ContributorsDuncan, Cayla Jessica (Author) / Burleson, Mary H (Thesis advisor) / Roberts, Nicole A. (Committee member) / Mickelson, Kristin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
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Description
This paper explores how changing the color of chocolate can affect its perceived taste. While color psychology and its effects on food industry marketing are widely studied, this experiment focuses on blue, red, green, and purple striped chocolates. The study conducted for this paper focuses on these four colors based

This paper explores how changing the color of chocolate can affect its perceived taste. While color psychology and its effects on food industry marketing are widely studied, this experiment focuses on blue, red, green, and purple striped chocolates. The study conducted for this paper focuses on these four colors based on their utilization in previously conducted experiments. Each color of chocolate involved 25 participants, for a total of 100 total individuals, who each taste tested one piece and immediately filled out a survey. The survey asked demographic questions, colored chocolate preferences, and questions ranking the chocolate's appeal. While the outcome showed that blue, green, red, and purple was indeed the order of appealing colors, the study results indicate the participants' color preferences did not affect their perceived taste of the chocolate they sampled. Rather, their preference was based on experiences they associated with the color of the chocolate they tasted.
ContributorsChan, Sydney (Author) / Gray, Nancy (Thesis director) / Giard, Jacques (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
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Description
The purpose of this project is to raise awareness for children with social anxiety. As a book directed to children around the age of 12, it will give them a character they can relate to, so they can feel less alone. Throughout the story, the main character experiences symptoms of

The purpose of this project is to raise awareness for children with social anxiety. As a book directed to children around the age of 12, it will give them a character they can relate to, so they can feel less alone. Throughout the story, the main character experiences symptoms of social anxiety and is subject to events that exacerbate those symptoms. Despite her challenges, the main character is able to effectively cope with her social anxiety through her own hard work, and help from her family members, teachers, and peers. The intent is to show children with social anxiety that, contrary to what their disorder makes them feel, they are special and have the capacity to develop skills that are relevant to their talents and interests, and overcome their fears. They should know that parents, teachers, and peers will be there to help and support them and will not judge them as harshly as they suspect. The supporting characters in this story show how a strong support base can influence the success of children with social anxiety. By the end of the story, the main character still has social anxiety, but has gained confidence and her symptoms are less severe. This illustrates that, although social anxiety cannot simply be overcome—that is, it doesn’t go away completely—it can be effectively managed with assistance from close others, and perseverance.
ContributorsDillard, Bethlehem (Author) / Lewis, Stephen (Thesis director) / Gaffney, Cynthia (Committee member) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
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Description
The current study investigated whether intermittent restraint stress (IRS) would impair fear extinction learning and lead to increased anxiety and depressive- like behaviors and then be attenuated when IRS ends and a post- stress rest period ensues for 6 weeks. Young adult, male Sprague Dawley rats underwent restraint stress using

The current study investigated whether intermittent restraint stress (IRS) would impair fear extinction learning and lead to increased anxiety and depressive- like behaviors and then be attenuated when IRS ends and a post- stress rest period ensues for 6 weeks. Young adult, male Sprague Dawley rats underwent restraint stress using wire mesh (6hr/daily) for five days with two days off before restraint resumed for three weeks for a total of 23 restraint days. The groups consisted of control (CON) with no restraint other than food and water restriction yoked to the restrained groups, stress immediate (STR-IMM), which were restrained then fear conditioned soon after the end of the IRS paradigm, and stress given a rest for 6 weeks before fear conditioning commenced (STR-R6). Rats were fear conditioned by pairing a 20 second tone with a footshock, then given extinction training for two days (15 tone only on each day). On the first day of extinction, all groups discriminated well on the first trial, but then as trials progressed, STR-R6 discriminated between tone and context less than did CON. On the second day of extinction, STR- IMM froze more to context in the earlier trials than compared to STR-R6 and CON. As trials progressed STR-IMM and STR-R6 froze more to context than compared to CON. Together, CON discriminated between tone and context better than did STR-IMM and STR-R6. Sucrose preference, novelty suppressed feeding, and elevated plus maze was performed after fear extinction was completed. No statistical differences were observed among groups for sucrose preference or novelty suppressed feeding. For the elevated plus maze, STR-IMM entered the open arms and the sum of both open and closed arms fewer than did STR- R6 and CON. We interpret the findings to suggest that the stress groups displayed increased hypervigilance and anxiety with STR-R6 exhibiting a unique phenotype than that of STR-IMM and CON.
ContributorsShah, Vrishti Bimal (Author) / Conrad, Cheryl (Thesis director) / Newbern, Jason (Committee member) / Judd, Jessica (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
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Description
The purpose of this study was to examine whether positive affirmations can lower depressive symptoms amongst male and female Arizona State University (ASU) honors students. Male and female ASU honors students (20-22 years of age; N=40) were recruited from Barrett, the Honors College, through email and online newsletters. Students who

The purpose of this study was to examine whether positive affirmations can lower depressive symptoms amongst male and female Arizona State University (ASU) honors students. Male and female ASU honors students (20-22 years of age; N=40) were recruited from Barrett, the Honors College, through email and online newsletters. Students who had been previously or were at the time diagnosed with clinical depression were not permitted to participate in the study. Only 9 female and 14 males completed the entire study. Participants completed a pre- and post- test that each consisting of reading aloud questions and their answers from the Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI) while being video and audio recorded. Participants were given a list of 20 affirmations after the pre-test and were instructed to choose and read to themselves a new affirmation three times a day, 3 times a week for a total of 6 weeks. There was an average increase among all participants' BDI scores, but no significance was found in the improvement. Emotional responses were captured using the facial recognition software, Noldus FaceReader, and was used to observe whether there was emotional dissonance in the BDI answers. The correlation between the emotion "sad" and the answer chosen was found by using Pearson's r for each participants. There were only 2 total interviews that indicated a strong positive correlation and 1 interview that indicated strong negative correlation. All others were either moderate or minimal correlation, showing that the majority of participants' emotions may have not affected their answer choices. Results indicated there is no significant improvement when using affirmations to improve depressive symptoms and mood.
ContributorsChan, Angie (Co-author) / Duran, Jose (Co-author) / Chisum, Jack (Thesis director) / Hrncir, Micki (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05