Matching Items (4)
Filtering by
- All Subjects: Capacity
- All Subjects: Antisemitism--Psychological aspects.
- Genre: Academic theses
- Creators: Karoly, Paul
- Member of: ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
- Member of: Theses and Dissertations
- Resource Type: Text
Description
Self-control has been shown to predict both health risk and health protective outcomes. Although top-down or “good” self-control is typically examined as a unidimensional construct, research on “poor” self-control suggests that multiple dimensions may be necessary to capture aspects of self-control. The current study sought to create a new brief survey measure of top-down self-control that differentiates between self-control capacity, internal motivation, and external motivation. Items were adapted from the Brief Self-Control Scale (BSCS; Tangney, Baumeister, & Boone, 2004) and were administered through two online surveys to 347 undergraduate students enrolled in introductory psychology courses at Arizona State University. The Self-Control Motivation and Capacity Survey (SCMCS) showed strong evidence of validity and reliability. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a 3-factor structure of the scale consistent with the underlying theoretical model. The final 15-item measure demonstrated excellent model fit, chi-square = 89.722 p=.077, CFI = .989, RMSEA = .032, SRMR = .045. Despite several limitations including the cross-sectional nature of most analyses, self-control capacity, internal motivation, and external motivation uniquely related to various self-reported behavioral outcomes, and accounted for additional variance beyond that accounted for by the BSCS. Future studies are needed to establish the stability of multiple dimensions of self-control, and to develop state-like and domain-specific measures of self-control. While more research in this area is needed, the current study demonstrates the importance of studying multiple aspects of top-down self-control, and may ultimately facilitate the tailoring of interventions to the needs of individuals based on unique profiles of self-control capacity and motivation.
ContributorsPapova, Anna (Author) / Corbin, William R. (Thesis advisor) / Karoly, Paul (Committee member) / Brewer, Gene (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
Anti-Semitism is a recurrent phenomenon in modern history, but has garnered relatively little focus among research psychologists compared to prejudice toward other groups. The present work frames anti-Semitism as a strategy for managing the implications of Jews’ extraordinary achievements compared to other groups. Anti-Semitic beliefs are sorted into two types: stereotypes that undercut the merit of Jews’ achievements by attributing them to unfair advantages such as power behind the scenes; and stereotypes that offset Jews’ achievements by attaching unfavorable traits or defects to Jews, which are unrelated to the achievement domains, e.g. irritating personalities or genetically-specific health problems. The salience of Jews’ disproportionate achievements was hypothesized as driving greater endorsement of anti-Semitic stereotypes, and envy was hypothesized as mediating this effect. Individual differences in narcissistic self-esteem and moral intuitions around in-group loyalty and equity-based fairness were hypothesized as moderating the effect of Jewish achievement on anti-Semitic beliefs. The results showed greater endorsement of undercutting – but not offsetting – stereotypes after reading about Jewish achievements, compared to Jewish culture or general American achievement conditions. Envy did not significantly mediate this effect. The moral foundation of in-group loyalty predicted greater endorsement of anti-Semitic stereotypes in the Jewish Achievement condition, and lesser endorsement in the Jewish Culture condition. Fairness intuitions did not significantly predict stereotype endorsement. Limitations of the sample and next steps are discussed.
ContributorsDuarte, Jose Leopoldo (Author) / Cohen, Adam B. (Thesis advisor) / Neuberg, Steven (Committee member) / Karoly, Paul (Committee member) / Nagoshi, Craig (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
Self-control has been shown to be an important influence behind a variety of risk and protective behaviors, such as substance abuse. Although prior research points to the existence of multiple dimensions of self-control, this concept is not consistently defined and frequently only studied as a conglomerate in clinical research. The current study sought to examine how two experimental manipulations of subcomponents of self-control (motivation and self-efficacy) affect real-world consumptive behavior after accounting for executive function. Additionally, the validity and reliability of a brief state survey measure of perceived self-control capacity, internal motivation, and external motivation was tested. The goal was to examine how basic scientific principles involved in self-control translate into clinically relevant behaviors, which may inform understanding of momentary lapses in self-control behavior, potentially leading to novel prevention and intervention efforts. 94 college students completed a 1-2 hour laboratory protocol during which they completed survey and laboratory-based tasks of self-control and related behaviors, executive function, and ad libitum alcohol consumption. Results showed that the self-efficacy manipulation successfully increased perceived self-control capacity, although this did not lead to a significant reduction in consumption. The motivation manipulation neither increased motivation nor reduced consumption in this sample. However, the brief state survey measure of self-control subcomponents demonstrated strong test-retest reliability and distinction from trait self-control, demonstrating its viability for use in future research. By elucidating the relationships between specific mechanisms of self-control, laboratory-based tasks and manipulations, and real-world consumptive behaviors, prevention and intervention efforts for problems such as alcohol abuse may be tailored to the needs of the individual and made more impactful and cost-effective.
ContributorsPapova, Anna (Author) / Corbin, William R. (Thesis advisor) / Brewer, Gene (Committee member) / Karoly, Paul (Committee member) / McClure, Samuel (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
Interpersonal strain is linked with depressive symptoms in middle-aged adults. Self-compassion is an emerging resilience construct that may be advantageous in navigating relationship strain by helping individuals respond to emotions in a kind and nonjudgmental way. Although theory and empirical evidence suggests that self-compassion is protective against the impact of stress on mental health outcomes, many studies have not investigated how self-compassion operates in the context of relationship strain. In addition, few studies have examined psychological or physiological mechanisms by which self-compassion protects against mental health outcomes, depression in particular. Thus, this study examined 1) the extent to which trait self-compassion buffers the relation between family strain and depressive symptoms, and 2) whether these buffering effects are mediated by hope and inflammatory processes (IL-6) in a sample of 762 middle-aged, community-dwelling adults. Results from structural equation models indicated that family strain was unrelated to depressive symptoms and the relation was not moderated by self-compassion. Hope, but not IL-6, mediated the relation between family strain and depressive symptoms and the indirect effect was not conditional on levels of self-compassion. Taken together, the findings suggest that family strain may lead individuals to experience less hope and subsequent increases in depressive symptoms, and further, that a self-compassionate attitude does not affect this relation. Implications for future self-compassion interventions are discussed.
ContributorsMistretta, Erin (Author) / Davis, Mary C. (Thesis advisor) / Karoly, Paul (Committee member) / Infurna, Frank (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019