Christina Banks Creating Positive Attitudes toward People with Disabilities through
Inclusion
This study investigates how policies of inclusion at the
collegiate level influence attitudes toward persons with disabilities. According
to Allport’s (1954) contact hypothesis, intergroup contact can reduce prejudice
toward out-group members. With this in mind, inclusion may be a tool to reduce
inequalities, stemming from prejudice which persons with disabilities face.
Students from two undergraduate colleges completed the same explicit attitudes
survey. St. Andrews Presbyterian College has a commitment to inclusion while
Hanover College does not have a strong policy of inclusion; for this reason it
was hypothesized that St. Andrews students would report more positive attitudes
toward persons with disabilities than Hanover students. Overall, St. Andrews and
Hanover students’ attitudes did not differ as measure by the Multidimensional
Attitudes Scale and the Disability Social Relations Generalized Disability
scale. However, St. Andrews upper-classmen did report more positive affects than
St. Andrews first-year students and all Hanover students. These results indicate
that exposure to an inclusive program over an extended period of time does
predict more positive feelings toward persons with disabilities. PDF
Sarah Blanton & April Schweinhart Examining the Interaction of Weight and Ethnicity on Perceived Compatibility
of Couples
The current study examines the effect of the race and
weight of individuals within a couple on the perceived compatibility of that
couple. Participants (N = 442) viewed 16 couples consisting of overweight or
average-weight and Black or White individuals. Participants then rated the
compatibility of the couples based on three questions about the likelihood of
attraction between the individuals. Same race couples were found to be more
compatible than interracial couples which was expected. Similarly, couples which
consisted of same weight individuals were more compatible than those consisting
of opposing weight individuals. In interracial couples, the Black male was found
to be more compatible with an overweight female than was the White male. These
findings indicate a prejudice against dissimilar individuals in relationships as
well as a possible double standard for the weight of White vs. Black women. PDF
Jenny Braun & Lauren Drew The Effects of Perceived Team Cohesion on Alcohol Consumption, Aggression and
Cheating
This study was designed to examine the effects of
perceived team cohesion on alcohol consumption, aggression and cheating in
athletes. Previous research suggests that alcohol consumption, aggression and
cheating can be found in athletics, but the intention of this study is to
examine whether or not perceived team cohesion has an impact on these variables.
It was hypothesized that teams perceived to be highly cohesive would have
similar views and attitudes towards aggression and cheating. It was also
expected that athletes who perceived their teams to be highly cohesive would
have higher rates of drinking. Participants in this study completed an online
questionnaire regarding cohesion, cheating, aggression and alcohol consumption.
Results show that there were no significant relationships between cohesion and
all other variables, except with whom athletes reported choosing to drink with.
This finding suggests that the more highly cohesive the athlete perceives
his/her team to be, the more likely they are to drink with teammates. This study
supports previous research with a significantly strong positive correlation
between aggression and cheating. This suggests that the team influences an
individual’s moral reasoning and thus may lead to an individual having similar
rates of aggression and cheating during a game. Findings indicate that there are
relationships between many of the variables, including aggression and cheating,
along with cohesion and alcohol consumption. PowerPointPDF
Charla Chailland & Brianna Raatz Examining the Roles of Fear and Prior Knowledge in Attitude Change Towards Soft
Drink Consumption: An Experimental Study
Although soft drinks are readily available to children and
adolescents at most schools and social functions, studies have found that
children whose parents restrict what they drink impact the child’s
outside-of-the-home choices. Therefore, if we can change the parents’ attitudes
toward soft drink consumption, perhaps, in turn, we can influence children to
make healthier beverage choices. The purpose of the present study is to examine
the efficacy of high-fear versus low-fear persuasive messages in changing
participants’ attitudes towards their children’s soft drink consumption.
Participants were parents (N = 55, 90% female) who were actively parenting at
least one child below the age of 18. Participants completed an online survey
assessing their knowledge and attitudes toward soft drink consumption, read one
of two randomly assigned informative articles (high or low fear), and completed
the survey a second time. Changes in attitudes were assessed via a 2 (time:
pretest, posttest) x 2 (fear: high, low) x 2 (prior-knowledge: high vs. low)
mixed model analysis of variance (ANOVA). A three-way interaction among the
three predictor variables emerged. The pattern of results was consistent with
our predictions. The high-fear article was more effective in changing attitudes
among low-knowledge than among high-knowledge participants and the low-fear
article was more effective in changing attitudes among high-knowledge than among
low-knowledge participants. These findings suggest that, in changing attitudes,
both the nature of the message and the characteristics of the recipients of that
message must be taken into account. PDF
Michelle Coffman & Heather Osterman First Versus Non-First Generation Students: Determining Variables of Academic
Success
This study examines factors that may be
related to college success, and the degree to which these factors differentiate
first generation college students (i.e., neither parent completed college) from
non-first generation students. Factors that have been shown to be related to
college success include support factors: parental emotional support, sibling
emotional support, friend emotional support, and parental financial assistance.
It is likely that these support factors are less available to first generation
students than nonfirst generation students. Participants were college students
at a small liberal arts college who completed an online questionnaire asking
questions about parental education and the support the students receive from
parents, siblings and friends. College success was measured by GPA, and social
and emotional adjustment (based on subscales from the Student Adaptation to
College scale). Researchers predicted that first generation students will
receive less support from their support factors than their counterpart.
Researchers also predict that first generation students will score lower on the
different measures of college success. Results indicated that first generation
students did score lower on financial support than their counterpart; results,
however, were not significant for emotional support from parents, siblings, or
friends. First generation students also scored lower in terms of GPA than their
counterpart. There were no significant differences in terms of social adjustment
or emotional adjustment. The results of this study may contribute to the
creation of intervention programs for first generation students, thereby
decreasing the drop out rate of first generation college students. PowerPointPDF
Jennifer L. Cotton & Amanda J. Ernstberger The Effects of Children’s Books on First Graders’ Perceptions of Availability
of Careers to Each Gender
Children’s views of the world are shaped by
what they see in movies, television, and books. This study examined the effects
of hearing a story featuring protagonists who had either gender-typical careers
or gender-atypical careers on children’s perceptions of career options. First
grade participants (N = 84) listened to either gender-typical or gender atypical
versions of the story and completed questionnaires assessing whether they
believed certain careers were appropriate for each gender, as well as their own
career goals. We anticipate that children who listened to the gender-typical
version of the story will be more likely to agree with current gender
stereotypes than those who listened to the gender-atypical version. PowerPointPDF
Michael Draper & Annamarie Elmer Preference for Personal, Non-Erotic Touch and its Relationship to Personality
Characteristics
The researchers were interested in the
preference for touch and how it relates to other personality characteristics
because of the previous research about how touch can convey emotions and
feelings. Researchers conducted a pilot study to obtain scenarios that might be
beneficial to use in creating a preference for touch scale. They developed the
scale and posted the scale online as well as a link to a personality test as
well as a test to score the level of empathy a person had. Then the researchers
ran a correlation analysis and a regression analysis to test for significance.
The results showed that there is a correlation between preference for touch and
empathy as well as agreeableness, as well as others. PowerPointPDF
James Gentry & Jared Smith Confessions and Convictions: How Different Types of Confessional Evidence
Affect Conviction Rates
In our court system, confession evidence is
known to be especially persuasive. This study attempts to distinguish between
the levels of persuasiveness of four different types of confession evidence.
Four different types of sample confessions of a battery crime were randomly
presented to participants. Conviction rates were assessed for each of the four
types of confessions (voluntary, retracted, coerced-compliant, and
coerced-internalized) and the severity of the sentence delivered by those who
found the defendant guilty. Participants’ results on the four confession types
were compared against one another in the determination of which type of
confession seemed to be the most influential in convicting the accused. Results
show that the conviction rates differ significantly across the four conditions.
It was found that the non-coerced conditions yielded the highest conviction
rates while the coerced conditions yielded the lowest rate of conviction. These
results indicate that although all conditions yielded a high rate of conviction,
the coercive conditions had more effective in influencing the juror. PowerPointPDF
Michaelia Gilbert & Benjamin Paciorkowski Using Regional Accents to Form First Impressions of a Speaker
Previous research indicates that accents can
have a powerful influence on first impression formation. The current study
builds on previous work by examining how general stereotypes interact with
geographic proximity to influence attitudes toward a speaker with a marked
regional U.S. accent. Participants in this study listened to one of five
randomly assigned accents (Midwestern, Boston, Southern, Minnesotan and
Californian) and completed a survey in which they evaluated the degree to which
the speaker is likely to display various demographic and personal
characteristics (e.g., intelligence). Participants were also asked to list their
hometown and current zip codes. The researchers hypothesize that some accents
will receive more positive ratings than others (reflecting overall stereotypes).
In addition, the researchers hypothesize that accent will interact with distance
such that participants will evaluate speakers living in closest to their
hometown more favorably (reflecting in-group preferences). PowerPointPDF
Stephanie Gunderson & Robyn Hooker The Effects of Positive and Negative Self-Presentation on Female Self-Esteem
and Relationship Choices
This study examines the relationship between
female self-presentation, self-esteem and perception by peers. Past research has
found that women are more likely to present themselves negatively in public
situations than men. The present study examines whether these negative
self-presentations are related to favorable responses in others. College-age
female participants listen to an audio recording of four female confederates
having a conversation; after one confederate makes a negative self comment, each
of the remaining confederates responds in one of three different ways: 1)
self-degrading, 2) self-accepting, and 3) neutrally. The participants then rate
the likeability of each of the three reacting confederates. All participants
also fill out the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. We expect that participants will
more likely be friends with those individuals who display more negative
self-presentations rather than those who display positive self-presentations and
find them as being more likeable. We also predict that those with a higher
self-esteem prefer a person who has a positive self-presentation and those with
a lower selfesteem prefer a person who has a negative self-presentation. The
results show that there was a significant difference between the three
respondents. Although there was no significant difference between Hannah
(neutral) and Ashley (self-degrading) both were liked significantly more than
Emily (self-accepting). There were no significant results found comparing the
selfesteem of participants with the likeability and friendship ratings of the
three respondents. The results of this study contribute to our understanding of
the way women present themselves in public and what factors are related to their
self-presentation. PowerPointPDF
Holly Heindselman & Rachel Yates The Effects of Body Esteem and Sexual Self-Consciousness on Sexual Behavior
Previous research has found that body esteem
is related to depression, social isolation, and low self-esteem. This study was
designed to measure the relation between body esteem and sexual behavior.
Participants completed questionnaires measuring body esteem, sexual
self-consciousness, frequency of sexual activity, and sociosexual orientation.
Sexual activity was broken into four sub-categories (light petting, heavy
petting, intercourse, and oral stimulation). Results show a significant negative
relationship between sexual self-consciousness and heavy petting, p< .05, and
intercourse p < .01. These findings would suggest that the way one feels about
his or her body may impact the frequency with which they engage in sexual
behaviors. For this reason, future research may focus on the effects of body
esteem on relationship satisfaction. PowerPointPDF
Ashlee Kirk The Contact Hypothesis Applied: Examining the Efficacy of a Peace Camp
This study examined the validity of the
contact hypothesis by evaluating the efficacy of the Creativity for Peace summer
camp. Creativity for Peace applies the principles of the contact hypothesis in
order to reduce the prejudicial attitudes between Israeli, Palestinian, and
Israeli Arab young women. To determine the camp’s ability to reduce explicit
prejudice, a mixed design was utilized, in which the between-subjects variable
was camper nationality and the within-subjects variable was camp experience.
Surveys were given to each camper (N=15) at the beginning and end of camp.
Likert scale statements assessed campers’ general prejudiced attitudes and
prejudiced attitudes toward Israelis and Palestinians in particular. Two-by-two
mixed ANOVAs revealed that camp experience significantly reduced general
prejudiced attitudes and attitudes toward Palestinians, at p<.05, while
prejudice reduction in attitudes toward Jews only reached marginal significance,
at p<0.10. These results indicate that the application of the contact hypothesis
can lead to meaningful reductions in prejudice levels, even between deeply
conflicted groups. However, throughout the results, attitude change was most
apparent in Jews and Palestinians, supporting existing evidence that contact is
more effective for individuals from the majority rather than the minority. PDF
Sarah LeStourgeon & David Phelps Does Stereotype Threat Require Stereotypes?
When males take a test assessing verbal
skills, unlike females, they are at risk of confirming the widely-shared
negative stereotype targeted at their group namely, that females outperform
males in verbal ability. Consistent with previous research, this risk is termed
stereotype threat and has been shown to negatively impact performance. Would
performance be as negatively impacted, however, if males were still told that
their gender performed worse on the same academic task, but the task was framed
as a test of ‘analogical-reasoning,’ which does not evoke any widely-shared
stereotypes? Furthermore, would males do better if they faced a negative
expectation that was not tied to their social group (gender) nor fit to a
widely-held belief (females outperform males on verbal tasks)? To explore this
question, participants were randomly assigned to receive either negative or
positive expectations that (a) targeted gender, a meaningful social group, or
(b) targeted a meaningful social group fit to a widely-shared stereotype or (c)
targeted neither of these two elements. Results were accounted for by comparing
the mean scores (the average number of correct answers) on a test of verbal
ability. Using a between subjects, one-way ANOVA, a trend emerged revealing that
when male and female participants experienced a threat towards their meaningful
social group (gender), they tended to perform worse than participants presented
with simply a negative expectation not tied to a meaningful social group.
Although their scores were not significantly different, it is evident that
stereotype threat may have a greater negative impact when threat is tied to
one’s social identity. PDF
Lindsay Ludwig & Amanda Nocton Effects of Gender on Parental Attitudes toward Punishment of Children
This study was designed to examine the effect
of gender on parental attitudes toward child punishment. Participants (N = 224)
were recruited via a popular website of online psychological studies and from
online parental discussion groups. Each participant read one of two scenarios
about his or her hypothetical child engaging in nine misbehaviors, each
classified into one of the following categories: general disrespect, harm to
self, and harm to others. Participants then indicated their likelihood of using
three punishments – verbal reprimand, removal of privileges, and spanking. The
two scenarios differed only by gender of the child (male or female). Female
participants used verbal reprimand significantly more than males (p = .044), but
males used spanking significantly more than females (p < .001). Gender of child
had an effect on only two infractions: boys were punished significantly more
than girls for bullying a classmate (p = .018) and not wearing a seatbelt (p =
.018). These findings reflect the idea that there is some gender distinction
across child punishment, an issue important to recognize as it may facilitate
reflections of differential treatment of children. PowerPointPDF
Steven Minett Comparing Information versus Empathy in Decreasing Homophobic Attitudes: An
Intervention Study
This study explored the effects of
information-only versus information with empathy exposure through video
components on reducing homophobic attitudes and increasing understanding towards
the GLBT community. Participants (n = 34) were randomly assigned to one of three
conditions: (1) Information-only exposure (“The Gay Gene”); (2) Information and
empathy exposure (“Ugly Ducklings: A Documentary”): and (3) Neutral exposure, or
control (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”). In the Information-only group participants
were exposed to a video on the genetic basis of sexual orientation. In the
information and empathy exposure participants were exposed to a video
interviewing actresses involved with the play addressing the damaging effects of
homophobia in an all girls’ summer camp. The neutral exposure, or control group
watched a video on a topic unrelated to GLBT issues. All participants completed
the Scale Items for Attitudes Towards Lesbian and Gay Men (ATLG) and the Empathy
Towards Homosexuals Scale, both before and after receiving their group’s
exposure. It was expected that the Information-only and the Information and
Empathy groups would show significant increases in empathy when compared to the
control groups. By utilizing a 2 by 3 Mixed ANOVA design with the first factor
being time (pre- or post-test) and the second factor being the condition
(Information-only, Information and empathy, or Control video intervention) it
was found that there were no significant main effects or interactions for either
survey regarding participants’ levels of empathy. Possible factors involved with
not finding significance as well encouraging non-statistically significant
trends are discussed later in this paper. PowerPointPDF
Rachel Pittard & Rachel Robertson Identifying Women’s “Sexual Agency” in their Reports of First Sexual
Encounters: A Qualitative Study
"Sexual agency" is the ability to make sexual
choices according to one's will, free from coercion. Experiencing oneself as a
sexual agent means feeling in control of one's sexual decisions and experiences.
However, little psychological research has focused on this new construct.
Further description of sexual agency will help researchers to recommend
improvements to sex education programs and therapeutic interventions. Feminist
perspectives advocate equality in gender relations and sexual relationships.
Positive Psychology encourages an examination of normative subjective
experience. Drawing upon these perspectives, it is assumed that American women
struggle to represent themselves as sexual agents due to cultural scripts
emphasizing passivity. To explore women's variations in agency, a qualitative
method was used to examine how women portray their internal experience of agency
in their first sexual encounter. Participants (N = 21) were asked four
open-ended questions to elicit reflections on their first sexual encounter
(e.g., "Following your first sexual encounter, what were your initial thoughts
and feelings about the experience?"). Participants’ narrative responses were
coded as to the level of sexual agency depicted (e.g., fully agentic, partially
agentic, fully nonagentic) based on three dimensions: connection/disconnection,
activity/passivity, and interaction/isolation. Responses were also coded for the
specific feelings described. An interpretive analysis yielded the finding that
fully agentic women display connection with their experience, interaction with
their partner, and activity in the encounter; these women also describe their
encounters as positive. The elaborated concept of sexual agency can be used to
improve intervention programs by empowering women to be sexual agents. PowerPointPDF
Pragati Shah Influence of Soap Operas on Nepalese Women’s Identity Formation: A
Qualitative Study
The purpose of this research project is to
report on a qualitative research about the role of television soap operas as a
resource employed by Nepalese women in identity work. Currently, Nepalese women
live in a cultural context where traditional values often conflict with Western
values regarding gender-appropriate behavior. The women identify themselves as
traditional even while they attempt to integrate non-traditional beliefs. This
research project examines stayat- home mothers' representations of themselves,
as they discuss female television characters. Self-narratives of women from
Kathmandu (N = 20) were obtained through open-ended, in-depth interviews about
their favorite Bollywood soap operas. It was expected that as they discussed
this widely-viewed cultural tool, they would incorporate characteristics of both
heroines and villains to constitute their own selves, drawing upon values from
both traditional and Western cultures. Analyses reveal that participants do,
indeed, use soap opera characters as a resource for constituting a meaningful
self in the face of shifting social identities. The participants were seen to
draw texts from both traditional and Western values and seek to maintain a
balance. It was observed that women turn towards the Soap Operas for guidance in
formulating their own gender-appropriate perspective. This analysis demonstrates
how some women are adapting gender roles in today’s confusing, post-modern
world. PDF
Amanda Smitley College Students’ Expectations for Hook-Ups
This study was designed to examine college
students’ expectations for engaging in sexual “hook-ups” (i.e., brief sexual
encounters between two people who have not had a previous sexual relationship).
In particular, expectations before and after a hook-up were considered, and a
comparison was made between the expectations of college males versus college
females. Sixty-six college students (66.7% female) completed a questionnaire
(including both open-ended and closed-ended questions) on their own hook-up
history (e.g., “Approximately, how many hook-ups have you been involved in since
beginning college?”); their hook-up expectations (e.g., “What do you expect to
get from an ideal hook-up?”); and their expectations after the hook-up (e.g.,
“In what ways have your expectations ever changed after a hook-up?”). Through
this study, stereotypes and generalizations about hook-ups were disconfirmed. It
was found that males did not report having significantly more hook-ups than
females. Also, men did not expect a pleasurable experience from a hook-up
significantly more often than females. Lastly, females did not engage in a
hook-up expecting a romantic relationship significantly more than males. This
study may provide some insights that will be helpful in facilitating college
students’ reflections on their sexual behavior. PowerPointPDF
