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Substantive justice: how the substantive law shapes perceived fairness

Description

Psychology of justice research has demonstrated that individuals are concerned with both the process and the outcomes of a decision-making event. While the literature has demonstrated the importance of formal and informal aspects of procedural justice and the relevancy of moral values, the present study focuses on introducing a new…

Psychology of justice research has demonstrated that individuals are concerned with both the process and the outcomes of a decision-making event. While the literature has demonstrated the importance of formal and informal aspects of procedural justice and the relevancy of moral values, the present study focuses on introducing a new form of justice: Substantive justice. Substantive justice focuses on how the legal system uses laws to constrain and direct human behavior, specifically focusing on the function and the structure of a law. The psychology of justice literature is missing the vital distinction between laws whose function is to create social opportunities versus threats and between laws structured concretely versus abstractly. In the present experiment, we found that participant evaluations of the fairness of the law, the outcome, and the decision-maker all varied depending on the function and structure of the law used as well as the outcome produced. Specifically, when considering adverse outcomes, individuals perceived laws whose function is to create liability (threats) as being fairer when structured as standards (abstract guidelines) rather than rules (concrete guidelines); however, the opposite is true when considering laws whose function is to create eligibility (opportunities). In juxtaposition, when receiving a favorable outcome, individuals perceived laws whose function is to create liability (threats) as being fairer when defined as rules (concrete guidelines) rather than standards (abstract guidelines).

ContributorsLovis-McMahon, David (Author) / Schweitzer, Nicholas J. (Thesis advisor) / Saks, Michael (Thesis advisor) / Kwan, Sau (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)

Created2011

Development and evaluation of an intervention to increase sun protection in young women

Description

In the present research, two interventions were developed to increase sun protection in young women. The purpose of the study was to compare the effects of intervention content eliciting strong emotional responses to visual images depicting photoaging and skin cancer, specifically fear and disgust, coupled with a message of self-efficacy…

In the present research, two interventions were developed to increase sun protection in young women. The purpose of the study was to compare the effects of intervention content eliciting strong emotional responses to visual images depicting photoaging and skin cancer, specifically fear and disgust, coupled with a message of self-efficacy and benefits of sun protection (the F intervention) with an intervention that did not contain an emotional arousal component (the E intervention). Further, these two intervention conditions were compared to a control condition that contained an emotional arousal component that elicited emotion unrelated to the threat of skin cancer or photoaging (the C control condition). A longitudinal study design was employed, to examine the effects of condition immediately following the intervention, and to examine sun protection behavior 2 weeks after the intervention. A total of 352 undergraduate women at Arizona State University were randomly assigned to one of the three conditions (F n = 148, E n = 73, C n = 131). Several psychosocial constructs, including benefits of sun protection, susceptibility to and severity of photoaging and sun exposure, self-efficacy beliefs of making sun protection a daily habit, and barriers to sun protection were measured before and immediately following the intervention. Sun protection behavior was measured two weeks later. Those in the full intervention reported higher self-efficacy and severity of photoaging at immediate posttest than those in the efficacy only and control conditions. The fit of several path models was tested to explore underlying mechanisms by which the intervention affected sun protection behavior. Experienced emotion, specifically fear and disgust, predicted susceptibility and severity, which in turn predicted anticipated regret of failing to use sun protection. The relationship between this overall threat component (experienced emotion, susceptibility, severity, and anticipated regret) and intentions to engage in sun protection behavior was mediated by benefits. The present research provided evidence of the effectiveness of threat specific emotional arousal coupled with a self-efficacy and benefits message in interventions to increase sun protection. Further, this research provided additional support for the inclusion of both experienced and anticipated emotion in models of health behavior.

ContributorsMoser, Stephanie E (Author) / Aiken, Leona S. (Thesis advisor) / Shiota, Michelle N. (Committee member) / Kwan, Sau (Committee member) / Castro, Felipe (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)

Created2011

Differences in the Symptom Profile of Depression in South Asians

Description

The Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II) and the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) are highly valid depressive testing tools used to measure the symptom profile of depression globally and in South Asia, respectively (Steer et al., 1998; Kroenke et al, 2001). Even though the South Asian population comprises only…

The Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II) and the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) are highly valid depressive testing tools used to measure the symptom profile of depression globally and in South Asia, respectively (Steer et al., 1998; Kroenke et al, 2001). Even though the South Asian population comprises only 23% of the world’s population, it represents one-fifth of the world’s mental health disorders (Ogbo et al., 2018). Although this population is highly affected by mental disorders, there is a lack of culturally relevant research on specific subsections of the South Asian population. As such, the goal of this study is to investigate the differences in the symptom profile of depression in native and immigrant South Asian populations. We investigated the role of collective self-esteem and perceived discrimination on mental health. For the purpose of this study, participants were asked a series of questions about their depressive symptoms, self-esteem and perceived discrimination using various depressive screening measures, a self-esteem scale, and a perceived discrimination scale. We found that immigrants demonstrated higher depressive symptoms than Native South Asians as immigration was viewed as a stressor. First-generation and second-generation South Asian immigrants identified equally with somatic and psychological symptoms. These symptoms were positively correlated with perceived discrimination, and collective self-esteem was shown to increase the likelihood of these symptoms. This being said, the results from this study may be generalized only to South Asian immigrants who come from highly educated and high-income households. Since seeking professional help and being aware of one’s mental health is vital for wellbeing, the results from this study may spark the interest in an open communication about mental health within the South Asian immigrant community as well as aid in the restructuring of a highly reliable and valid measurement to be specific to a culture.

ContributorsMurthy, Nithara (Co-author) / Swaminathan, Manasa (Co-author) / Vogel, Joanne (Thesis director) / Kwan, Sau (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)

Created2021-05

Sensory-motor mechanisms unify psychology: motor effort and perceived distance to cultural out-groups

Description

ABSTRACT This thesis proposes that a focus on the bodily level of analysis can unify explanation of behavior in cognitive, social, and cultural psychology. To examine this unifying proposal, a sensorimotor mechanism with reliable explanatory power in cognitive and social psychology was used to predict a novel pattern of behavior…

ABSTRACT This thesis proposes that a focus on the bodily level of analysis can unify explanation of behavior in cognitive, social, and cultural psychology. To examine this unifying proposal, a sensorimotor mechanism with reliable explanatory power in cognitive and social psychology was used to predict a novel pattern of behavior in cultural context, and these predictions were examined in three experiments. Specifically, the finding that people judge objects that require more motor effort to interact with as farther in visual space was adapted to predict that people with interdependent self-construal(SC) , relative to those with independent SC, would visually perceive their cultural outgroups as farther relative to their cultural in-groups. Justifying this cultural extension of what is primarily a cognitive mechanism is the assumption that, unlike independents, Interdependents interact almost exclusively with in-group members, and hence there sensorimotor system is less tuned to cross-cultural interactions. Thus, interdependents, more so than independents, expect looming cross-cultural interactions to be effortful, which may inflate their judgment of distance to the out-groups. Two experiments confirmed these predictions: a) interdependent Americans, compared to independent Americans, perceived American confederates (in-group) as visually closer; b) interdependent Arabs, compared to independent Arabs, perceived Arab confederates (in-group) as closer; and c) interdependent Americans, relative to independent Americans, perceived Arab confederates (out-group) as farther. A third study directly established the proposed relation between motor effort and distance to human targets: American men perceived other American men as closer after an easy interaction than after a more difficult interaction. Together, these results demonstrate that one and the same sensorimotor mechanism can explain/predict homologous behavioral patterns across the subdisciplines of psychology.

ContributorsSoliman, Tamer (Author) / Glenberg, Arthur M. (Committee member) / Kwan, Sau (Committee member) / Cohen, Adam (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)

Created2013

Climate as a moderator of the effect of disease threat on interpersonal behavior

Description

Infectious diseases have been a major threat to survival throughout human history. Humans have developed a behavioral immune system to prevent infection by causing individuals to avoid people, food, and objects that could be contaminated. This current project investigates how ambient temperature affects the activation of this system. Because temperature…

Infectious diseases have been a major threat to survival throughout human history. Humans have developed a behavioral immune system to prevent infection by causing individuals to avoid people, food, and objects that could be contaminated. This current project investigates how ambient temperature affects the activation of this system. Because temperature is positively correlated with the prevalence of many deadly diseases, I predict that temperature moderates the behavioral immune system, such that a disease prime will have a stronger effect in a hot environment compared to a neutral environment and one's avoidant behaviors will be more extreme. Participants were placed in a hot room (M = 85F) or a neutral room (M = 77F) and shown a disease prime slide show or a neutral slide show. Disgust sensitivity and perceived vulnerability surveys were used to measure an increased perceived risk to disease. A taste test between a disgusting food item (gummy bugs) and a neutral food item (gummy animals) measured food avoidance. There was no significant avoidance of the gummy and no significant difference in ratings of disgust sensitivity or perceived vulnerability as a function of temperature conditions. There were no significant interactions between temperature and disease. The conclusion is that this study did not provide evidence that temperature moderates the effect of disease cues on behavior.

ContributorsOsborne, Elizabeth (Author) / Cohen, Adam B. (Thesis advisor) / Kwan, Sau (Committee member) / Neuberg, Steven (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)

Created2012

Group identity and expressions of prejudice among Mexican heritage adolescents

Description

A study was conducted to assess the effects of generational status on various measures of stigmatization, acculturative stress, and perceived social and interpersonal threat within the Mexican heritage population in the Southwest. The role of the fear of stigma by association, regardless of actual experiences of stigmatization, was investigated, including…

A study was conducted to assess the effects of generational status on various measures of stigmatization, acculturative stress, and perceived social and interpersonal threat within the Mexican heritage population in the Southwest. The role of the fear of stigma by association, regardless of actual experiences of stigmatization, was investigated, including its relationships with acculturative stress, perceived threat, and social distancing. Exploratory analyses indicated that first generation Mexican Americans differed significantly from second generation Mexican Americans on the perception of Mexican nationals as ingroup members, the fear of stigma by association by Americans, and levels of acculturative stress. Additional analyses indicated that Mexican Americans with one parent born in Mexico and one in the United States held opinions and attitudes most similar to second generation Mexican Americans. Results from path analyses indicated that first-generation Mexican Americans were more likely than second-generation Mexican Americans to both see Mexican nationals as ingroup members and to be afraid of being stigmatized for their perceived association with them. Further, seeing Mexican nationals as in-group members resulted in less social distancing and lower perceived threat, but fear of stigma by association lead to greater perceived threat and greater acculturative stress. Implications for within- and between-group relations and research on stigma by association are discussed.

ContributorsBoyd, Brenna Margaret (Author) / Knight, George P (Thesis advisor) / Kwan, Sau (Committee member) / Neuberg, Steven (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)

Created2010

Effects of Affect Framing and Future Self-Connectedness on Current Decision-Making

Description

People generally struggle with making good decisions for their well-being (Hershfield, 2019; Hershfield & Bartels, 2018). One reason for this might be that people struggle with connecting to their future selves. Prior research suggests that future self-connectedness predicts better decisions. This study examined if feeling more positive or negative helps…

People generally struggle with making good decisions for their well-being (Hershfield, 2019; Hershfield & Bartels, 2018). One reason for this might be that people struggle with connecting to their future selves. Prior research suggests that future self-connectedness predicts better decisions. This study examined if feeling more positive or negative helps people connect more to their future self and if this, in turn, helps people make better decisions. Participants read a scenario in which they are presented with two decisions, one having a short-term benefit/long-term cost and the other having a short-term cost/long-term benefit. Either neutral affect framing, positive affect framing, or negative affect framing was emphasized in the scenario depending on the condition. Our study did not find that positive affect framing and negative affect framing enhanced future self-connectedness. Neither did we find that positive affect framing and negative affect framing influenced decision-making.

ContributorsDe La Torre, Annabel (Author) / Shiota, Michelle N. (Thesis director) / Corbin, William (Committee member) / Kwan, Sau (Committee member) / Pages, Erika (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)

Created2021-05

Differences in the Symptom Profile of Depression in South Asians

Description

The Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II) and the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) are highly valid depressive testing tools used to measure the symptom profile of depression globally and in South Asia, respectively (Steer et al., 1998; Kroenke et al, 2001). Even though the South Asian population comprises only 23%…

The Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II) and the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) are highly valid depressive testing tools used to measure the symptom profile of depression globally and in South Asia, respectively (Steer et al., 1998; Kroenke et al, 2001). Even though the South Asian population comprises only 23% of the world’s population, it represents one-fifth of the world’s mental health disorders (Ogbo et al., 2018). Although this population is highly affected by mental disorders, there is a lack of culturally relevant research on specific subsections of the South Asian population.

As such, the goal of this study is to investigate the differences in the symptom profile of depression in native and immigrant South Asian populations. We investigated the role of collective self-esteem and perceived discrimination on mental health.
For the purpose of this study, participants were asked a series of questions about their depressive symptoms, self-esteem and perceived discrimination using various depressive screening measures, a self-esteem scale, and a perceived discrimination scale.

We found that immigrants demonstrated higher depressive symptoms than Native South Asians as immigration was viewed as a stressor. First-generation and second-generation South Asian immigrants identified equally with somatic and psychological symptoms. These symptoms were positively correlated with perceived discrimination, and collective self-esteem was shown to increase the likelihood of these symptoms.

This being said, the results from this study may be generalized only to South Asian immigrants who come from highly educated and high-income households. Since seeking professional help and being aware of one’s mental health is vital for wellbeing, the results from this study may spark the interest in an open communication about mental health within the South Asian immigrant community as well as aid in the restructuring of a highly reliable and valid measurement to be specific to a culture.

ContributorsSwaminathan, Manasa (Co-author) / Murthy, Nithara (Co-author) / Vogel, Joanne (Thesis director) / Kwan, Sau (Committee member) / Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)

Created2021-05

Does Genetic Conflict Contribute to Pregnancy Complications and Postpartum Health and Behavior?

Description

Pregnancy is often described as one of the most cooperative ventures that a woman can experience in her lifetime. But when one considers the biological changes that occur during pregnancy, it becomes clear that pregnancy is not as cooperative as it seems on the surface. The current research uses a…

Pregnancy is often described as one of the most cooperative ventures that a woman can experience in her lifetime. But when one considers the biological changes that occur during pregnancy, it becomes clear that pregnancy is not as cooperative as it seems on the surface. The current research uses a genetic conflict framework to predict how underlying conflict between mother and fetus over resource transfers is expected to alter eating behavior and food preferences, and how these changes in eating behavior and preferences should then be associated with certain pregnancy complications. Across two studies, women who had recently had a baby (Study 1) or were currently pregnant (Study 2) recalled changes in their eating behavior during pregnancy as well as any pregnancy complications they experienced during that pregnancy. Providing partial support for the hypotheses, women who reported increased vomiting in response to maternal-favoring foods were more likely to experience preeclampsia during pregnancy. In addition, the results provided preliminary evidence that changes in pregnancy eating behavior were associated with an increased the likelihood of experiencing high blood pressure, gestational diabetes, and infections during pregnancy. Taken together, these studies show that the framework of genetic conflict makes testable predictions about the relationship between eating behavior in pregnancy and pregnancy complications, and that several pregnancy complications that are relevant to genetic conflict (high blood pressure, pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, and infection) are associated with changes in eating behavior in pregnancy. Future research should continue to investigate how genetic conflict influences the relationships between pregnancy eating behavior, pregnancy complications, and how these associations impact postpartum health.

ContributorsAyers, Jessica D (Author) / Aktipis, Athena (Thesis advisor) / Boddy, Amy (Committee member) / Kwan, Sau (Committee member) / Kenrick, Douglas (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)

Created2022

How Manifestations of the Jungian Shadow Make Scholarly Debates on YouTube More Divisive and Less Useful

Description

Academic debates are a core sense-making mechanism of scientific and democratic societies that serve the purpose of educating the public and helping society to achieve further clarity on debated topics. This research seeks to understand why manifestations of the shadow may occur in academic debates on YouTube and how the…

Academic debates are a core sense-making mechanism of scientific and democratic societies that serve the purpose of educating the public and helping society to achieve further clarity on debated topics. This research seeks to understand why manifestations of the shadow may occur in academic debates on YouTube and how the shadow plays a role in making these debates less productive while breeding divisiveness. The scholarly debate genre on YouTube is an extension of the recognized television genre of televised debate and a description is given about the ways that the YouTube medium may influence the performance of and the viewing of academic debates. An analysis of ten videos that reflect the scholarly debate YouTube genre is done and explained through the dimensions of aggression, dismissiveness, avoiding, and logical fallacies. Shadow manifestations stand in the way of productive debates by distracting the debaters and the audience from the pursuit of the truth, confusing viewers with the use of logical fallacies, and promoting divisiveness that stands in the way of achieving consensus.

ContributorsPires, Louis (Author) / Mack, Robert (Thesis director) / Kwan, Sau (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor)

Created2022-05