Hood College Department of Psychology and Counseling

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/11603/12986

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Assessing School-Related Anxiety Levels and Self-Efficacy Among First-Generation College Students
(2024-12) Chamberlin, Casey; Gupta, Sangeeta; Kundey, Shannon; Gricus, Michelle; Hood College Department of Psychology & Counseling; Departmental Honors
Current research on student success suggests that first-generation college students (FGCS) experience worse academic outcomes, and greater barriers to success compared to their continuing-education peers (Dennis et al., 2005; Koh et al., 2022). There is also a body of literature on how various student factors, such as anxiety and self-efficacy, drive student success (Barrows et al., 2013; Kumari & Jain, 2014). When a student specifically experiences school-related anxiety and does not believe in their ability to perform well in the classroom, this could impact their academic outcomes. The present study aims to examine the extent to which FGCS struggle with school-related anxiety and self-efficacy versus their continuing-education peers. The present study assessed anxiety and self-efficacy in 170 undergraduate first-year students, 38% of whom were FGCS, using the anxiety subscale of the Learning and Study Skills Inventory (LASSI), the Revised Test Anxiety Scale, and an Academic Self-Efficacy Scale. FGCS students reported significantly higher anxiety levels based on their LASSI scores. However, FGCS were not significantly different than their non-FCGS peers in their test anxiety or self-efficacy, as revealed by independent samples t-tests. Additionally, there were significant negative correlations between self-efficacy and test anxiety as well as between self-efficacy and LASSI anxiety across all students. Implications for FGCS, school-related anxiety, and self-efficacy are discussed.
The Impact of Protective Factors on the Relationship Between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Facial Affect Recognition
(2024) Guinevere Schipper; Dr. Megan Shaine; Dr. Michelle Gricus; Dr. Stephanie Masters; Hood College Department of Psychology and Counseling; Hood College Departmental Honors
The amount of research focusing on the relationship between facial affect recognition (FAR) and adverse childhood experience (ACEs) is growing. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between ACEs and FAR with protective factors as a potential moderator. Convenience sampling yielded 1058 responses to the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire - Short Form (CTQ – SF), Protective Factors for Resilience Scale (PFRS), and the Japanese and Caucasian Facial Expressions of Emotions (JACFEE). It was hypothesized that ACEs would be associated with higher misclassifications of emotions and protective factors would be negatively associated with misclassifications. Additionally, it was hypothesized that protective factors would moderate the relationship between ACEs and FAR, and that certain types of ACEs would correlate more strongly with certain types of misclassifications. Results indicated that the number of ACEs significantly predicted increased misclassifications of emotions and protective factors significantly predicted decreased misclassifications of emotions. Protective factors moderated the relationship between ACEs and misclassifications of emotions. The Sexual Abuse ACE had a significant and positive moderate relationship with misclassifications of emotions. The subsequent ACEs (Emotional Abuse, Physical Abuse, Emotional Neglect, Physical Neglect) had a significant, but weak relationship with misclassifications of emotion.
Deception detection: the act of selling a lie and exposing it.
Alexandra Kelly; Molly Moreland; Hood College Department of Psychology and Counseling; Hood College Departmental Honors
The purpose of this study was to examine the ability to distinguish between lies and truth and to distinguish between lies of omission and lies of commission. Twenty-four participants from the Hood College student body participated in the stimulus creation of this study. One hundred non-Hood student participants were recruited through social media, direct messaging, and advertising through Hood connections for the experimental section of this study. In the stimulus creation, participants would read a scenario involving something they have done wrong and plan out three statements: one in which they tell the truth, one in which they lie by commission, and the final in which they lie by omission. They were told to consider how they would respond to the event or incident if questioned by a figure of authority. The experimental task watched the videos the first participants created, and attempted to determine if the participant was telling the truth, lying by commission, or lying by omission They then described why they picked that answer and how confident they were in their response. Results showed that participants are much more confident and accurate when identifying truths. When participants were not confident, their signal detection criterion became very liberal, and they assumed more the videos were lying by commission. Finally, when participants were the most confident, they could determine more accurately lies of omission compared to lies of commission. This implies that people were able to easily recognize when someone was leaving out information or intentionally not saying incriminating words, but only when they were highly confident with themselves. When they did not have this confidence, it was assumed that most people were lying to them.
Mind Over Matter: The Effect of a Mindfulness Intervention on the Academic Performance of Collegiate Student-Athletes
(2024-04-21) Tyler Schwarzman; Molly Moreland; Hood College Department of Psychology and Counseling; Psychology
The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of a guided mindfulness meditation video on the academic performance of NCAA Division III student-athletes. The hypothesis was that participants from the experimental group would score better on the math computation and sentence comprehension subtests of the Wide Range Achievement Test - Fifth Edition. Thirty participants were randomly assigned to two groups: the experimental group practiced a mindfulness-based intervention before taking the subtests, while the control group watched a movie clip. The experimental group performed better on both subtests than the control group, but independent samples t-tests did not find statistically significant differences between the two groups. Follow-up studies with a larger sample size and a longer, more impactful mindfulness intervention may provide evidence as to whether the results from this study could have been significant given more statistical power.
Relationships Among Cultural Competence, Studying Abroad, and Future Career Opportunities
(2018-04-23) Kefauver, Emily; Kundey, Shannon; Hood College Psychology and Counseling; Hood College Departmental Honors
This paper offers a review of literature on the effects of cultural competence and studying abroad on future career opportunities. The concept of cultural competence is explored, especially from the viewpoint of a school study abroad experience. Several fields of study – nursing, mental health, teaching, and engineering – are examined. Finally, the study proposes an experiment to examine further whether the perceived cultural competence gained from a study abroad experience will truly enhance future career opportunities.
The Development and Validation of the Jones Work-Life Conflict Continuum (JWLCC)
Jones, Noel; MacDougall, Elizabeth; Hood College Psychology and Counseling; Hood College Departmental Honors
Today more than ever, people are faced with balancing work and family demands concurrently. The number of households with two working parents who have children has increased from 53.2% in 2000 to 60.2% in 2014, contributing to the dilemma of balancing work and non-work life for the majority of the adult population (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015). With the increased prevalence of dual working parents in society, the study of work and family interaction has increased recently. Researchers have focused on three main areas of investigation within work and family interaction: work-family conflict, work-family enrichment, and work-life balance. These approaches have assessed the interaction from different perspectives that all capture an important facet of the interaction.
The Effect of Offenders’ Education Level on Sentencing Time
(2017-05) Hunt, Gemma; Farreras, Ingrid; Hood College Psychology and Counseling; Hood College Departmental Honors
This experiment assessed the effect of three different offender education levels (no high school degree, high school degree, and college degree) on the amount of time they are sentenced for a crime. The study’s hypothesis was that offenders with a lower education level would receive a longer sentencing time than offenders with a higher education level. Ninety-six participants were randomly assigned to three groups: one group read four vignettes about offenders with no high school degree, one group read four vignettes about offenders with a high school degree, and the final group read four vignettes about offenders with a college degree. All participants responded on a number line ranging from five to twenty regarding the number of years they believed each offender should be sentenced. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) compared average sentence lengths by education level and found no statistically significant difference. An independent-samples t-test compared average sentence lengths for offenders without a college degree versus offenders with a college degree and found a statistically significant difference in that offenders with a college education were sentenced to about a year longer than offenders without a college level education.
The Effect of Stereotype Threat on Quantitative Reasoning
(2017-04) Onomake, Belina; Farreras, Ingrid; Hood College Psychology; Hood College Departmental Honors
Participants (N=172) were given the shortened 2001 version of the SAT quantitative section. A 2 (condition) by 3 (ethnicity) between-subjects factorial design was conducted, in which Caucasians, native-origin African-Americans, and foreign-origin African-Americans were randomly assigned to either a stereotype-threat group or a non-stereotype-threat group. The stereotype-threat group was told the SAT questions measured cognitive ability, while the non- stereotype-threat group was told the SAT questions compared two quantities. An ANOVA found no significant difference for the threat conditions or for the interaction between the threat conditions and the participants’ ethnicity. A significant difference, though, was found for ethnicity alone, in which the Caucasian participants received higher scores on the SAT compared to the native and foreign African-American participants. Additional evaluations, implications, and future directions will be discussed.
The Effect of Suspect Race and Degree of Suspect Resistance on Mock Officer Choice of Force
(2018-04) Kesner, Stephanie; Farreras, Ingrid; Hood College Psychology and Counseling; Hood College Departmental Honors
With increasing focus on police misconduct surrounding use of force with individuals from minority groups, this study focused on perceptions of police and use of force. A 3 x 3 between-subjects factorial design determined the effect that suspect race and degree of suspect resistance have on participants’, acting as police officers, choice of force. A total of 153 participants were randomly assigned to receive one of nine vignettes in which they viewed a photograph of a suspect and read about a crime scene in which the suspect did not comply with the officer’s request to put hands in the air and instead displayed one of three levels of resistance. Participants indicated which of six levels of force they would use to subdue the threat. There was a statistically significant main effect for suspect resistance level but not for suspect race.
Crossing Cultural Barriers: The Relationship Between Studying Abroad and the Personalities of College Students
(2017-05) Lessard, Anne; Trent, Jason; Farreras, Ingrid; Hood College Psychology; Hood College Departmental Honors
This paper explores the relationship between personality traits and studying abroad. Previous research suggested that studying abroad changes some of students’ personality traits. Participants consisted of 128 college students who belonged to one of three groups: those who studied abroad, those who are planning to study abroad, and those not planning to study abroad. All participants took a survey rating their personality measures and answering questions about their study abroad experiences or lack thereof. There was a significant difference among the three groups in openness, conscientiousness and agreeableness ratings of how participants perceived they should be affected by studying abroad. Also, students who studied abroad have traveled to significantly more countries than students who have not studied abroad.
How Gender and Type of Crime Affect Perception and Proposed Treatment of Incarcerated Individuals
(2023-04) Williams, Hailey; Moreland, Molly; Kundey, Shannon; Sanders, Jolene; Hood College Psychology and Counseling; Hood College Departmental Honors
State prisons across the United States provide care for over one million people (Ghandoosh, 2019). Policies within the criminal justice system, however, have been seen to differently affect the treatment towards various groups of people as well as their health and mental health outcomes (Ghidei, Ramos, Brousseau, & Clarke, 2018). Human perceptions have been seen to undermine the objectivity of criminal investigations within the criminal justice system (Meterko & Cooper, 2022). The present study further explores the potential role of human biases in prison policies, specifically between genders and type of crime committed. A total of 245 participants were included in the 2x2 factorial design and were randomly assigned to one of four experimental groups. Participants answered questions designed to measure their perception and proposed treatment of an incarcerated individual who was a male or female who had committed aggravated assault or motor vehicle theft. Results from the two main 2x2 factorial ANOVAs indicated that perception and proposed treatment of incarcerated individuals were not statistically different for males or females, or for nonviolent or violent crimes. Overall results generally align with theories of perception including implicit theories, two senses of humanness, mind perception theory, and stereotype content model.
The Effects of Comprehensive Sexual Education on Abortion Attitudes
(2023-04-28) Cautero, Kathryn; Kundey, Shannon; McManus, Jessica; Gricus, Michelle; Hood College Psychology and Counseling; Hood College Departmental Honors
The weakening of abortion care protection policies in the United States has sparked demand for appropriate education on the reproductive care process. My research examines the effect of sexual education type (comprehensive and abstinence-only) on abortion attitudes. I hypothesized that those with a history of comprehensive sexual education would be more accepting of an abortion decision, despite variations in the situation, than those with a history of an abstinence-only education. The results indicated no significant effect on the type or presence of sexual education in middle school, high school, or college, on abortion attitudes. However, abortion attitudes based on situation exist, making the debate less dichotomized. In addition, female and Democrat participants expressed significantly more support towards abortion decisions than male and Republican participants.
Lyrical Seduction The Effect of Music on Sexual Appeal in Female Young Adult Populations
(2017-05) Larson, Jeffery; Oliver, Diane; Hood College Psychology; Hood College Departmental Honors
Music has several effects on listeners, and has been shown to affect attitude, perception, and behavior. This study used a pretest-posttest mixed factorial design to assess the effect of sexually suggestive music on self-perceived appeal in participating in same-sex and opposite-sex sexual activity. No between-subject effect or interaction effect was found. A within-subjects effect was found, indicating a confounding variable across all conditions unrelated to the independent variable. The results of this study in context of previous knowledge, as well as possible reasons for the within subjects effects are discussed.
Do Fathers Know Best? Associations between Paternal Parenting and Effective Management of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms
(2016-05) Gooch, Ingrid M.; Oliver, Diane; Hood College Psychology; Hood College Departmental Honors
Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is characterized by impulsivity, hyperactivity, and difficulty sustaining attention. Children diagnosed with ADHD experience impediments in their academics, maneuvering household experiences, and socializing with other children. Behavior problems are also common. While literature emphasizes maternal involvement in treating symptoms of ADHD in children, there is a gap regarding the paternal role. The purpose of this study is to explore the methods of discipline previously utilized by fathers with their children diagnosed with ADHD and the adult child’s current psychological well-being. Results provide a preliminary exploration of fathers’ roles in parenting their children with ADHD. Future research should focus on the continued examination paternal influences on psychological well- being of individuals with ADHD.
A Comparison of Stress Levels Between Student-Athletes and Non-Athletes at a Division III Institution
(2018) Sexton, Alexander J.; Oliver, Diane; Hood College Psychology; Hood College Departmental Honors
The Relationship Between Minority Student Organization Membership and Willingness to Seek Mental Health Treatment, Mediated by Ethnic Identity
(2022-04-21) Rowe, Greighson; Farreras, Ingrid; Hood College Psychology
The following paper explored the relationship between ethnic minority student organization membership and involvement and willingness to seek professional mental health treatment, as mediated by ethnic identity. The hypotheses were that the greater the involvement in ethnic minority organizations, the greater the ethnic identity of the students, and that this mediator variable would be positively correlated with their attitudes toward seeking professional mental help. Independent sample t-tests comparing students involved and not involved in ethnic minority organizations found no statistically significant differences in help-seeking attitudes, but significant differences in ethnic identity. A linear regression with mediation analysis did not find significant correlations between degree of student involvement, ethnic identity, and help-seeking attitudes, but post-hoc LSD comparisons following a multivariate analysis of variance found significant race differences in help-seeking attitudes, with biracial/multiracial participants showing more willingness than Latinx/Hispanic participants to seek treatment. This study sheds light on the specific role student organizations may have on college initiatives to address mental health concerns on campus.
The Relationship between Belief in a Just World and Victim Reporting, Self-Blame, and Perpetrator Blame
(2020-04-27) Basile, Layla; Jongman-Sereno, Katrina; Hood College Departement of Psychology and Counseling; Hood College Departmental Honors
This study examined belief in a just world (BJW), attributional style, perceptions of police, and approach/avoidance motivation in victims’ likelihood of reporting their victimization to police, blaming themselves, and blaming the perpetrator in hypothetical scenarios. Participants completed measures of the Attributional Style Questionnaire, perceptions of police, and Behavioral Activation/Inhibition Systems. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two Stroop task conditions to manipulate BJW. The BJW Scale was given after the Stroop task as a manipulation check. Finally, participants read four victim scenarios and reported their reactions including likelihood of reporting to police, self-blame, and perpetrator-blame. The BJW manipulation was unsuccessful and did not predict any scenario reactions. However, the BJW Scale, internal and global attribution styles, having positive perceptions of police, and approach motivation were positively correlated with a greater likelihood of police reporting. Implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed.
Mental Health Providers’ Attitudes Toward Mental Illness and Intervention
(2020-04-27) Spoor, Brittany; Farreras, Ingrid; Smith, Atiya; Gricus, Michelle; Hood College Department of Counseling and Psychology; Hood College Departmental Honors
This study examined the attitudes held by mental health professionals toward mental illness and intervention. The study’s hypothesis was that there will be clear differences in attitudes toward mental illness and intervention depending on the demographics of the mental health provider. Psychologists will show low willingness to treat more severe mental health diagnoses, those with an Associate and Bachelor’s degree will be less willing to a treat client with a severe diagnosis than those with a Masters or PhD, and Psychologists will report using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy more than other providers. All participants were given a survey to fill out in which they selected their willingness to treat mental health diagnoses as well as rated their attitudes toward treatment. A snowball sample was used to collect data from 26 mental health providers. Since inferential analyses were not possible, only descriptive data were reported.
Social Media Usage and Its Relationship to Personality
(2019-04-19) LaForce, Dana; Psychology and Counseling; Hood College Departmental Honors
Today, about 3.03 billion people are active social media users, with the most popular platforms being Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and Pinterest. Over half of all past social media studies have focused exclusively on Facebook, however, it’s necessary to evaluate any differential influences of newer platforms. The current study explores why young adults use Instagram and Snapchat and measures how account statistics, attitudes, and usage of these two platforms, correlate with personality. Results showed that users have more Instagram followers but use Snapchat more frequently, and most use these platforms to gain knowledge about others. Introverted individuals socially profited more from social media usage by interacting with others and posting content more frequently, thereby displaying a social compensation effect.
The Relationship Between Abortion Attitudes and Ratings of Responsibility for Unintended Pregnancies
(2019-04-19) Tapscott, Amanda; Psychology and Counseling; Hood College Departmental Honors
Previous studies have looked at correlations between ratings of women’s responsibility for unintended pregnancies and abortion attitudes. This study presents six vignettes describing various causes of pregnancies and asks participants to rate the responsibility of women, men, and external groups on a 7-point scale. I hypothesize that less religious, more liberal individuals will approve of abortion and rate external groups as more responsible than the pregnant couple for pregnancies caused by the inability to gain access to or afford birth control products or condoms and birth control product or condom malfunctions. Results confirmed this hypothesis for the former cause. The main implication of this study is that pro-choice individuals may believe that birth control companies and the government could do more to make birth control products more accessible or affordable and that the government could do more to prevent sexual assault.

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