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- Creators: Arizona State University
- Status: Published
Description
Thirty percent of engineering students suffer from extremely severe stress, which is associated with poor academic performance, decreased motivation, and poor mental health. As a result, new, effective techniques must be developed to improve student outcomes. A potential technique that could be valuable in the classroom is persuasion techniques. There are six primary persuasion techniques: reciprocity, liking, social proof, scarcity, commitment, and authority (coercive and expert). Persuasion has been studied exhaustively with respect to altering behavior (e.g., sales, compliance), but has only briefly been studied in education. Studies show that positive student-teacher relationships can improve grades, positive peer relationships can improve mental health, and coercive power can increase stress. No studies have examined all persuasion techniques with respect to student outcomes, and this study aims to fill that gap. The objective of this study is to evaluate the use of persuasion techniques in the classroom to improve mental health and enhance academic outcomes.
I hypothesized that methods that enhance community and improve sense of belonging (reciprocity, commitment, liking, social proof) will lead to better academic and mental health outcomes, and methods associated with negative professor attitudes (coercive authority) will lead to poor academic and mental health outcomes. To evaluate these hypotheses, a sample of 336 university students were surveyed to see which persuasion techniques they perceived their professors to use and examine the effects of these on academic outcomes (grades, attendance, assignments) and mental health outcomes (engagement, positive impact, stress, well-being, executive function).
The data partially supports the hypotheses, with various student academic and mental health outcomes significantly improving with higher use of liking, social proof, commitment, and expert authority, and worsening with higher use of coercive authority. In conclusion, by teaching professors to use liking, social proof, expert authority, and commitment in their classrooms while decreasing coercive techniques, professors can effectively improve student grades and mental health.
ContributorsPautz, Daniella Joy (Author) / Honeycutt, Claire F (Thesis advisor) / Smith, Barbara S (Committee member) / Middleton, James A (Committee member) / Krause, Stephen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Research indicates that mental health issues are highly prevalent among college students (e.g., American College Health Association, 2018) and that first-generation students could be a higher risk of experiencing psychological distress compared to continuing-generation college students (House et al., 2019). Research also documents approximately two thirds of psychologically distressed college students do not seek help or mental health services (Hunt & Eisenberg, 2010). The purpose of the study was to contribute to the line of research on help seeking attitude and intention among college students by (1) examining potential group differences in the relationships between self-stigma, experiential avoidance, and help seeking attitude between first-generation college students and continuing-generation college students and (2) proposing the integrative model including variables from the moderated mediation model proposed by Brenner et al. (2019) and the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1991; Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980). The final sample for the study consisted of 295 college students (Mage = 22.95, SDage = 5.94). Of the final sample consisting of 295 participants, 174 (59%) students identified themselves as continuing-generation college students whereas 121 (41%) students identified as first-generation college students. The data were collected via an online survey and were analyzed through descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling. The results did not support the proposed differences between first-generation college students and continuing-generation college students in the moderated mediation model of help seeking. The inconsistent results between the present study and previous research may be attributable to sample size, diversity factors of samples, and/or timing of data collection. The results rendered some support for adding self-stigma as a modifying variable to the theory of planned behavior. The implications of the results in relation to research and practice are discussed.
ContributorsAoyagi, Keiko (Author) / Bludworth, James (Thesis advisor) / Dillon, Frank R. (Thesis advisor) / Tran, Alicia (Giac-Thao) (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
This study aimed to advance understanding of the relation between social media and adolescent alcohol use while accounting for offline peer alcohol use, exploring offline peer alcohol use separately as a covariate and as a moderator, with an additional exploratory analysis of the relation between social media and alcohol use without offline peer alcohol use in the model. A total of 868 students (55% female) in grade 7 (n = 468) and grade 8 (n = 400) at wave 1, self-reported on alcohol use, binge drinking, and social media use as well as nominated friends from their school and grade. Data from nominated peers who also completed the questionnaires were used for peer-report of alcohol use. Data were collected annually from students at grades 8, 9, 10, and 11 were used in analyses. Final structural models consisted of a cross-lagged panel design with saved factor scores for social media and peer alcohol use predicting a categorical alcohol use variable or a binary binge drinking variable. With offline peer alcohol use as a covariate in the model, social media did not prospectively relate to subsequent grade alcohol use or binge drinking. However, without offline peer alcohol use, the path from social media use to subsequent grade alcohol use was significant but not the path to binge drinking. Offline peer alcohol use did not significantly moderate the relation between social media and subsequent grade alcohol use or binge drinking.
ContributorsCurlee, Alexandria Stephanie (Author) / Corbin, William R. (Thesis advisor) / Chassin, Laurie (Committee member) / Doane, Leah D (Committee member) / Grimm, Kevin J. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
Mental health stigma is a significant obstacle for those with mental health issues in and from the Middle East, defined as the countries of southwest Asia and North Africa including Afghanistan, Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Such stigma may be passed down generationally; primary caregivers born in the Middle East who immigrate to the United States may pass down their beliefs and opinions of mental health to their children born in the U.S. This study examined the association between perceived primary caregiver mental health stigma and Middle Eastern emerging adults’ intention to seek mental help, while also examining the possible moderating effect of peer social support on this association. It was hypothesized that social support would mitigate the proposed negative association between a primary caregiver’s mental health self-stigma and their emerging adult child’s intention to seek mental health services. Results showed no significant association between perceived primary caregiver mental health stigma and an emerging adult’s intention to seek help, and no significant moderating effect of social support. However, findings showed a negative association between emerging adults’ mental health self-stigma and their help-seeking intention, as well as a positive association between prior counseling and help-seeking intention. Future implications of this research include bringing awareness to and addressing self-stigma in the Middle Eastern community, as well as providing education and training to those in the mental health field who may work with this population.
ContributorsSaka, Selin (Author) / Ahn, Lydia (Thesis advisor) / Randall, Ashley K (Thesis advisor) / Updegraff, Kimberly (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2024
Description
Among Latinxs living in the United States (U.S.), AfroLatinx individuals are more susceptible to dying from COVID-19 because of pre-existing health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension (Chapman, 2020). These health disparities, in turn, have been associated with economic inequalities AfroLatinx communities face in the U.S. due to discrimination and racism (Weinstein et al., 2017). Scholars have called attention to the need to focus on AfroLatinx populations, given the systematic denial of AfroLatinx experiences in the psychological literature (Sanchez, 2021) and the systemic and institutional barriers AfroLatinx face when seeking physical and mental health support (Borrell, 2005). Using Borrell's (2005) framework for studying the determinants of health disparities affecting AfroLatinxs, in Study 1, I examined the association between individual characteristics (e.g., socioeconomic indicators), psychosocial factors (e.g., economic distress), and contextual factors (e.g., discrimination) reported by AfroLatinx adults and emotional and physical health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. As an expansion of Borrell's model, I also examined whether having a pre-existing condition can help explain mental health distress above and beyond other determinants of health disparity. Study 2 built on the first study by helping identify the specific areas of stress and needs identified by AfroLatinxs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The second aim of Study 2 was to determine the more frequent and effective strategies AfroLatinxs with pre-existing conditions used to cope with COVID-19-related stressors and needs.
ContributorsFaison, Alexis Duckett (Author) / Capielo Rosario, Cristalís (Thesis advisor) / Dillon, Frank (Committee member) / Vasquez, Elisa (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2024