Matching Items (121)
Description
The purpose of this study was to create a brief strength of religious
onreligious
worldview scale that has language inclusive for nontheistic populations. An exploratory
factor analysis was conducted using 207 participants from a major public southwestern
university and a public midwestern university in the United States. It was determined
that the Strength of Worldview Scale (SOWS) is a single-factor measure, which also
demonstrated high test-retest reliability. It was hypothesized that scores on the SOWS
would be negatively correlated with the Depression, Stress, and Anxiety Scale (DASS),
positively correlated with the Purpose in Life Subscale, and not correlated with the
Extraversion Subscale of the Big Five Inventory (BFI). Only a modest statistically
significant correlation between the SOWS and Purpose in life was found. A regression
analysis was also conducted with theistic/atheistic belief as a predictor of scores on the
SOWS. A curvilinear relationship was found, indicating that strong theists and atheists
score more highly in the SOWS than those who are unsure of their beliefs on the
existence of a God, Gods, or Higher Power. Preliminary results suggest that the SOWS
may be a promising measure for assessing strength of belief in both theist and nontheist
populations.
onreligious
worldview scale that has language inclusive for nontheistic populations. An exploratory
factor analysis was conducted using 207 participants from a major public southwestern
university and a public midwestern university in the United States. It was determined
that the Strength of Worldview Scale (SOWS) is a single-factor measure, which also
demonstrated high test-retest reliability. It was hypothesized that scores on the SOWS
would be negatively correlated with the Depression, Stress, and Anxiety Scale (DASS),
positively correlated with the Purpose in Life Subscale, and not correlated with the
Extraversion Subscale of the Big Five Inventory (BFI). Only a modest statistically
significant correlation between the SOWS and Purpose in life was found. A regression
analysis was also conducted with theistic/atheistic belief as a predictor of scores on the
SOWS. A curvilinear relationship was found, indicating that strong theists and atheists
score more highly in the SOWS than those who are unsure of their beliefs on the
existence of a God, Gods, or Higher Power. Preliminary results suggest that the SOWS
may be a promising measure for assessing strength of belief in both theist and nontheist
populations.
ContributorsRobele, Joseph (Author) / Kinnier, Richard (Thesis advisor) / Kemer, Gulsah (Committee member) / Santos, Carlos (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
Romantic relationships are often viewed as an important, meaningful part of a person's life. Most romantic relationships do not last forever. Research regarding romantic relationship satisfaction and quality have thus grown. The purpose of this study was to determine whether individuals who train for endurance events such as running, cycling, or triathlons with their romantic partner have greater relationship satisfaction and quality than do individuals who do not train with their romantic partner. Participants, 54 males and 60 females whose mean age was 33.4, completed a demographic questionnaire, the Quality of Relationships Inventory (QRI), the Perceived Relationship Quality Component (PRQC), the Relationship Assessment Scale (RAS), and the Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale (RDAS). Of these 114 participants, 52 trained with their romantic partner. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) revealed that individuals who trained with their romantic partner reported higher relationship satisfaction and quality compared to those that did not train for an endurance event with their romantic partner. There were no statistically significant differences in relationship satisfaction or relationship quality between men and women or between married individuals and dating individuals. These findings suggest that couples may benefit from engaging in shared activities.
ContributorsMinopoli, Erica M (Author) / Robinson-Kurpius, Sharon (Thesis advisor) / Kinnier, Richard (Committee member) / Randall, Ashley (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
The current study is a follow up to a previous evaluation of Believe It!, an internet-based career development program for adolescent girls. This study attempted to extend the program's effectiveness by manipulating animated agent appearance based on literature suggesting that agent appearance has implications for human-computer program interface. Participants included 52 Latinas (ages 11 to 14) randomly assigned to view one of two versions of the revised career program. Each version contained identical content but included animated agents designed to represent different ethnicities. Pre and post-treatment scores for three career belief measures and an occupational stereotype measure were analyzed using a MANCOVA. The results were not significant and further analyses revealed that the results were confounded by complications with the perceived ethnicity of the animated agents. Despite a lack of significance the results provide enriching information about Latina adolescent perception of ethnicity.
ContributorsHardy, Amanda (Author) / Horan, John (Thesis advisor) / Atkinson, Robert (Committee member) / Homer, Judith (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Research on psychological help seeking has continued to grow as the field of psychology has expanded. Much of the research is often variable driven and assumes this construct is a global construct. The current study used the Theory of Planned Behavior to provide a theory based approach to understanding psychological help seeking intention. Also, the theory was tested for three common presenting concerns: Anxiety or Depression, Career Choice Concerns, and Alcohol or Substance Use. Two samples of over 400 university students completed surveys for all three concerns. Results produced invariance across path loadings for the concerns being compared. When thinking about seeking psychological help, university students do not appear to consider the type of concern but do rely on attitude, stigma, and how much control and efficacy they have to address their problems on their own. Mean differences emerged for some variables in the model, but no meaningful mean differences were noted for gender. Overall, the variables used in the decision making process do not appear to consider concern when seeking help, but the beliefs about seeking help differ some. These results extend the Theory of Planned Behavior to consider the importance of an individual's ability to address their problem on their own. When considering psychological help seeking, college students have similar attitudes and beliefs about their ability to access mental health resources, their beliefs about stigma, ability to address their problems on their own, and their intention to seek help vary more by concern. The specific concerns being addressed does not appear to impact the weight each variable is given in the decision making process; attitude, stigma, and ability to solve the problem on their own appear to be the variables given greatest consideration.
ContributorsHess, Timothy Robert (Author) / Tracey, Terence J. G. (Thesis advisor) / Claiborn, Charles (Committee member) / Sheu, Hung-Bin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
It is crucial for counselors to be aware of their own attitudes and beliefs and to prevent them from influencing the counseling process. The prevalence of obesity is growing and biases against obese people are becoming more apparent. Counselors must become aware of the potential weight bias and what factors influence it. The purpose of the current study was to examine whether counselors- in-training hold negative attitudes toward obese clients and whether the career status of the client affects these perceptions. Seventy-six students in graduate level counseling programs at Arizona State University were randomly assigned one of four vignettes describing either an obese bookkeeper, a normal weight bookkeeper, an obese executive, or a normal weight executive. Negative attitudes were measured using two scales; one evaluating perceived personal characteristics of the client and one evaluating the perceived work efficacy. Results indicated that counselors-in-training perceived the client with more negative characteristics when the client was described as obese rather than normal weight, and also when she was described as having a low status job compared to a high status job. The perceived work efficacy of the presented client was not affected by the client’s weight or job status. It is important for students in counseling programs to receive training regarding weight biases and job status biases.
ContributorsPascal, Brittani (Author) / Robinson Kurpius, Sharon E (Thesis advisor) / Homer, Judith (Committee member) / Horan, John J (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Over recent decades, euthanasia has been a topic of increasing debate. With legalization of euthanasia in the states of Oregon and Washington and attempted reform in several other U.S. states and nations worldwide, it has become increasingly important to understand the roles and values of helping professionals who might be working with clients considering this option. The current study targeted 85 undergraduate students, 54 doctoral students in counseling psychology, and 53 doctoral-level professionals in psychology to assess both their personal values regarding euthanasia and their willingness to allow a client the autonomy to make a decision about euthanasia. Several factors were analyzed in regards to their relation to client autonomy and attitudes toward euthanasia, including age of client and sex of client. These variables were manipulated in vignettes to create four scenarios: a 24 year old male, 24 year old female, 80 year old male, 80 year old female. Other factors included level of education of the participant, spirituality and strength of religiosity of the participant, and personal experiences with deaths of friends or family members. Results indicated that more education was associated with greater support for euthanasia and that stronger religiosity and spirituality were related to less support for euthanasia. This study also found that participants did not exhibit differential levels of support based solely on the age or the sex of the client depicted in the vignette. Results further indicated that for doctoral students and professionals the loss of a loved one, regardless of cause of death, did not have a significant effect on their attitudes toward euthanasia. It is important for training programs to be aware of these findings in order to monitor trainees in terms of personal biases in the therapy relationship. With objectivity a high priority while working with clients, it is necessary to be aware of outside factors potentially influencing one's work with clients surrounding this value-laden issue.
ContributorsBevacqua, Frank (Author) / Robinson-Kurpius, Sharon (Thesis advisor) / Kinnier, Richard (Committee member) / Homer, Judy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
The present study of two hundred and seven university students examined the structural relation of future-orientation (both valence and instrumentality), career decision-making self-efficacy and career indecision (choice/commitment anxiety and lack of readiness). Structural equation modeling results indicated that while the overall proposed model fit the data well, my hypotheses were partially supported. Valence was not significantly related to career decision-making self-efficacy, choice/commitment anxiety and lack of readiness. However, instrumentality completely mediated the relation between valence and career decision-making self-efficacy, choice/commitment anxiety and lack of readiness. Instrumentality was significantly related to career decision-making self-efficacy and lack of readiness. Career decision-making self-efficacy completely mediated the relation between instrumentality and choice/commitment anxiety; however, it only partially mediated the relation between instrumentality and lack of readiness. Although the proposed model was invariant across gender, the findings indicate that women reported higher instrumentality and lower lack of readiness than did men. No differences were found for career decision-making self-efficacy and choice/commitment anxiety across gender. The findings suggest that psychologists, counselors, teachers, and career interventionists should consider the role future time perspective in university students' career development.
ContributorsWalker, Terrance (Author) / Tracey, Terence J.G. (Thesis advisor) / Robinsion-Kurpius, Sharon (Committee member) / Homer, Judith (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
This action research dissertation study was undertaken to establish the foundation of a comprehensive evaluation component for the Turn-It-Around (TIA) workshop intervention program at Arizona State University (ASU), and was delivered in the form of a program development consultation. The study's intent was to enhance the ASU Counseling Service's departmental capacity to evaluate one of its important clinical services. The outcomes of this study included multiple assessments of TIA's evaluability and the fidelity of its implementation to its program design. The study products include a well-articulated program theory comprised of program goals, learning objectives, a detailed description of program activities, a logic model, and theoretical construct checklist documents articulating the behavioral science theory underlying the TIA intervention. In addition, instruments tailored to the Turn-It-Around intervention that are suitable for assessing program outcomes were developed and are implementation ready. TIA's clinical stakeholders were interviewed following the generation and delivery of the products and instruments mentioned above to determine whether they found the study's processes and products to be worthwhile and useful. In general, the clinicians reported that they were very satisfied with the benefits and outcomes of the program development consultation. As an action research dissertation, this study generated useful and usable collateral materials in the form of reports, documents, and models. These products are now at the disposal of TIA's institutional stakeholders for use in day-to-day business activities such as training new facilitators and liaisons, and giving presentations that describe the usefulness of TIA as an intervention. Beyond the documents generated to form a program evaluation infrastructure for Turn-It-Around, the processes involved in crafting the documents served to engage relevant stakeholders in a cycle of action research that enriched and solidified their understandings of TIA and furnished them with insight into their counterparts' thinking about the intervention and its potential to benefit the college students they are responsible for helping. Consistent with the intent of action research, the processes involved in accomplishing the objectives of this study surfaced new topics and questions that will be useful in subsequent cycles of program improvement.
ContributorsLacey, Sheila (Author) / Lacey, Sheila D (Thesis advisor) / Clark, Christopher (Committee member) / Kelley, Michael (Committee member) / Krasnow, Aaron (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
This work analyzed the role of interpersonal problems in interaction with ethnicity to predict psychotherapy outcome. A total of 262 individuals, who underwent psychotherapy at a counseling training facility, completed the Outcome Questionnaire-45 (OQ-45) and the reduced version of the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP-32). This study posited the following research question: Is the magnitude of the effect of ethnicity on treatment outcome conditional on certain IP dimensions (dominance or affiliation)? The purpose of this research was to determine whether or not ethnicity, represented by 3 ethnic groups (Whites, Hispanics, and Asians), was related to treatment outcome, and if this relationship was moderated by two interpersonal distress dimensions: dominance and affiliation. The results of the hierarchical regression analyses indicated that ethnicity did not predict post-treatment outcome gain, and neither affiliation nor dominance was a moderator of the relationship between outcome and ethnicity.
ContributorsJimenez Arista, Laura E (Thesis advisor) / Tracey, Terence (Committee member) / Kinnier, Richard (Committee member) / Claiborn, Charles (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Never married parents (NMPs) are a burgeoning population within the Family Court system. However, there is no empirical research on these parents' separation process, though the neighboring literature purports that NMPs are more at risk for negative child wellbeing outcomes than their divorcing counterparts. This study investigated child behavior problems in high conflict litigating never married families by assessing four salient issues collectively termed chaotic environment: economic strain, lack of social support for the parents, parental repartnering, and family relocation, which included parent changing residence and child changing schools. They were then compared to divorcing parents. It was hypothesized that NMPs would experience higher levels of chaotic environment, and subsequent increases in child behavior problems than divorcing parents, but that the relationship for NMPs and divorcing parents would be the same with each of the chaotic environment variables. This study found the contrary. NMPs only had significantly higher mean scores on lack of social support for fathers and marital status did not predict child behavior problems. Both economic strain and child changing schools predicted child behavior problems for both mothers and fathers. Two interaction effects with mothers were found, indicating that the more a never married mothers repartnered and/or changed her residence, the more behavior problems her child had, while divorcing mothers experiencing the converse effect.
ContributorsHita, Liza Cohen (Author) / Braver, Sanford (Thesis advisor) / Sandler, Irwin (Thesis advisor) / Bernstein, Bianca (Committee member) / Homer, Judith (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011