Matching Items (5)
Filtering by
- Genre: Masters Thesis
Description
Attachment relationships serve a variety of important functions for infants and adults. Despite the importance of attachment relationships in adults, the mechanisms that underlie the formation or maintenance of these kinds of relationships outside of romantic relationships remains chronically understudied. The current research investigated whether the mechanism of synchrony, which is associated with attachment formation in the parent-infant literature, may still be tied to attachment in adults. To measure this association, these studies showed participants videos to prime synchrony, and then measured activation of attachment concepts in a word completion task. The results of Experiment 1 showed that attachment style moderated the effects of the video prime such that those who were securely attached showed activation of attachment concepts while watching the Synchrony video. Those with a preoccupied attachment style showed activation of attachment concepts when they viewed the Asynchrony video. Those with a dismissive attachment style showed an unhypothesized activation of social distance concepts when viewing the Synchrony video. Experiment 2 suggested an overall effect of the Synchrony video on activation of attachment concepts. However, there was no effect of attachment style on these results. Limits of these studies and future directions are discussed.
ContributorsYee, Claire Ida (Author) / Shiota, Michelle L (Thesis advisor) / Neuberg, Steven L. (Committee member) / Kenrick, Douglas T. (Committee member) / Glenberg, Arthur (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
Individuals with high levels of neighborhood attachment provide a multitude of positive factors to neighborhoods. Research has demonstrated that increases in informal social controls, maintaining a well-kept area, and positive social ties are improved with higher levels of neighborhood attachment. Identifying the factors that lead to higher levels of neighborhood attachment has thus become an area in the literature that scholars have frequently studied. One aspect of neighborhood life that has been neglected in research is the role of police on neighborhood attachment. This study addresses the gap by exploring the role of police in influencing levels of neighborhood attachment. Data from the Seattle Neighborhood and Crime Survey are used to examine perceptions of police effectiveness on overall levels of neighborhood attachment, and the three different sub-concepts of neighborhood attachment. Results demonstrated that perceptions of police effectiveness had a positive relationship on all forms of neighborhood attachment. Suggestions for the roles of police in developing neighborhood attachment will be discussed, as well as the theoretical applications for future testing of neighborhood attachment. This study demonstrates the influence of police on daily neighborhood life.
ContributorsWalker, Jason, M.S (Author) / Wallace, Danielle (Thesis advisor) / Wang, Xia (Committee member) / Hepburn, John (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
Background: When studying how humans regulate their affect, it is important to recognize that affect regulation does not occur in a vacuum. As humans are an inherently social species, affect plays a crucial evolutionary role in social behavior, and social behavior likewise assumes an important role in affect and affect regulation. Emotion researchers are increasingly interested the specific ways people help to regulate and dysregulate one another’s affect, though experimental examinations of the extant models and theory are relatively few. This thesis presents a broad theoretical framework for social affect regulation between close others, considering the role of attachment theory and its developmental foundations for social affect regulation in adulthood. Affectionate and responsive touch is considered a major mechanism of regulatory benefit between people, both developmentally and in adulthood, and is the focus of the present investigation. Method: A total sample of 231 heterosexual married couples were recruited from the community. Participants were assigned to engage in affectionate touch or sit quietly, and/or engage in positive conversation prior to a stress task. Physiological data was collected continuously across the experiment. Hypotheses: Phasic respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) was used to index the degree of regulatory engagement during the stressor for those who did and did not touch. It was hypothesized that touch would reduce stress appraisal and thus the need for regulatory engagement. This effect was predicted to be greater for those more anxiously attached while increasing the need for regulatory engagement in those more avoidantly attached. Secondarily, partner effects of attachment on sympathetic activation via pre-ejection period (PEP) change were tested. It was predicted that both attachment dimensions would predict a decrease in partner PEP change in the touch condition, with avoidant attachment having the strongest effect. Results: Hierarchical linear modeling techniques were used to account for nonindependence in dyadic observations. The first set of hypotheses were not supported, while the second set were partially supported. Wives’ avoidance significantly predicted husbands’ PEP change, but in the positive direction. This effect also significantly increased in the touch condition. Theoretical considerations and limitations are discussed.
ContributorsParkhurst, David Kevin (Author) / Burleson, Mary H (Thesis advisor) / Roberts, Nicole A. (Committee member) / Mickelson, Kristin D (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
The Latinx population in the United States is projected to increase exponentially in upcoming years. Latina women in particular are put at disproportionate risk of experiencing psychological distress after immigrating to the US. Separation from family upon immigration introduces more difficulty to the immigration experience. Yet protective factors such as family cohesion may buffer potential psychological distress. The present study will examine the two following research questions. First, is there a difference in psychological distress experienced by Latina young women who report separating from their family in comparison to those who did not experience familial separation at immigration. Second, does a potentially deleterious effect of immigration on familial attachment underlie or mediate the hypothesized positive association between separation at immigration and psychological distress. Participants were Latina young women who ranged from 18-23 years-old, were unmarried, and had to have resided in the US for 36 months or less. I used structural path analysis to examine hypothesized associations among separation status, attachment to family, and psychological distress. Findings aim to inform mental health interventions for Latina young adults who immigrate to the US without family.
ContributorsRomero, Abigail (Author) / Dillon, Frank (Thesis advisor) / Pereira, Jennifer (Committee member) / Buckman, Lindsey (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
Perceived social support, broadly defined as resources or assistance provided by another person, has been consistently identified as a predictor of health and well-being. These outcomes may be partially explained by direct physiological effects, or the effects of perceived social support on psychological mechanisms that influence engagement in health behaviors, though what exactly these mechanisms are remains unclear. Previous work has proposed that through enhanced self-efficacy and self-esteem, perceived social support increases engagement in health behaviors, though direct evidence for this relationship is limited. Attachment, which plays a crucial role in healthy romantic relationships, may relate to social support’s influence on behavioral outcomes. This study utilized a novel social support priming task to examine if attachment-related working models of romantic partners mediate the relationships among different forms of social support, self-efficacy, and self-esteem in predicting behavioral intentions for self-nominated health goals. Broadly, primed social support positively predicted how supported individuals felt, which in turn predicted working models of their romantic partners. Working models significantly predicted self-esteem, self-efficacy, and intentions to work toward a personally relevant health goal. Self-esteem and self-efficacy also predicted behavioral intentions.
ContributorsVornlocher, Carley (Author) / Shiota, Michelle N (Thesis advisor) / Kwan, Virginia Sy (Committee member) / Ha, Thao (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023