Matching Items (32)
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- All Subjects: psychology
- Creators: Hall, Deborah
Description
Although adverse events cannot always be prevented, the negative outcomes on development can potentially be modified by considering methods of fostering positive emotional and behavioral responses. The study examined biopsychosocial health outcomes in the presence of uncontrollable adverse childhood events with the goal of identifying a potential intervention to increase resilience, health, and safe behaviors among at-risk children. It was hypothesized that adverse events can result in positive biopsychosocial outcomes in the presence of high scores on the Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishments (PERMA) model of well-being, self-efficacy, gratitude, and the ability to envision a positive future self. The study retrospectively examined adverse childhood events and present behavioral, emotional, and physical health outcomes. Participant (n = 685) data were analyzed using Hayes PROCESS (v3.5) to test all components of the moderation model. Results suggest that as adverse events increase, health adversity also increases. However, those with high intrapersonal strengths showed better health outcomes. Through understanding intrapersonal pathways in the presence of adverse events, the study can potentially identify mechanisms important for promoting resilient outcomes in childhood that could cascade into adulthood.
ContributorsBraunstein, Bailey Marie (Author) / Mickelson, Kristin (Thesis advisor) / Hall, Deborah (Committee member) / Lindstrom-Johnson, Sarah (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
Transgender populations display disproportionately poorer health outcomes compared to the general population. On average, these populations tend to experience decreased well-being in part through increased mental health concerns (e.g., anxiety, depression) and poorer physical and behavioral health status. Understanding the process by which these deleterious outcomes occur for this population is integral to developing interventions. This thesis aimed to examine whether experiences of gender dysphoria and body dissatisfaction influenced the association of felt pressure to conform to gender norms with mental health and quality of life outcomes. Specifically, I hypothesized that greater pressure to conform to gender norms would be directly related to worse mental health and quality of life outcomes, and that gender dysphoria and body dissatisfaction would indirectly mediate this relationship. Furthermore, I hypothesized that participants' gender identity would moderate this relationship, such that transgender individuals would show stronger associations on all pathways as compared to cisgender individuals. The sample consisted of 211 individuals – 109 being transgender and 102 being cisgender. Participants completed a 15-minute online survey including a consent form. Results indicated partial support of hypotheses – pressure to conform to gender norms directly predicted outcomes of compromised mental health (i.e., depression, anxiety, and stress), but did not predict well-being or quality of life. Furthermore, gender dysphoria (but not body dissatisfaction) mediated the relationship between felt pressure for gender conformity and compromised mental health outcomes for cisgender participants, but unexpectedly not for transgender participants. Post hoc analyses suggest that perceived discrimination mediated the relation between felt pressure and all mental health measures and quality of life measures for both transgender and cisgender participants.
ContributorsKlennert, Victoria Elizabeth (Author) / Mickelson, Kristin (Thesis advisor) / Hall, Deborah (Committee member) / Nelson-Coffey, Katherine (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Prosecutors’ use of dehumanizing language to describe defendants in their opening and closing statements can often go unchecked. This research aims to assess the effect of dehumanizing language on judgments about Black versus White defendants.Past research has demonstrated the effects of dehumanizing language on lay people's perceptions of out-groups, and how those perceptions can lead to consequential behaviors, prejudice, and even retributive violence and conflict. My first aim is to extend this research to the legal context, more specifically, to address a gap in prior research by randomly assigning participants to read the same closing statement in a murder case with
(a) no dehumanizing language, (b) animalistic dehumanizing language, or (c) mechanistic dehumanizing language to describe either (a) White defendants (Studies 1-2) or (b) Black defendants (Study 2). There has been ample investigation into subtle dehumanization and how it interacts with racial groups, but research has yet to investigate how dehumanized descriptions (both animalistic and mechanistic) of a defendant may influence implicit and explicit perceptions of a defendant and legal outcomes with the inclusion of a race manipulation. I tested the impact of dehumanizing language on participants’ impressions of the defendant, their levels of explicit dehumanization of the defendant specifically and implicit dehumanization of Black versus White targets generally, as well as their ultimate sentencing decisions. I predicted that closing statements including dehumanizing language would lead to greater dehumanization of the defendant and greater likelihood of choosing a death sentence—and that this effect would be greater for Black versus White defendants. I also conducted exploratory tests of the relative impact of animalistic versus mechanistic dehumanization. Investigation into the effects of dehumanization of racial and ethnic groups can help identify underlying psychological causes of racial bias and help to facilitate potential preventative measures in the courtroom.
In this paper, I will report the results from a preliminary study testing the impact of dehumanizing language about a White defendant. I will then report the results from a follow-up study testing the impact of dehumanizing language about a White and a Black defendant.
ContributorsBettis, Taylor (Author) / Salerno, Jessica M (Thesis advisor) / Hall, Deborah (Committee member) / Koop, Greg (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Cyberbullying has become increasingly prevalent, difficult to detect, and harmful to its victims. Whereas correlates of cyberbullying victimization and perpetration have been studied extensively, there has been less research on the critical role that bystanders to cyberbullying instances can play. This study explored the extent to which Big Five personality traits, social dominance orientation, narcissism, moral disengagement, self-control, and cyberbullying severity level are related to bystander behavior in cyberbullying situations. Adults in the U.S. took part in an online survey in which they were presented with a series of 12 simulated social media interactions in the form of screenshots that involved exchanges between two social media users. Each screenshot depicted one of three distinct levels of cyberbullying severity: none, low severity, and high severity. For each screenshot, participants were asked to report the likelihood that they would respond in a range of ways as a bystander. Participants then completed a series of individual difference scales. The results indicated that as the severity of the cyberbullying depicted in a screenshot increased, bystanders were more likely to support the victim, flag the post, and confront the bully, and less likely to be passive observers or support the bully. Higher levels of extraversion, conscientiousness, and agreeableness were associated with a lower likelihood of remaining a passive observer, while social dominance orientation and moral disengagement were positively correlated with bystander interaction in support of the bully. Additionally, agreeableness and extraversion were positively correlated with the likelihood of supporting the victim; and agreeableness was positively correlated with the likelihood of confronting the bully. No significant relationship was discovered between self-control, narcissism, and cyberbystander behavior. This research offers experimental validation for the predictive value of both cyberbullying severity and individual differences for understanding diverse forms of cyberbystander behavior.
ContributorsLi, Haojian (Author) / Hall, Deborah (Thesis advisor) / Powell, Derek (Committee member) / Kuo, Trudy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
With widespread increases in the use of electronic communication technology, cyber-sexual harassment (CSH) has been on the rise. Broadly defined, CSH is unwelcome and repeated conduct of a sexual nature performed through electronic technology. The prevalence of CSH reported in previous studies varies significantly due in part to inconsistencies in how CSH is defined and measured. Whereas four existing scales measuring aspects of CSH have been published, each has several limitations. This research aims to develop and psychometrically validate the Multidimensional Cyber-Sexual Harassment Experiences and Attitudes Scale for Victimization (MCSHEA-V), which taps into five key components of CSH, including: (1) gathering sexual information online, (2) image and video-based sexual harassment, (3) offensive comments or posts, (4) coercive behaviors, and (5) CSH attitudes. In Study 1, a sample of psychology graduate students and faculty (N = 13) evaluated the content validity of the MCSHEA-V items, leading to key improvements in item relevance, clarity, and wording. In Study 2, a sample of adult participants (N = 298) completed the initial version of the scale through the online survey platform, Prolific.co. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated the proposed 5-factor structure was a good fit, but exploratory factor analyses indicated the items represented an alternative 4-factor structure. Specifically, these items captured dyadic CSH behaviors, CSH behaviors that affect one’s reputation, perceptions of the seriousness of CSH, and CSH victim-blaming behaviors. In Study 3, an additional sample of adult participants (N = 207) was surveyed via Prolific.co. Separate confirmatory factor analyses indicated the 4-factor model was the best fit. Overall, the MCSHEA-V will contribute to a clearer understanding of the defining features and prevalence of CSH victimization and facilitate future research through the introduction of a psychometrically-validated measurement tool.
ContributorsWheeler, Brittany (Author) / Hall, Deborah (Thesis advisor) / Mickelson, Kristin (Committee member) / Burleson, Mary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
Retrieving an item from memory can cause subsequent suppression of related items. This phenomenon, involving a procedure where participants retrieve category-exemplar pairs (e.g. FRUIT-orange), is known as Retrieval Induced Forgetting (RIF). Individuals who demonstrate greater amounts of RIF also exhibit greater working memory capacity (WMC). Reasoning ability is highly related to WMC, which may suggest that a similar relation exists between RIF and Reasoning ability. The goal of the present investigation was to examine this possibility. Rotation Span and a Letter Number task were used as indicators of WMC and a Cognitive Reflection Test was used to measure Reasoning ability. A significant RIF effect was found, but it did not significantly correlate with WMC or Reasoning ability. These results demonstrate the importance of designing a RIF task appropriately, selecting measures of Reasoning ability, and the theoretical accounts of the RIF effect. One possibility is that by not controlling for output interference, the obtained RIF effect cannot be reasoned to come from the executive control process as suggested by the inhibition account. Although this account is the chief explanation of the RIF effect, it has been challenged by alternative accounts and it remains unclear how the underlying mechanism of RIF is related to higher cognitive abilities.
ContributorsMaxwell, Joshua (Author) / Duran, Nicholas (Thesis advisor) / Hall, Deborah (Committee member) / Robles-Sotelo, Elias (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
The “filter bubble” has been a heated discussion topic since several years ago. In addition to possible algorithmic contribution to this phenomenon, people’s selective exposure tendency may be another primary cause of the “filter bubble” on social media. Prior research indicates that, under the influence of selective exposure tendency, people tend to perceive pro-attitudinal news as more credible than counter-attitudinal news, with strong partisans more likely to be affected. The proposed thesis seeks to examine whether the perceived credibility of a news source and story on social media is influenced by selective exposure and strength of partisanship. Through an experimental study via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, 468 participants chose or were assigned to read an ostensible news story from a social media feed with the news source and ideological slant varied between participants. The results showed that people reported higher perceived source and story credibility when the source and stories were pro-attitudinal (consistent with their political ideology) as opposed to counter-attitudinal, regardless of participants’ age, race, perceived credibility of news from social media, in general, and strength of partisanship. However, contrary to the hypotheses, selective exposure behavior (i.e., choosing a preferred news source before reading a news story) did not affect credibility perceptions when participants read counter-attitudinal news from a pro-attitudinal source. Last, strength of partisanship did not moderate the influence of selective exposure on credibility perceptions. In sum, this study suggests that although selective exposure tendency may affect people’s credibility perceptions and contribute to “filter bubbles,” the impact of selective exposure behavior may be overestimated in terms of perceived source and story credibility of news on social media.
ContributorsLiu, Xingyu (Author) / Mickelson, Kristin D (Thesis advisor) / Hall, Deborah (Committee member) / Walker, Shawn (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
An expanse of research has demonstrated that persons with mental illness (PWMI) tend to avoid formal psychological treatment.One possible explanation for this failure to pursue formal treatment is the tendency of religious individuals to construe mental illness as spiritual in nature, leading religious communities to actively discourage emotional and psychological help-seeking through non-spiritual means. The present study examined help-seeking behaviors among religious PWMI by examining the impact of religiosity and gender on the relationship between mental illness stigma and help-seeking behaviors. Results indicate that higher levels of perceived stigma and religious salience relate to higher reported indirect support-seeking (ISS). Moreover, only religious salience appears to significantly relate to ISS among men, whereas perceived mental illness stigma significantly predicts direct and indirect support-seeking behaviors among women.
ContributorsMalouf, Laura Means (Author) / Mickelson, Kristin (Thesis advisor) / Hall, Deborah (Committee member) / Schweitzer, Nicholas (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
Attitudes play a fundamental role when making critical judgments and the extremity of people’s attitudes can be influenced by one’s emotions, beliefs, or past experiences and behaviors. Human attitudes and preferences are susceptible to social influence and attempts to influence or change another person’s attitudes are pervasive in all societies. Given the importance of attitudes and attitude change, the current project investigated linguistic aspects of conversations that lead to attitude change by analyzing a dataset mined from Reddit’s Change My View (Priniski & Horne, 2018). Analysis of the data was done using Natural Language Processing (NLP), specifically information density, to predict attitude change. Top posts from Reddit’s (N = 510,149) were imported and processed in Python and information density measures were computed. The results indicate that comments with higher information density are more likely to be awarded a delta and are perceived to be more persuasive.
ContributorsLobo, Nicole Simone (Author) / Horne, Zachary S (Thesis advisor) / Duran, Nicholas (Committee member) / Hall, Deborah (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
Sexual minorities use social media platforms at higher rates than heterosexual individuals, often to find and connect with other sexual minorities and the broader online LGBTQ+ community. These online connections may help normalize feelings and experiences as a sexual minority in a heterosexual-normed society by increasing exposure to more meaningful reference groups and helping to mitigate the negative impact of heterosexist norms. There has been relatively little research investigating online social connectedness (OSC) among sexual minority adults, the relation between OSC and positive psychological outcomes, and the role of OSC in lessening the impact of heterosexist norms. The goal of the present thesis was to examine the relation between OSC and positive psychological outcomes, and whether such a relation is mediated by compulsory heterosexuality (CH; i.e., heterosexist norms) and internalized heterosexism (IH; i.e., internalizing and accepting heterosexist norms). A sample of 298 sexual minority adults in the U.S. completed an online survey that included measures of OSC, CH, IH, and positive psychological outcomes including resilience, well-being, self-acceptance, and self-esteem. The hypothesized model, with CH and IH as serial mediators of the relation between OSC and positive psychological outcomes, along with a series of alternative models, were tested using structural equation modeling. Support was found for the hypothesized model, such that greater OSC predicted lower CH, which then predicted lower IH, which in turn predicted greater positive psychological outcomes. While several alternative models had adequate fit, the hypothesized model was best supported statistically and by previous literature. These findings provide insights into the psychological benefits of social media connections for sexual minorities and the potential for OSC to lessen the impact of heterosexist norms. This study also adds to the existing literature regarding OSC and sexual minority adults, expanding the literature from primarily focusing on sexual minority youth. Future studies should be more socio-demographically diverse and longitudinal in nature in order to help better understand the directionality of the relationship between CH and IH. The present findings may also inform the development of interventions aimed at decreasing CH and IH, which future studies should investigate more fully.
ContributorsBaumel, Katie (Author) / Hall, Deborah (Thesis advisor) / Mickelson, Kristin (Committee member) / Salerno, Jessica (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021