DSpace Repository :: Browsing by Author "Hamilton, James C."

Browsing by Author "Hamilton, James C."

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Attachment, social support, and somatization after a natural disaster
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2013) Sherwood, Ian M.; Hamilton, James C.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Following large-scale disasters, there is a well-documented increase in medically unexplained symptoms in survivors. This increase in somatization appears to be related to an individual's attachment style, social support, and degree of exposure to the disaster. However, few studies are able to longitudinally analyze such relationships because disasters are difficult to predict and sufficient data are rarely available from immediately before the disaster to allow researchers to assess the effects of pre-trauma psychological variables on reactions to the trauma. The present study investigates the effects of the April 27, 2011 tornado of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, using data collected from screening measures administered to University of Alabama Psychology subject pool participants 2 weeks to 8 months prior to the tornado, as well as follow-up measures collected approximately 6 to 8 months after the tornado. Multiple regression analyses and structural equation modeling were conducted to assess the effects of attachment style, social support, and degree of exposure to the disaster on changes in somatization following the tornado. Two analyses were conducted, one using pre-tornado attachment and one using post-tornado attachment. In both of these analyses, high disaster exposure and low social support significantly predicted increased somatization. Post-tornado insecure anxious attachment predicted increased somatization, and this effect was most pronounced in participants with high levels of storm exposures. However, these effects were not found for pre-tornado insecure anxious attachment. For both the pre-and post-tornado attachment models, all simple and moderated effects of attachment on increasing somatization were mediated by poor social support. While these results confirm the importance of disaster exposure and social support in predicting symptom change, the inconsistency between the prospective and cross-sectional findings related to attachment cast doubt on a straightforward view that insecure attachment is a risk factor for somatization.
Blogging and self-disclosure: the role of anonymity, self-awareness, and perceived audience
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2011) Okdie, Bradley Michael; Guadagno, Rosanna E.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Research indicates that the self-disclosure of personal views may occur more often online but that the repercussions for such disclosure may have severely negative consequences (Bargh & McKenna, 2004;Bray, 2004; Nussbaum, 2004). The current study sought to obtain a better understanding of the effect of anonymity, self-awareness, and perceived audience on self-disclosure. The experimental design was a 2 (Anonymity: high vs. low) by 3 (Perceived audience: none vs. limited vs. everyone) between subjects design. Self-awareness--assessed using a measure of trait self-consciousness--was investigated as a mediator of the relation between self-disclosure and the independent variables. To examine this, participants visited the lab at two times. At time 1, they filled out individual difference measures. At time 2, participants were told that they were helping test new blogging software and were asked to write about the typical day of a student. Anonymity was manipulated by either asking participants to enter their full name as their userid (low anonymity) or were told their anonymous userid would be "green". Participants were then told that their blog entry would be deleted, visible to all participants in the study, or published to the Internet and visible to all. Results indicated that, while the manipulation check data revealed that the manipulations worked as intended, the analysis of the blog entries indicated that were no significant differences in self-disclosure. Thus, our results suggest that individuals who self-disclose online are not affected by anonymity or audience size.
Cognitive profiles of medical morbidities associated with premature birth: a study of children with a history of BPD, IVH, and/or PDA
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2011) Ryan, Sarah M.; Klinger, Laura G.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Infants who are born prior to 37 weeks gestation are considered premature and are at high risk for medical and neuropsychological complications. Specifically, preterm infants are at risk for medical complications such as Intraventricular Hemorrhage, Patent Ductus Arteriosus, and Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia. While medical complications are often associated with cognitive difficulty, few studies have examined whether specific medical complications are related to specific cognitive difficulties. The purpose of the current study was to determine whether these medical complications differentially impact long-term cognitive outcomes of preterm infants. The current study assessed 55 preterm children born weighing less than 1500g at 9-12 years of age using a neuropsychological battery assessing intellectual, language, motor, attention, memory and executive function skills. The results of the current study indicated that each medical complication was associated with a different pattern of cognitive outcomes. Specifically, IVH was associated with impairments in Verbal IQ, executive function, and memory. However, these difficulties were no longer significant after controlling for SES and birthweight. BPD was associated with decreased gross motor and language skills, even after controlling for SES and birthweight. PDA was associated with improved outcomes in the areas of Performance IQ, executive function, language, memory, and fine motor skills. It is hypothesized that the medication often used to treat PDA (i.e., indomethacin) may be preventative with regards to long-term neuropsychological sequelae. Taken together, this study confirms that long-term outcomes associated with prematurity may be differentially predicted by the specific medical complications that occur following birth.
The effect of life satisfaction on health care utilization in retirement age Americans: a latent transition analysis
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2018) Kouchi, Kathryn; Hamilton, James C.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Retirement is often celebrated as an important milestone in life. It is also a time when health concerns may increase as retirees enter the early stages of old age. The purpose of this study is to determine whether there is evidence for distinct patterns of excessive health care use and life satisfaction in the immediate post-retirement period. The role theory of retirement states that individuals may experience psychological distress during the retirement transition due to the loss of a work identity (Wang, 2007). This psychological vacuum created by the loss of work identity may manifest itself as low life satisfaction. The vacuum may be filled by increased health care utilization among older adults post-retirement. While high life satisfaction has been linked to less health care utilization, there has been no systematic search for subgroups of retirees who show more health care use. (E.S. Kim, Park, Sun, Smith & Peterson, 2014; Gorry, 2015). The present study used a large longitudinal database of older adults, the Health and Retirement Study, to analyze membership in different life satisfaction and health care use trajectories from the pre- to post-retirement measurement waves. A latent transition analysis was utilized to identify classes of retirees that show differences in self-reported life satisfaction and health care use over time and found three distinct trajectories (low down-tick, moderate up-tick, high stable) of life satisfaction and four distinct trajectories (as distinguished by low, moderate, high levels of illness and HCU) of health care use. There was a significant, albeit weak association between one’s membership in a given life satisfaction trajectory and health care use trajectory.
Effects of Exposure to Death Via the COVID-19 Pandemic on Death Anxiety and Acceptance of Emerging Adults
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2022) Kouchi, Kathryn A. K.; Hamilton, James C.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Despite the knowledge that death is inevitable, people struggle to cope with death. The way in which a person thinks about death has important implications for his or her quality of life. Fear or avoidance of preparing for death has been associated with lower quality of life, increased medical interventions at the end of life, and physical and emotional pain and suffering. Exposure to death, however, has been shown to improve comfort with death and reduce feelings of anxiety. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased people's exposure to death tremendously. By utilizing data collected prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and collecting Mid-Pandemic data from the original participants and a new cohort, I examined the relationship between this prolonged and intense exposure to death and participants' death acceptance and avoidance. Results were mixed as longitudinal results indicated exposure was associated with a decrease in acceptance of death, whereas cross-sectional and cohort comparison data indicate no significant relationship. Positive functioning did moderate the relationship between exposure and death acceptance: those with higher positive functioning reported a positive relationship between exposure to the pandemic and greater death acceptance during the pandemic in the cross-sectional design. Longitudinal and cohort comparison data indicate those with low positive functioning were able to increase their death acceptance during the pandemic. Participants expressed more comfort with their own death during the COVID-19 pandemic, though they expressed less comfort with the death of others. This study highlights the challenges in measuring changes in death attitudes as well as the ways in which emerging adults have come to view death during the pandemic.
Ego depletion as a measure of emotion processing deficits among people with medically unexplained symptoms
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2015) Eger, Melike; Hamilton, James C.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) are problematic because they are both common and costly. Furthermore, patients with these symptoms suffer from interpersonal problems, functional impairments and psychological problems. One hypothesis explaining the underlying mechanisms of MUS is that these patients find it difficult to process or regulate emotions effectively. Even though previous studies found a link between emotion processing deficits and MUS, results were inconsistent and contradictory. By using an ego depletion task as a measure of emotion processing deficits, this study compared performance on different aspects of emotion processing of people who scored high on a MUS measure with the people who scored low on the same measure. Results show that high symptom reporters were not significantly different from the low ones in terms of their performance on emotion experience, emotion expression and self-monitoring of their emotional experiences. However, along the same lines with the literature, high symptom reporters could not effectively regulate their negative emotions.
Emotion expressivity and the treatment milieu: impact on clinical and behavioral functioning
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2010) Miller, Sarah; Clements, Carl B.; Allen, Rebecca S.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Emotions are believed to be socially adaptive tools (Keltner & Kring, 1998); yet, emotion deficits are common in many individuals with mental illness (e.g., Kring, 2001). The implications of these deficits for mentally ill individuals may therefore include day-to-day social functioning as well as clinical outcomes. In an inpatient setting, much of the treatment is formally or informally based upon a therapeutic milieu (Peplau, 1989), which may affect its residents positively or negatively (e.g., Buehler, Patterson, & Furniss, 1966; Moos, Shelton, & Petty, 1973). Thus, both individual and environmental factors are likely to influence patient outcomes. The current study sought to examine the relation of individual factors (emotion expressivity), contextual factors (treatment milieu), and the person by environment interaction on patient functioning in a forensic inpatient population. Patient emotion expressivity (or the outward display of emotion) was a focus of investigation based on its adaptive function in social interactions and its relation to mental health outcomes. Patient-staff discrepancies on perceptions of the treatment milieu were of interest as a contextual factor, as smaller discrepancies have been associated with greater program "success." Further, treatment milieu discrepancies were explored as a moderating variable of the relation between patient emotion expressivity and functioning. Participants included 53 patients and 36 staff from a secure forensic hospital. Overall, results suggested that patient ratings of emotion expressivity predicted behavioral functioning, whereas staff ratings of patient emotion expressivity predicted clinical functioning. In both cases, greater emotion expressivity was generally related to superior functioning. Discrepancies on treatment milieu only moderated the relation between patient-rated emotion expressivity and behavioral functioning. Additional descriptive findings based on patient legal status, differences between the two programs studied, and differences between patient and staff perceptions were explored. Implications for educational and clinical interventions are discussed. Future directions include generalizing current findings to other measures of functioning and to longitudinal outcomes.
The evolution of secondary insomnia in women with breast cancer
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2012) Vander Wal, Gregory Scott; Lichstein, Kenneth L.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Secondary insomnia resulting from the onset of a health problem often persists beyond the course of the instigating stressor, suggesting that secondary insomnia evolves into a self-sustaining primary disorder. However, the course of secondary insomnia and how it relates to a primary medical or psychological disorder is poorly understood. Newly diagnosed breast cancer provides an opportunity to study secondary insomnia at the onset of an instigating stressor. The current study explored the feasibility of a methodology to examine the relationship between insomnia and breast cancer over a 2 month period in 29 women newly diagnosed (< 6 weeks) with breast cancer. Primary analyses included exploratory descriptive techniques. A multilevel modeling framework was also applied to the data to examine changes in sleep and cancer symptoms over time. The results show a significant relationship between insomnia severity and breast cancer symptom severity. Evidence is also presented regarding differences in the experience of this relationship for individuals with primary and secondary insomnia. Further evidence is presented supporting a change in the relationship between sleep and stress over time for individuals with secondary insomnia. Implications for timing of intervention and future research are discussed.
Factors related to social wayfinding: environment, ability, and anxiety
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2011) McKeen, James Henry; Roskos-Ewoldsen, Beverly; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Two experiments and a qualitative study investigate variables that predict different aspects of wayfinding. The first experiment investigated the extent to which sense of direction, general anxiety, spatial anxiety, gender, and a non-threatening or threatening description of environments predicted perceived threat in the environment. In addition, the experiment compared and contrasted spatial and general anxiety, investigating the nature of these two measures as wayfinding variables. Sense of direction, gender, and the described environment manipulation predicted perceived threat for a walking scenario while general anxiety predicted perceived threat for a driving scenario. The second experiment investigated the extent to which spatial anxiety, general anxiety, perceived threat, the environmental threat description manipulation, and gender predicted likelihood of asking for directions from strangers and acquaintances. Higher general anxiety predicted lower likelihood of asking strangers for directions, while having no predictive value for familiar persons (as expected). The third study was a qualitative analysis of participants' essays remembering their thoughts and behaviors from the last time they were lost or disoriented by themselves, revealing that self-reported descriptions included the variables of interest (thoughts regarding one's sense of direction, anxious feelings, and environmental assessment).
Family Experience in a Regional Participant Contact Registry for Research on Intellectual Disability
(American Association on Intellectual Developmental Disabilities, 2014) Conners, Frances A.; Phillips, B. Allyson; Rhodes, Jennifer D.; Hamilton, James C.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Participant recruitment is one of the most significant challenges in research on intellectual disability (ID). One potential solution is to develop a participant contact registry, which allows the researcher to contact participants directly rather than recruiting through multiple schools or service agencies. The authors describe the development of one such registry and results of a survey of registry families. Results suggest that families joined the registry to help others, they hope research in the ID field improves the daily lives of individuals with ID and their families, and they find research participation to be a positive experience. However, logistic concerns can be an important barrier to their research participation, and they would like more information about the research study both before and after participating.
Fired for what you post online?: a self-regulatory perspective on inappropriate online self-presentation
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2013) Muscanell, Nicole Lori; Guadagno, Rosanna E.; Hamilton, James C.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Social media offer the ability to communicate simultaneously to a diverse audience. This creates a risk of sharing inappropriate information that may lead to negative consequences. The present research examined whether failures in self-regulation can explain why some individuals share inappropriate information through social media. Study 1 demonstrated that trait self-control predicted disclosure of self-damaging information on social networking profiles. Individuals low in self-control were more likely to report having posted this type of information. Study 2 tested the effectiveness of an ego-depletion manipulation to be utilized in subsequent studies. In Study 3, individuals with depleted regulatory resources were more likely create mock social networking profiles containing potentially damaging information, regardless of their audience (no audience vs. a low risk audience vs. a high risk audience). Study 4 demonstrated that creating a profile to be seen by multiple audiences influenced performance on a subsequent self-regulatory task. Specifically, creating a profile for multiple social networking audiences led to more time spent creating the profile and worse performance on test questions, suggesting that presentation to multiple audiences may consume more regulatory resources. Finally, Study 5 examined whether being depleted (or not) affected how participants think about their social networking audience (i.e., do they narrowly focus on a small set of social networking friends when they are depleted?). Results reveal that this was not the case. Overall, findings indicate that failures in self-regulation may explain to some extent why individuals share inappropriate information via social media.
Geographic variations in alcohol consumption among racially/ethnically diverse older adults
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2015) Bryant, Ami; Kim, Giyeon; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
This dissertation sought to examine the role of geographic location, geographic characteristics, and individual level race/ethnicity in alcohol consumption among older adults. Data were obtained from the 2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and the 2010 US Census. Participants aged 60 and older who were not missing data on any of the main study variables were included (n=185, 190). Data was analyzed for a total of 2,229 counties. Racial/ethnic groups examined included American Indian/Alaska Natives, Asians/Pacific Islanders, Blacks, Hispanics, and Whites. Multilevel modeling was used for main analyses in order to account for the nested structure of the data. Individuals at level 1 were nested within counties at level 2 which were nested within regions at level 3. Alcoholic drinks consumed per month was used as the dependent variable. Significant within and between county variance was found in average alcoholic drinks consumed per month. There were significant main effects of race/ethnicity, county percentage of older adults, county percentage of racial/ethnic minorities, and county median income on average alcoholic drinks consumed per month. Significant interactions were found for individual level race/ethnicity and each of the aforementioned county level variables. These results indicate that geographic location and characteristics are significantly related to the alcohol consumption of older adults. Additionally, results suggest that the role of geographic characteristics in the alcohol consumption of older adults varies by individual level race/ethnicity.
Health care utilization and opioid prescriptions for chronic pain in low-income settings
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2017) Newman, Andrea Kara; Thorn, Beverly E.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Chronic pain is a serious health problem with high rates of health care utilization (HCU) and opioid prescriptions (OP). Many patients become stymied in a perpetual cycle of unsuccessful attempts to find relief from suffering through frequent health care visits and opioid prescriptions. Especially within low-income populations, the burdens of health care services and pain medications are especially unpleasant due to significant financial costs, barriers to transportation, and high levels of stress. Research is currently limited in examining the various factors associated with HCU and OP within low-income settings. The Learning About My Pain (LAMP) trial is a randomized comparative effectiveness study of group-based psychosocial interventions (PCORI Contract #941, Beverly Thorn, PI; clinicaltrials.gov identifier NCT01967342) for patients receiving care for chronic pain at low-income clinics in rural and suburban Alabama. As part of the LAMP study, medical records one-year prior to study onset were retrospectively collected for data analysis on HCU and OP. Sociodemographic traits (age, gender, race, poverty status, primary literacy, and education level), pain related variables (pain severity, pain interference, disability, number of pain sites, number of pain types, and opioid prescriptions), and psychological variables (depressive symptoms and pain catastrophizing) were entered into a hierarchical multiple regression model to predict health care utilization. Results suggested that being Black/African-American, having received an opioid prescription in the year prior to treatment onset, and higher depressive symptoms were associated with increased health care utilization for chronic pain conditions. Study findings suggest the need for a biopsychosocial approach to chronic pain management.
Identifying and Analyzing Medical Child Abuse Cases Through Collateral Sources
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2022) Angotti, Giana; Hamilton, James C.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Medical Child Abuse (MCA) is a form of child maltreatment in which a caregiver exaggerates, feigns, or induces illness or injury in a child, resulting in unnecessary, and often harmful, medical procedures (Roesler & Jenny, 2008, p. 1). As a result of the deceptive nature of MCA, empirical research is difficult to conduct, and our knowledge of MCA is largely limited to case studies. One approach that circumvents the deceptiveness and elusiveness of perpetrators is to collect information about medically abused children and their caregivers from collateral sources. In the present study a convenience sample (N = 203) was recruited to report on a child known to them who has a chronic or complex medical condition. After collecting basic information about the child and their caregiver, participants were asked about their suspicions that the caregiver was exaggerating or fabricating the child’s medical problems. Of the 203 index children reported on, 62 (30.5%) were strongly suspected of being overmedicalized or medically abused. Compared to children who were not suspected to be overmedicalized, the OM/MCA cases were characterized by increased healthcare use (e.g., number of doctor visits) and a trend of overall increased medical care, supporting patterns observed in the clinical case literature. Other expected differences, including a predominance of female caregivers and higher risk to younger children, were not supported. Although MCA is widely believed to be under-recognized and under-reported clinically, the prevalence implied by this study is shockingly high. My results suggest that there may be cases of MCA that depart from the prototype that arises from the clinical case literature, and that some of the clinical features that are regarded as diagnostic on MCA may not actually differentiate overmedicalized from non-overmedicalized children.
Implicit measurement of challenge and threat as motivational responses to stereotype threat
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2011) O'Mally, Jamie; DeCoster, Jamie; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Stereotype threat occurs when people identify with a stigmatized group and experience depressed performance on a task because they become anxious in their desire to disprove a negative stereotype (Steele, 1997). Recent research using a Biopsychosocial (BPS) model has shown that physiological responses to challenge and threat may be an important aspect to consider in understanding the underlying motivational states that influence performance (Vick, Seery, Blascovich, & Weisbuch, 2008). However, physiological data are expensive and time-consuming to collect. The primary goal of this dissertation was to determine whether an implicit cognitive measure could be used in place of physiological equipment to effectively examine motivational responses to challenge and threat. In Study 1, four modified implicit measures were explored to determine which measure would be most effective in examining underlying motivations for challenge and threat. The modified Stroop task demonstrated patterns consistent with stereotype threat effects in Study 1 and was selected for use in Study 2. In Study 2, the relation between performance on the Stroop task and physiological measures of challenge and threat was examined. Additional measures of interest in this study included: working memory, state anxiety, math abilities, and perceptions of task performance. Results indicated that there were no significant effects of stereotype threat conditions on performance on the Stroop or physiological measures. However, stereotype threat significantly influenced state anxiety and perceptions of performance.
Individual differences in personality and face recognition ability
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2018) Worley, McKensie Martin; Boles, David B.; Tullett, Alexa M.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Differences in face recognition between extraverts and introverts as well as emotionally negative and emotionally positive individuals were investigated. Personality was measured through the administration of the Big Five Inventory-2 (BFI-2), and face recognition was measured through the administration of the Cambridge Face Memory Test (CFMT). A non-significant correlation between extraversion and face recognition suggests the two variables are unrelated. A marginally significant correlation between negative emotionality and face recognition was negative, which suggests increased negative emotionality is related to decreased face recognition. Experimental manipulations were used to differentially impact the performance of extraverts and introverts in Experiment 1 and emotionally negative and emotionally positive individuals in Experiment 2. In Experiment 1, participants listened to music that was either neutral or exciting (non-neutral), and in Experiment 2, participants watched a video that was either neutral or tense. While neither extraverts and introverts nor emotionally negative and emotionally positive individuals were differentially impacted by the experimental manipulations, the results indicated the experimental manipulations had an overall effect on face recognition for all subjects. Specifically, subjects placed in the non-neutral conditions demonstrated worse face recognition than subjects placed in the neutral conditions. Further testing is warranted to better understand the relationship between negative emotionality and face recognition as well as the impact of the experimental manipulations used in the present study on face recognition.
The influence of primed social roles on gender differences in conformity
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2010) Eno, Cassie Ann Hull; Guadagno, Rosanna E.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
An examination of the literature on gender differences in conformity reveals a string of inconsistent results (e.g., Cooper, 1979; Eagly, 1978; Eagly & Carli, 1981). Some studies support the idea that women conform more than men, while other studies find no gender differences. The current research examined the influence of participant gender, primed social roles, and gender role on conformity. It was hypothesized that women would conform more when primed with a communal social role compared to an agentic social role or a neutral prime, while men would conform less when primed with an agentic social role compared to a communal social role or a neutral prime. Studies 1 and 2 provided tests of the manipulations to be used in the primary studies. Study 3 primed social roles using a writing prime. The results revealed that individuals with gender-incongruent gender roles (i.e., masculine women and feminine men) exhibited more conformity on one item. However, the results did not support the primary hypothesis. Study 4 was a conceptual replication of Study 3 using a questionnaire prime. The results did not support the primary hypothesis, however an unexpected pattern of conformity emerged. Individuals with gender-incongruent gender roles showed an atypical pattern of conformity behavior when they were primed with an agentic social role. On one item men and women with gender-incongruent gender roles conformed more, whereas on two items, men with feminine gender roles conformed less than other groups. These results highlight the importance of examining gender roles in future conformity research. Overall, the results support recent research that indicates a subtle change in women's gender roles (Diekman & Eagly, 2000; Diekman & Goodfriend, 2006).
An inquiry into cognitive and motivational mechanisms between perceived similarity and information processing
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2018) Tortoriello, Gregory Kenneth; Hart, William P.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Social-cognitive perspectives suggest that ingroup perceived similarity between a message recipient and communicator stimulates systematic (e.g., more effortful) information processing of the message, which is posited to occur through implicitly-conferred ingroup benefits (e.g., expecting/perceiving greater ease of processing messages with ingroup members). Yet, effects of perceived similarity on information processing have not been empirically tested in the context of learning, nor have their presumed underlying processes. I proposed a conceptual model postulating that a salient shared social identity will activate greater perceived similarity between the processor of information and authors of the respective information which, in turn, will enhance information processing via cognitive and motivational mechanisms. Specifically, I tested whether a shared social identity enhances learning serially via a) perceived similarity, b) cognitive synergy between the processor and authors (perceptions encompassing ease of processing and cognitive connection with one’s partner), and c) effort. College participants completed sample reading comprehension sections of the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE). Passages for each reading comprehension task were purported to be written by “experts” who have mastery of an esoteric topic. Experts were perceived to be either similar or dissimilar to the participant based on information processing (learning) styles. After making shared social identity salient, participants rated their perceptions (presumed cognitive and motivational mechanisms) vis-à-vis the expert and task both before and after the reading comprehension tasks. Results failed to support a direct relationship between shared social identity and learning. But, supporting the hypothesized mediational sequence, a shared social identity predicted greater perceived similarity which, in turn, predicted greater learning serially via perceived (i.e., post-assessment) cognitive synergy and effort. Interestingly, inconsistent mediation manifested with pre-assessment mediators in the model, namely that the effect of shared social identity on learning was accentuated via perceived similarity but also inhibited via expected cognitive synergy. Findings have both theoretical and practical implications for understanding the complexities of a salient shared social identity on how people process information.
The internet and symbolic self-completion: a social influence perspective
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2012) Murphy, Shannon; Guadagno, Rosanna E.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
The current research examined whether or not the Internet functions as a plane of social reality onto which symbolic self-completion attempts can be directed. Previous research (Borcherding and Schumacher, 2007; Harmon-Jones, Schmeichel, and Harmon-Jones, 2009) suggested that individuals do engage in symbolic self-completion on the Internet, however, this is the first attempt to experimentally capture the effect. The current study was a 2(completeness: incomplete vs. complete) x 2(interruption: interrupted vs. not interrupted) factorial design. We predicted that individuals who were given false feedback designed to elicit feelings of an incomplete self-definition would respond differently than individuals who were not given false feedback to two subsequent opportunities to complete their self-definition. It was also predicted that individuals who were given false feedback in the incomplete condition would respond differently to the second opportunity to complete their self-definition after being interrupted during their first opportunity. A total of 85 (17 male, 68 female) undergraduate students completed the study. Contrary to predictions, there were no main effects for either state of completeness or interruption, nor were there any interaction effects. Suggested modifications in the research design of future related studies are presented and discussed.
Means-to-goals affective transference
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2014) Adams, John Milton; Hart, William P.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
This manuscript proposes a novel theoretical mechanism for how and why people adopt goals. In Study 1, participants exhibited increased adoption of a target goal (self-reported importance of close relationship maintenance) when a salient attainment means for this goal (writing a personal email to a loved one) had been associated with positive affect. Because this goal-adoption effect could not be explained by elevated mood, we concluded that increased goal adoption was due to transference of positive affect from the attainment means to the goal. In Study 2, we aimed to moderate this effect, predicting that means-to-goal transference of positive affect (and hence increased goal adoption) would only occur for participants that strongly associated the attainment means (writing an email) with the goal (close relationship maintenance). To test this, some participants wrote an email to a loved one, while others wrote an email to an acquaintance. Another goal of Study 2 was to test whether positive affect can transfer up to a goal and then back down to an alternative attainment means: giving (vs. keeping) a gift to a loved one. Analyses indicated that the introduction of this additional, alternative attainment means resulted in goal shielding (different attainment means for the same goal inhibit one another). Consequently, participants that had written the positive email to a loved one were actually less likely to give (vs. keep) the gift. Ultimately, Study 1 provides key evidence for a novel theoretical mechanism for goal adoption. Additionally, Study 2 provided key insight regarding the boundary conditions for affective transference within goal systems. Altogether, the current research provides important theoretical insight regarding goal systems theory, and it offers practical applications to education, business management, and public policy.

Browsing by Author "Hamilton, James C."

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