Matching Items (13)
Filtering by
- Genre: Academic theses
Description
The present study was designed to extend previous research on early adolescents' involvement in electronic aggression and victimization. A new measure for electronic victimization and aggression was created for this study in order to better assess this type of peer harassment in early adolescence. The first goal of the study was to describe young adolescents' involvement in electronic aggression and victimization by exploring the links between electronic victimization and aggression and (a) youth demographic characteristics (e.g., gender, ethnicity), (b) involvement in traditional forms of aggression and victimization, and (c) gender of the aggression/victimization context (i.e., same-sex aggressor -victim versus other-sex aggressor- victim dyad). The second goal was to examine how electronic victimization and aggression were associated with self-esteem and relationship efficacy. Participants were 826 (49.9% female) 7th and 8th grade students (M age = 12.5 years old; SD = .67). Students were administered surveys during school hours. Results indicated that girls were more likely to be involved in both electronic aggression and victimization than boys. Further, girls were more likely to be both electronic aggressors and victims simultaneously than boys. Finally, those involved with electronic aggression reported higher levels of relationship efficacy than their peers and involvement as an aggressor/victim was associated with lower self-esteem than any other involvement category.
ContributorsMartin, Melissa (Author) / Updegraff, Kimberly A (Thesis advisor) / Ladd, Becky (Committee member) / Martin, Carol (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Risk and protective factors of peer victimization: the role of preschoolers' affiliations with peers
Description
Studies of peer victimization typically focus on behavioral characteristics of the victims, and frequently overlook the role that peers may play. The current study extended previous research by examining how time spent with two types of peers (externalizing and socially competent) can serve as a risk or protective factor for preschoolers' victimization, and how victimization may differ for boys and girls. In addition, the study explored how affiliating with same-sex and other-sex externalizing and socially competent peers may differentially relate to victimization. Results showed that girls who affiliated with externalizing female peers were significantly more at risk for victimization. In addition, boys and girls who spent time with socially competent male peers (but not female peers) negatively predicted victimization. The results indicate that children's peers, in certain circumstances, may play an important role in victimization. These findings also highlight the importance of considering children's and peers' gender when studying peer processes.
ContributorsClary, Laura (Author) / Hanish, Laura (Thesis advisor) / Martin, Carol (Committee member) / Updegraff, Kimberly (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Masculinity ideology has been found to negatively impact many educational,health, and psychological consequences for men and can be particularly consequential for their romantic relationships. Knowledge regarding how masculinity ideology impacts women’s relationship experiences is scant in the literature and there is limited research suggesting that partner’s masculinity ideology can impact women’s relationship experiences. Given the negative consequences of masculinity ideology on relationship experiences for men and women, I examined how masculinity impacts romantic relationship outcomes in two studies. Study 1 investigated the role of men’s and women’s masculinity ideology and men’s gender role conflict (GRC) on relationship self-efficacy. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that masculinity ideology was not associated with relationship self-efficacy and further gender was not a significant moderator. Men’s gender role conflict was found to relate to relationship self-efficacy significantly and negatively. In a new sample of emerging adults, Study 2 investigated how masculinity ideology impacts three relationship outcomes: relationship self-efficacy, relationship satisfaction, and sexual satisfaction. I further explored the association between women’s masculinity ideology and their perceived partner’s gender role conflict on women’s relationship outcomes. Masculinity ideology was negatively related to all relationship outcomes, but this association was stronger for women for relationship satisfaction and relationship self-efficacy. Women’s perceptions of their partner’s GRC negatively predicted all relationship outcomes. Specifically, the interaction of partner’s GRC and women’s masculinity ideology was significant for relationship self-efficacy, such that the association between women’s masculinity ideology and relationship self-efficacy was more positively related when women’s partners had greater GRC. Findings from the current dissertation study provide intriguing first steps in identifying the negative consequences of masculinity ideology for men and women and provide novel steps toward understanding how partner’s masculinity may impact women’s relationship outcomes.
ContributorsJenkins, Diana Leigh (Author) / Martin, Carol (Thesis advisor) / Rogers, Adam (Committee member) / Jager, Justin (Committee member) / Updegraff, Kim (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
The theoretical basis of the proposed study is drawn from an ecological-transactional (Lynch & Cicchetti, 1998) systems approach to development, which focuses on contexts, and correspondingly, overlays the gender affirmative model’s (GAM) transactional model of support (Keomeier & Ehrensaft, 2018) to reveal protection in the school ecology. Combining these two approaches provides unique insights into protective factors in the school ecology, distinct from developmental systems approaches driven by the minority stress model (Meyer, 2003), which are designed to highlight the multidimensional quality of risk (Eisenberg et al., 2019). The dissertation had two central aims: 1) to report on the development of the Gender Affirmative School Climate (GASC) scale, a self-report survey designed to capture high school climate specific to the domain of gender, and 2) to explore how gender affirmative school climate (GASC) relates to student self-esteem and school belongingness. Unique from risk factors approaches the central aims sought out to identify protective factors within a developmental system ecology of the high school context.In two pilot studies (N=12; N=758; trans = 413, non-trans = 344) and primary study (N=813; trans = 482, non-trans = 328) results for scale development provide evidence to validate assumptions that the proposed (GASC) construct captures what was intended, that is, school climate specific to the domain of gender. However, measurement invariance procedure showed that not all items operated equivalently across trans and non-trans groups, and confirmed that the proposed scale meets criteria for “weak measurement invariance”. High school students that reported more positive school climate reported lower self-esteem scores. Only one protective moderator was consistent with hypotheses: More feelings of similarity to peer group gender (boys) emerged as a protective factor for transgender identified high schoolers attenuating the negative relationship between perceptions of school climate and self-esteem. Latent measurement models for each gender group demonstrated that the school belongingness construct is highly related to the proposed (GASC) construct. This demonstrated domain overlap with “feelings of school belongingness” signals that the proposed scale showed good convergent validity. The results provide insight about ways high schools can be pro-active to promote a healthier school climate for transgender students.
ContributorsScrofani, Stephan (Author) / Martin, Carol L. (Thesis advisor) / DeLay, Dawn (Thesis advisor) / Lindstrom-Johnson, Sarah (Committee member) / Low, Sabina (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Given the emergence of social media over the past decade and its popularity with adolescents, understanding its impact on this population is crucial to investigate. The purpose of this thesis was to identify potential links between social media use, identity formation, self-esteem, and social comparison motives. The first hypothesis proposed a positive association between passive social media use and identity moratorium, diffusion, and distress. The second hypothesis suggested self-esteem would mediate this relationship. The final hypothesis posited that the social comparison motives of self-destruction and self-evaluation would exacerbate negative influences of social media use on self-esteem and identity, while self-enhancement and self-improvement motives would buffer them. Two studies were conducted, one observational with 568 participants and one experimental with 15 participants. The first study found active social media use significantly predicted identity diffusion and distress, whereas the second study determined passive social media use led to identity distress. Self-esteem was not found to mediate either relationship. Finally, self-destruction, self-enhancement, self-evaluation, and self-improvement all had differing moderating effects on social media use and the distinct identity outcomes and self-esteem. These results introduce a new concern for late adolescents still developing their identities who utilize social media, as having an online presence can further impede commitment to an identity.
ContributorsCaldera, Karla (Author) / Mickelson, Kristin D (Thesis advisor) / Hall, Deborah (Committee member) / DeLay, Dawn (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
Appearance-related self-esteem is a facet of body image that encompasses the evaluative components of an individual's self-concept that pertains to their own physical appearance. Knowledge regarding how appearance-related self-esteem functions in adolescent social groups is scant in the literature and there is limited research using linear methods suggesting that adolescents can influence the appearance-related self-esteem of their peers. Given the negative consequences of negative feelings about one's appearance later in life, I examined how appearance-related self-esteem develops and relates to adolescent social processes during the transition to middle school. This dissertation investigated how appearance-related self-esteem related to the social processes of selection, similarity, and influence. I further explored the effect of gender on social processes and appearance-related self-esteem. Appearance-related self-esteem was not related to social processes of selection, similarity, or influence. Gender similarity was present in the network, such that adolescents were more likely to select same-gender peers than other-gender peers. Additionally, an effect of gender on appearance-related self-esteem was present, such that boys' appearance-related self-esteem increased over time more than girls'. Findings from the current dissertation provide foundational first steps in identifying the ways that peers impact appearance-related self-esteem during adolescence and provide insights toward understanding how different gender pathways around appearance-related self-esteem may develop over time.
ContributorsHoffer, Aubrey Linn (Author) / DeLay, Dawn (Thesis advisor) / Martin, Carol (Committee member) / Hanish, Laura (Committee member) / Markey, Charlotte (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2024
Description
Dynamic Bayesian networks (DBNs; Reye, 2004) are a promising tool for modeling student proficiency under rich measurement scenarios (Reichenberg, in press). These scenarios often present assessment conditions far more complex than what is seen with more traditional assessments and require assessment arguments and psychometric models capable of integrating those complexities. Unfortunately, DBNs remain understudied and their psychometric properties relatively unknown. If the apparent strengths of DBNs are to be leveraged, then the body of literature surrounding their properties and use needs to be expanded upon. To this end, the current work aimed at exploring the properties of DBNs under a variety of realistic psychometric conditions. A two-phase Monte Carlo simulation study was conducted in order to evaluate parameter recovery for DBNs using maximum likelihood estimation with the Netica software package. Phase 1 included a limited number of conditions and was exploratory in nature while Phase 2 included a larger and more targeted complement of conditions. Manipulated factors included sample size, measurement quality, test length, the number of measurement occasions. Results suggested that measurement quality has the most prominent impact on estimation quality with more distinct performance categories yielding better estimation. While increasing sample size tended to improve estimation, there were a limited number of conditions under which greater samples size led to more estimation bias. An exploration of this phenomenon is included. From a practical perspective, parameter recovery appeared to be sufficient with samples as low as N = 400 as long as measurement quality was not poor and at least three items were present at each measurement occasion. Tests consisting of only a single item required exceptional measurement quality in order to adequately recover model parameters. The study was somewhat limited due to potentially software-specific issues as well as a non-comprehensive collection of experimental conditions. Further research should replicate and, potentially expand the current work using other software packages including exploring alternate estimation methods (e.g., Markov chain Monte Carlo).
ContributorsReichenberg, Raymond E (Author) / Levy, Roy (Thesis advisor) / Eggum-Wilkens, Natalie (Thesis advisor) / Iida, Masumi (Committee member) / DeLay, Dawn (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Aggression is inherently social. Evolutionary theories, for instance, suggest that the peer group within which an aggressor is embedded is of central importance to the use of aggression. However, there is disagreement in the field with regard to understanding precisely how aggression and peer relationships should relate. As such, in a series of three empirical studies, my dissertation takes a relational approach and addresses some of the inconsistencies present in the extant literature. In Study 1, I examined how qualities of youth's close friendships contributed to the use of aggression, both concurrently and over time. I found that youth with large friendship networks were more aggressive, whereas those with highly interconnected friendship network decreased in aggression over time. Using a dyadic mediation model, the second study considered the precursors to aggressors' friendships with peers. Specifically, I explored aggressive youth's interactions with unfamiliar peers and assessed how the interactions that unfold affected the quality of the relationship. I found that dyads who were highly discrepant in their tendencies toward aggression failed to collaborate well with one another, and this led to less positive perceptions of one another. Whereas the first two studies concerned aggressors' relationships with their friends (Study 1) and acquaintances (Study 2), Study 3 focused on a different type of relationship – the relationship between an aggressor and his or her victim(s). In the third study, I explored how power dynamics operate within an aggressor-victim dyad and assessed whether differences in the balance of power between the aggressor and victim affected the strength of their relationship. I found that more aggressor-victim dyads were characterized by a relative balance than imbalance in power, and that power balanced dyads had stronger and more sustained aggressor-victim relationships. By taking a relational approach to the study of aggression, this dissertation has advanced extant work in the field. That is, these findings move away from the simplification and aggregation of relational constructs (e.g., relationships, friendships), and instead consider the nuances of specific types of relationships or interactions with specific peers, allowing for a better understanding of the relational nature of aggression.
ContributorsAndrews, Naomi C. Z (Author) / Hanish, Laura D. (Thesis advisor) / Updegraff, Kimberly A (Committee member) / DeLay, Dawn (Committee member) / Martin, Carol Lynn (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
The overall goal of this dissertation was to examine teacher characteristics, teachers’ beliefs, and contextual factors that may motivate teachers’ decisions to engage in high quality teacher-child interactions. I use two complementary studies to meet this goal. These two studies provide insight into several aspects of early childhood teachers’ and children’s interactions including the complexity of the conversations and teachers’ supportive practices. Findings from both studies reveal that teachers are selective in how they distribute their time and attention across various types of high-quality interactions with children. Study 1suggests that teachers’ perception of how often children interact with one another motivates their decisions to engage in high quality teacher-child interactions (i.e., facilitate children’s peer interactions). Study 2 suggests that teacher well-being, specifically teacher depression, limits the extent to which teachers engage in high quality interactions (i.e., complex conversations with children). Importantly, this dissertation also showed that teachers’ motivation for engaging in teacher-child interactions does not stem from their own characteristics or perceptions alone. In addition to these factors, contextual aspects of teacher-child interactions also appear to influence teachers’ motivation to engage in high-quality teacher child interactions. Study 1 revealed that the gender composition of the children involved in each teacher-child interaction was associated with the extent to which teachers use facilitative practices, as well as with the direction and magnitude of both quality and frequency effects on teachers’ facilitation. Moreover, Study 2 revealed that the relation between teacher depression and complex conversations is changed when teachers and children are engaged in academic activities (e.g., math, books, language) relative to play or routine activities. In both Study 1 and 2, I used a teacher-focused observational coding system. Use of this observational coding system contributes novel, objective information about teacher-child interactions, as prior work on teacher-child interactions has most often relied on teachers’ self-reports of how often they interact with students. Findings from this dissertation will contribute new knowledge about teacher and contextual classroom characteristics and teacher-child interactions that will inform efforts to promote positive teacher child interactions and, in turn, student and teacher well-being.
ContributorsGranger, Kristen (Author) / Hanish, Laura (Thesis advisor) / Bradley, Robert (Committee member) / Abry, Tashia (Committee member) / DeLay, Dawn (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
Prejudice and discrimination toward gender non-conforming individuals is prevalent and extreme in today’s society. This prejudice can manifest in social exclusion, bullying, and victimization, or physical and sexual assault, and can result in negative social, psychological, academic, and physical health outcomes (e.g., depression, anxiety, suicidality). Thus, it is important to understand the perpetrators of gender expression-based aggression and discrimination. In two studies, I addressed how and why people experience prejudice toward gender non-conforming individuals. Using an affordance management theoretical framework, Study 1 identified threats young adults perceived from gender non-conforming peers. There were differences in perceived threats to personal freedoms, social coordination, and values for gender conforming and non-conforming peers, and these perceptions differed by the political ideology of the perceiver. Study 2 explored children’s threat perceptions associated with gender non-conformity. Children perceived threats to social coordination from gender non-conforming peers but not threats to moral values. Results from both studies supported the use of this theoretical framework for studying prejudice toward gender non-conformity. Together, these studies provide unique information about adults’ and children’s reasons for prejudice toward gender non-conforming peers.
ContributorsCook, Rachel (Author) / Martin, Carol L (Thesis advisor) / Neuberg, Steven L. (Committee member) / DeLay, Dawn (Committee member) / Ghavami, Negin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020