Psychology, Clinical Dissertation Collection
http://hdl.handle.net/10429/705
2024-03-28T23:07:11Z"I Mean, That's Just Like the Rules of Feminism": Analyzing Postfeminist Trends and Psychological Correlates in Women
http://hdl.handle.net/10429/942
"I Mean, That's Just Like the Rules of Feminism": Analyzing Postfeminist Trends and Psychological Correlates in Women
Berkowski, Monisha Leonora
Gender inequality is a well-documented phenomenon in the United States as evidenced by the wage gap, large discrepancies in women holding positions of power, and the frequency with which women experience forms of gender discrimination and sexual harassment. Despite these discrepancies, women have made social, political, and personal gains in the last several decades. Based on these improvements, popular discourses have asserted that society now embodies ‘postfeminism,’ an era in which feminism is longer relevant to the lives of women.
Although various critical frameworks have conceptualized postfeminism, there is a dearth of psychological research on the topic. The current study sought to investigate the validity of purposed postfeminist characteristics by testing a model of postfeminism and analyzing the attitudes and behaviors of young women. This model included three broad features: (a) attitudes toward gender-role orientation; (b) individualistic/meritocratic beliefs; and (c) sexualization. Finally, the current study sought to address discrepancies in the psychological literature regarding the psychological health benefits of feminist identification. The study intended to determine the psychological correlates of differing feminist identifications and values by analyzing self-esteem, depression, satisfaction with life, and empowerment.
The results of the current study generally supported a model of postfeminism in which feminist self-identification could be reliably predicted by variables related to postfeminist and feminist beliefs, traditional feminine norms, especially those related to physical appearance and self-surveillance, individualistic/meritocratic beliefs, and sexualized behavior. This model seems to validate the phenomenon of postfeminism on an individual level. Women who were characterized as postfeminists were found to fall between feminists and nonfeminists on measures of postfeminist and feminist beliefs. They were found to hold more traditional gender- role norms at the same rate as nonfeminists, engage in more sexualized behaviors than feminists and nonfeminists, and hold higher meritocratic beliefs than feminists, on par with nonfeminists. Implication for these results, limitations, and directions for future research are further discussed.
2017-06-15T00:00:00ZThe Power of Art: The Emotional and Physiological Impact of Creating Self-Portraits using Mandalas and Human Figure Drawings
http://hdl.handle.net/10429/941
The Power of Art: The Emotional and Physiological Impact of Creating Self-Portraits using Mandalas and Human Figure Drawings
Becerra, Leslie Ann
Art therapy, a nonverbal intervention, promotes self-expression and healing. Previous research has generally not compared art therapeutic techniques together. Although human figure drawings and mandala drawings both involve creating an image of the self, the two art therapeutic techniques have not been explored or compared within a single study. When determining the overall impact of engaging in drawings, specifically anxiety reduction, previous studies relied on either subjective or objective measures rather than combining both. Only a few experimentally designed studies have attempted to maintain the art therapeutic process through their drawing instructions and/or by asking qualitative questions about the drawings. There are also variations in studies instructing participants to either color pre-drawn mandalas or to draw their own mandalas.
This study assessed the emotional and physiological impact of art therapeutic techniques by measuring shifts in state anxiety subjectively through self-report measures and objectively through pulse rate. Participants were randomly assigned to drawing conditions: the mandala group, the human figure drawing group, and the free drawing group (control). Participants also completed surveys that measured trait anxiety and general mental distress. To mimic the art therapeutic process, instructions were provided for each drawing condition and participants were followed-up with qualitative questions about the meaning of their drawings.
The results of this study supported a strong relationship among general mental distress and self-reported state and trait anxiety, especially at baseline and after a mood induction task. However, general mental distress, state anxiety, and trait anxiety did not have strong relationships with pulse rate recordings. When comparing drawing conditions, there were no differences in state anxiety or pulse rate at any time point during the experiment. Rather, all drawing groups on average demonstrated elevations in state anxiety after mood was induced, and reductions in state anxiety after completing their assigned drawing. For pulse rates, all drawing groups on average demonstrated a reduction in pulse rate after completing their assigned drawing. Qualitatively, there were shared themes among all drawing groups, while some were more common in specific groups. In conclusion, the process of drawing regardless of drawing condition generally reduced state anxiety and pulse rate.
2017-06-15T00:00:00ZMoral Judgment and the Brain: The Role of the Frontal Lobes and the Moderating Influence of Mortality Salience and Type of Moral Dilemma on Moral Judgment
http://hdl.handle.net/10429/940
Moral Judgment and the Brain: The Role of the Frontal Lobes and the Moderating Influence of Mortality Salience and Type of Moral Dilemma on Moral Judgment
Jaber, Adnan
Moral psychology has been an area of study advanced by philosophers and political scientists for the most part of its history. Although various psychological attempts have been made to study moral decision-making and development, mainly by Piaget and Kohlberg, nonetheless morality as a topic remained at the fringes of psychology.
The last 20 years saw the development of moral psychological theories that were informed by the latest neuropsychological developments of brain translational recording technologies. Specifically, two theories appeared: the social intuitive theory and the dual processing theory. The current study sought to investigate the validity of the dual processing theory utilizing EEG technology, while also introducing mortality reminders as an experimental condition affecting moral judgment. The current study used a mixed factorial within-between cross-over experimental design wherein all participants were initially quasi-randomly assigned to a group were they were first presented with the push or switch moral dilemma and then, after the introduction of a prime, were given the other dilemma (e.g., push group did switch dilemma; switch group did push dilemma). All participants received both moral dilemma conditions. In the case of the prime, there were two prime conditions- mortality salience and neutral conditions. Participants were quasi-randomly assigned to a prime condition. The dependent/outcome variables were type of moral judgment, moral reasoning, and brain activity operationalized in terms of absolute power across all spectral frequencies measured.
The results of the current study showed small support for the existence of two types of moral judgments (deontological vs. utilitarian) in response to two different types of moral dilemmas (personal vs. impersonal). However, the study did not find support for the assertion that utilitarian judgments were moderated by increased activity in the DLPFC, while the deontological judgments were moderated by increased activity in the VMPFC. The study also did not find support for the effect of heightened anxiety induced via mortality salience on types of moral judgments. Implication for these results, limitations, and directions for future research are further discussed.
2017-06-15T00:00:00ZChildhood Trauma and the Emergence of Disordered Eating Symptoms: An Investigation of Contributing Variables
http://hdl.handle.net/10429/939
Childhood Trauma and the Emergence of Disordered Eating Symptoms: An Investigation of Contributing Variables
Pettway, Anna Charis
This dissertation aimed to elucidate the complex relationship between childhood trauma and disordered eating. An extensive literature review demonstrated that the previous research in this area was contradictory and chaotic and that no one study had looked at all of the proposed mediators and moderators together. Thus, in this dissertation, the moderators of: PTSD, maladaptive affect, insecure attachment, agent of abuse, age of trauma onset, and chronicity of abuse are investigated along with the mediators of: dissociation, family dysfunction, and body dissatisfaction. This study was limited to adult women and was conducted on a nonclinical population. The final sample consisted of 322 adult women; of those women, 146 endorsed a history of childhood trauma. Emotional abuse and sexual abuse were the most commonly reported forms of trauma. Participants completed an online survey that was comprised of the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI-3), the Trauma Symptom Inventory (TSI-3), the Experiences in Close Relationships (ECR-R), the Inventory of Family Relations (IFR), and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), along with several demographics questions. Participants endorsing abuse also answered questions about their abuse history in terms of chronicity (one incident v. repeated), age of abuse onset (before or after age 14), and agent of abuse (family or non-family member). Hypotheses were analyzed using bivariate correlations, multiple regressions, ANOVAs, and structural equation modeling. Childhood trauma did indeed emerge as a non-specific risk factor for disordered eating symptoms, but this relationship was completely mediated by body dissatisfaction and dissociative symptoms. Thus, results indicated that disordered eating symptoms can be predicted by childhood trauma, and the most important factors in this relationship are dissociative symptoms, maladaptive affect, low self-esteem, and body dissatisfaction. These findings have substantial implications for clinicians in terms of identifying those at risk for onset of disordered eating symptoms and also in terms of understanding complex trauma.
2017-06-14T00:00:00Z