Psychology Theses and Dissertations

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https://hdl.handle.net/1794/995

This collection contains some of the theses and dissertations produced by students in the University of Oregon Psychology Graduate Program. Paper copies of these and other dissertations and theses are available through the UO Libraries.

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Browsing Psychology Theses and Dissertations by Author "Arrow, Holly"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Framing Effects in Persuasive Messaging
    (University of Oregon, 2021-04-29) Garinther, Alexander; Arrow, Holly
    Cooley, Payne, Cipolli, Cameron, Berger, and Gray (2017) found that subtle shifts in linguistic framing (saying “people in a group” instead of “a group of people”) can enhance the amount of “mind” perceived in a target, and in turn increase feelings of sympathy toward that target. This project adds four studies designed to test if these findings generalize to new contexts. Studies 1 and 2 perform conceptual replications of Cooley et al. (2017)’s Studies 2 and 3 in a different participant population (university students, instead of mTurk workers), and found largely consistent results: the group composition frame (“15 individuals who work for a small accounting company”) evoked greater perceptions of experience and agency (the two components of mind perception), and more sympathy for the target, than the group frame (“a small accounting company comprised of 15 people”). Studies 3 and 4 then tested whether or not the group composition frame would lead to similar persuasive outcomes (increased mind perception, helping motivation, and donations) in a refugee aid context, but found limited evidence that it would. While the group composition frame appeared to result in increased perceptions of experience, it elicited levels of agency, helping motivation, and donation amounts no different from the group frame or from an individual. This project aims to deepen our understanding of these framing effects and their boundaries so that those who wish to apply them, for instance charities or fundraisers helping refugees, may have a better sense of how and when they are likely to be effective. Note this dissertation includes not-yet-published co-authored material.
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    Military Sexual Assault Prevention Training: Evaluation of the Experimental Leadership Challenge Module
    (University of Oregon, 2016-02-23) Hueffner, Anastasia; Arrow, Holly
    This study evaluated a new sexual assault prevention-training module, the Experimental Leadership Challenge (ELC), designed primarily for officers in training at Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) programs. Students who experienced the ELC module gave it significantly higher effectiveness scores than scores given to other programs experienced by students who did not take the ELC module. Of the most commonly used trainings, Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR) Training and Sexual Harassment/Assault and Response (SHARP) Training actually received the lowest effectiveness scores. Although short-term impact scores and commitment scores did not differ significantly between the ELC module and other trainings, students rated the ELC module as having a greater effect on their commitment towards addressing the problem of sexual assault than those who had other trainings. ROTC Commanders should consider supplementing existing programs with approaches mentioned by officers in training as particularly effective to improve and diversify the current mandatory training.
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    Moral Injury and Suicidal Ideation after Military Service: Mediating and Moderating Factors
    (University of Oregon, 2017-09-06) Schumacher, William; Arrow, Holly
    The term “moral injury” has recently been introduced to describe psychopathology resulting from perpetrating or bearing witness to an event that transgresses deeply held moral beliefs, typically in relation to military service. Two studies examined relations between potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs) during military service, self-conscious emotions, and negative mental health outcomes. The potential moderating contributions of social support and psychopathic personality traits on these relations were also assessed. A subset of 40 of the 501 veterans who completed a detailed on-line survey was also interviewed to gain a more thorough understanding of individual experiences. Veterans who had experienced higher numbers of PMIEs were significantly more likely to experience depression symptoms and suicidal ideation, as well as guilt and shame related to their military service, but high levels of social support decreased the likelihood of negative mental health outcomes and subsequent guilt and shame; psychopathic personality traits did not moderate these relations. Qualitative analysis of the interviews confirmed that social support plays a key role in the prevention of moral injury-related symptoms. Social support was crucial to reintegration after deployment for many veterans. Results indicate that adequate social support following PMIEs may reduce the likelihood of psychopathology. Implications of this study and future directions are discussed.
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    The Anatomy of Antagonism: Exploring the Relations of 20 Lexical Factors of Personality with Machiavellianism, Grandiose Narcissism, and Psychopathy
    (University of Oregon, 2024-01-09) Kay, Cameron; Arrow, Holly
    Despite being the focus of extensive research over the past two decades, the structure of the “Dark Triad”—or, as I will refer to it here, the “Aversive Triad”—is still shrouded in confusion. Much of this confusion stems from disagreements over (1) which aspects of personality unite Machiavellianism, grandiose narcissism, and psychopathy and (2) which aspects of personality differentiate Machiavellianism, grandiose narcissism, and psychopathy. The present set of studies attempts to answer these two questions by using the 20-Lexical Factor Model of Personality (Lex-20) to decompose the Aversive Triad into smaller elements of personality. In Study 1, the Aversive Triad is assessed using the three most popular measures of each trait, thus capturing how the traits are most commonly represented in the existing literature. Study 2 builds upon Study 1 by using a wider array of Aversive Triad measures to capture the diversity of ways that these traits have been represented in the existing literature. Study 3 further builds upon Study 1 and Study 2 by using broader samples of participants recruited from the US, India, and Nigeria to examine whether the results found using US undergraduate students in Study 1 and Study 2 generalize to other populations. At least among the US samples, the findings for the three studies were fairly consistent. The Aversive Triad traits were united by a core of egotism, manipulativeness, temperamentality, deceitfulness, cruelty, and prejudice. Machiavellianism was further defined by aspects of cynicism (e.g., negativity) and reservedness (e.g., low directness). It was not, however, defined by greater organization, which is inconsistent with the theoretical notion that Machiavellian individuals engage in long-term machinations. The results for grandiose narcissism were theoretically consistent; it was defined by aspects of extraversion (e.g., talkativeness) and self-promotion (e.g., sophistication). The results for psychopathy were also theoretically consistent, with psychopathy being defined by excessive cruelty and a reckless lifestyle (e.g., disorganization). The findings from the Indian and Nigerian samples departed from those found in the US samples, perhaps because of low internal consistencies among some of the scales for the Lex-20 factors in these two countries.
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    Translation and Validation of a Korean Social Justice Scale (K-SJS)
    (University of Oregon, 2019-04-30) Jeong, Alan Jong-Ha; Arrow, Holly
    The 24 items of the original English version of the Social Justice Scale (Torres-Harding et al., 2012) were translated into Korean by four translators, who discussed and agreed upon consensus versions. Four different translators then back translated this version into English. The resulting Korean version of SJS (K-SJS) was completed by 537 adult native Korean speakers. Confirmatory factor analysis, exploratory factor analysis, and multi-group confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the K-SJS has high internal consistency, factors appropriately, fits the original model well, and demonstrates invariance across Korean men and women. Structural equation modeling indicated that the effects of attitude, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norms on behavioral intentions were positive and significant. In short, the K-SJS showed acceptable reliability and validity based on a large sample of South Korean adults and shows promise as a new tool to study social justice attitudes among Korean speakers.