Browsing by Author "Casper, Deborah M."
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Item Do altruistic acts in emerging adults translate to a willingness to forgive?(University of Alabama Libraries, 2017) Peters, Candace S.; Totenhagen, Casey; University of Alabama TuscaloosaForgiveness is linked with a host of benefits for the forgiver and is an important predictor of well-being; therefore, it is important to understand what predicts an individual’s willingness to forgive others, especially within emerging adults due to their unique developmental stage (individuation issues and emergence of an understanding of forgiveness) (Subkoviak et al., 1995). This study aimed to explore the association between frequency of altruistic acts and willingness to forgive within emerging adults. Furthermore, pressure-based and pleasure-based motivations were explored to determine if they alter this association. Self-report surveys from emerging adults (N = 177, individuals 18-25 years old) attending a large public university in the southeast were used. Results indicated that frequency of altruistic acts, on their own, did not significantly predict willingness to forgive. Moreover, the results showed that pleasure-based prosocial motivation did not have a significant interaction with altruistic acts in association with willingness to forgive; however, a significant interaction between altruistic acts and pressure-based motives was found. As anticipated, with low pressure-based motives, when altruistic acts increased there was an increase in willingness to forgive; with high pressure-based motives, when altruistic acts increased there was a decrease in willingness to forgive. Future directions concerning willingness to forgive and altruism in emerging adults are discussed. Keywords: willingness to forgive, altruistic acts, prosocial motivations, emerging adults, pleasure, pressure, higher educationItem Does group membership affect children's judgments of social transgressions?(University of Alabama Libraries, 2016) Chapman, Melissa; Scofield, Jason M.; University of Alabama TuscaloosaChildren judge moral transgressions as more serious and more punish-worthy than conventional transgressions (Slomkowski & Killen, 1992; Smetana, 1981). Children also judge the actions of in-group members more favorably than those of out-group members (Aboud, 2003; Zak & Knack, 2001). The current study asked whether children would judge moral and conventional transgressions committed by an in-group member differently when compared to the same acts committed by an out-group member (i.e., act judgments). Additionally, it asked whether children would judge the transgressors themselves differently based on their group status (i.e., in-group, out-group, neutral, and self). Results show that preschool children reliably judge moral and conventional transgressions differently. Compared to children’s judgments of out-group members, their judgments of in-group members were more lenient. Results suggest that group membership does indeed affect how serious or punish-worthy a violation and a violator are judged to be.Item The evolving self: a case study utilizing music lyrics to study ego identity(University of Alabama Libraries, 2019) Michael, Kent S.; Thoma, Stephen; University of Alabama TuscaloosaMusicians have written about developmental transitions and the associated struggles for as long as language has been acquired and they have had the means by which to document their lyrics. Modern lyricists have ached about childhood and yearned for home as they enter young adulthood, while others have been preoccupied with romantic interests gained and lost during adolescence and beyond. Some musicians have even delved into questioning social issues, theological paradigms, decisions made by governments, and moral dilemmas in lyrics. Regardless of the developmental crisis being discussed, lyrics have been a medium in which musicians have publicly wrestled with their existential existence. Unfortunately, there is lack of representation in analyzing musical lyrics and other forms of pop culture for personality development in psychological research. This study illustrates a procedure for coding manifestations of three psychosocial stages in music lyrics from an artist’s first album to the most recent album. More specifically, identity, intimacy, and generativity themes were analyzed in John Mayer’s lyrics written during his adolescence, young adulthood, and emerging middle adulthood. Erik Erikson’s psychosocial stage theory is utilized to explain Mayer’s personality at the time each album was released and the development of personality over time. Psychosocial patterns were found at the macro (i.e. stage sequencing) and micro (i.e. MAMA cycles) levels in Mayer’s lyrics. Moreover, the findings are consistent with seminal and modern Eriksonian research, whereas a novel intimacy sequencing pattern was discovered.Item Executive function and Down Syndrome: a meta-analysis(University of Alabama Libraries, 2018) Tungate, Andrew; Conners, Frances A.; University of Alabama TuscaloosaExecutive function refers to a set of cognitive processes involved in goal-oriented behavior—especially inhibition, attention shifting, and working memory. In Down syndrome, there was an established weakness in executive function but the exact nature of the weakness was not well established. Executive functions are associated with a host of important outcomes, so it is important to understand executive function ability in Down syndrome. The current meta- analysis included 57 studies that compared a group with Down syndrome to a typically developing mental age matched group on at least one executive function task. Overall, individuals with Down syndrome performed significantly poorer on EF tasks than their typically developing mental age matched peers. Inhibition was a relative strength in the executive function profile, but it is still a weakness compared to the matched groups. There was a medium to large effect size across all executive functions but effect sizes may have been restricted due to skew. Implications for interventions and future research are discussed.Item Memories of adult survivors of childhood cancer(University of Alabama Libraries, 2018) Hinton, Tori Allison; Burns-Nader, Sherwood; University of Alabama TuscaloosaChildhood cancer is a long and intense journey, with many physical and psychological reactions throughout. Childhood cancer survivors recount positive and negative memories about their cancer, including the importance of coping. Coping during childhood cancer has been shown to relate to quality of life after cancer. In this exploratory, qualitative study, we looked more in depth at adult childhood cancer survivors’ memories, specifically in relation to diagnosis, coping and life effects of cancer. Participants (n=27) were recruited via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk) and answered a demographic questionnaire and a qualitative survey containing questions about their memories of experiencing childhood cancer. For this study, the questions of interest were: 1: What are adult survivors of childhood cancer memories of initial reactions to cancer?; 2: What are adult survivors of childhood cancer memories of coping during cancer?; and 3: What are adult survivors of childhood cancer reflections of the effects of cancer on the person they are today? Text data were then analyzed using a thematic analysis. In the participants’ memories of diagnosis, some important themes emerged, such as a lack of understanding, psychological reactions, a diagnosis story, physical symptoms, and other’s reactions. Participants’ memories of coping also brought about many common themes, such as maintaining function, support, faith, distraction, and avoidance. Cancer also positively impacted their lives at present, such as being stronger and/or resilient, having a different life outlook and/or attitude, and motivation. These findings indicate that adult survivors of childhood cancer do have strong memories about their cancer diagnosis and coping during their cancer experience, as well as that cancer has an ongoing influence in their life post-recovery. Keywords: childhood cancer, coping, effects, memories, survivorsItem The role of working memory and social encoding in children with and without Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)(University of Alabama Libraries, 2018) Hilton, Dane; Jarrett, Matthew A.; University of Alabama TuscaloosaChildren with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are known to have difficulty with peer relations, though the mechanisms by which these children struggle with interpersonal relationships are not well known. The current study examined the relation between working memory (WM) and the encoding of nonverbal social cues using a dual-task paradigm tested in children with and without ADHD. Children and their parents were screened for the presence of ADHD or other exclusionary diagnoses, first through a phone screening and then through semi-structured diagnostic interview and rating scales. A total of 40 children were recruited (20 ADHD; 20 control) and were matched on age, sex, and IQ. Participants completed measures of intelligence, anxiety, sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT), and computerized tasks of social encoding and WM in both single- and dual-task conditions. Participant’s parents completed measures of psychological, behavioral, and social functioning in a separate room. A series of t-tests showed large between group differences on parent-reported externalizing problems, attention problems, social problems, and executive function. A series of repeated measures mixed-model ANOVAs revealed that both children with ADHD and control children performed significantly worse during the dual-task condition compared to the single task conditions. Also, children with ADHD had significantly lower performance than control children on task-based social encoding and WM. This study supports the role of WM in nonverbal social encoding in children, both with and without ADHD.Item Why are we "friends" online with our face-to-face antipathies?(University of Alabama Libraries, 2018) Green, Tiffany; Casper, Deborah M.; University of Alabama TuscaloosaThis study explored the reasons why emerging adults remain friends online with their face-to-face antipathy. Even further, this study explored to what degree these individuals were interacting with and lurking on their antipathy on the four various social media platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat. It also analyzed the associations among attachment, jealousy and fear of missing with individual lurking online. In this study, the reasons for remaining friends online with their former friend were categorized into eight distinct themes. The themes include hope of reconciliation, attention seeking, aggression, comparison, reconciled, past or present social connection, indifference, and lurking. It was found that the individuals in this study were lurking on their former friend across all social media platforms. Further analysis indicated that some of these individuals were also interacting with their former friend on these platforms. Fear of missing out was positively associated with luring on their former friend on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. However, Jealousy was only positively associated with lurking on their former friend on Facebook and Instagram but not Twitter. Generally, individuals remain friends with their antipathy on social media because they have some form of connection with them. Although, the term friend is often used to describe online connection in this study, the term is in fact ambiguous as these individuals who are “friends” on social media are not mutual liking relationships. Further research should continue to look into the various consequences and associations for remaining friends on social media with an antipathy. It should also seek to replicate the themes found within this study for remaining friends with their antipathy on social media.