Undergraduate Sample Research Articles

Systems of Global Meaning in Atheists and Theists: Divergent World Beliefs, Sources of Meaning, and Values

AbstractTo illuminate the often‐reported higher levels of meaning in life by those who believe in God relative to atheists, we examined the extent to which their global meaning (i.e., the beliefs, goals, and values that underlie subjective sense of meaning in life) differed. Study 1 (undergraduate sample of 100 atheists and 447 theists) found that theists endorsed higher levels of beliefs reflecting a more meaningful world (e.g., goodness, control, justice) while atheists endorsed higher beliefs in randomness. Further, atheists found less meaning from almost every source examined (e.g., achievement, self‐acceptance). Results of Study 2 (87 atheists and 164 theists in a national U.S. online sample) produced similar results and also found theists more strongly endorsed many values that can facilitate a sense of meaning (e.g., traditionalism, security). Collectively, these results identify multiple divergences in global meaning between atheists and theists that may account for atheists’ lower meaning in life.

Sexual Victimization History and Emotion Regulation in Daily Life: A Role for Stress Sensitization.

Relative to other types of traumatic experiences, a lifetime history of sexual violence (SV) has been linked with more persistent and severe mental health outcomes, but the reasons for this discrepancy have not been clearly established. Stress sensitization, or the amplification of responses to daily stressors as a function of trauma history, offers one possible explanation. Using ecological momentary assessment, the current study tested stress sensitization effects in daily life for individuals with a history of SV, focusing on emotion regulation as an outcome. Smartphone surveys were delivered four times per day over a 2-week period to assess relationships between prior SV exposure, daily stressors, and emotion regulation in an undergraduate sample (N = 122). As expected, individuals with lifetime exposure to SV evidenced increased emotion dysregulation and maladaptive emotion regulation in response to daily stressors relative to nonexposed peers, even after accounting for cumulative trauma. However, the SV and non-SV groups did not differ significantly on state adaptive emotion regulation. Instead, experiencing daily stressors was associated with increased adaptive emotion regulation for individuals in both groups. Broadly, results suggest that SV is uniquely associated with increased sensitivity to daily stressors, manifested as emotion dysregulation and use of maladaptive emotion regulation strategies to regulate emotions. These findings are consistent with emerging research on the neurobiology of trauma and with an emphasis on emotion regulation skills in leading interventions for SV-exposed individuals. Stress sensitization warrants additional attention as a factor linking SV and mental health problems.

Development of an Inconsistent Responding Scale for the Big Five Inventory-2

The Big Five Inventory − 2 (BFI-2) is a commonly used self-report assessment of normal personality trait domains (Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Negative Emotionality, Open-Mindedness) and facets. To date, however, no direct measures of response distortion have been developed for it to identify potentially invalid responses. Such distortions (e.g., careless or random responding) can adversely impact data quality. The current study developed and provided initial validation data for an inconsistent responding scale within the BFI-2 to identify careless responders using two large undergraduate samples and a community sample. To create the scale, we first identified highly correlated BFI-2 item pairs in one undergraduate sample (N = 1,461) and then computed a total score by summing the absolute differences of these item pairs. This scale, the Detection of Response Inconsistency Procedure (DRIP), differentiated randomly generated and genuine data and generally correlated as expected with personality domains and other inconsistent responding scales across samples. The DRIP also incrementally predicted random data beyond a composite of items with exceptionally high or low base rates of endorsement from the Comprehensive Infrequency/Frequency Item Repository. We provide recommendations for DRIP cut scores that can detect careless responding while balancing sensitivity and specificity.

Sex Differences in Indicators of Mental and Cardiovascular Health in Cannabis-Using Undergraduates

This study investigated sex differences in indicators of mental health (anxiety, depression) and cardiovascular health (e.g., physical activity levels, heart rate, VO2 max) in a sample of cannabis-using undergraduates. The sample included 209 participants (65% female) who completed two daily diaries for 14 days on their mobile devices; half of whom ( n = 100) also wore a Fitbit Charge 4. Females (vs. males) reported significantly more psychological distress at baseline; greater use of cannabis to cope with symptoms of both physical and mental ill-health; and more risks to cardiovascular health. Discriminant function analysis revealed that the variables that significantly distinguished females from males were: 1. Lower VO2 max percentile; 2. Fewer “moderate-to-very active” minutes of physical activity; 3. Higher depression scores plus poorer perceptions of mental health and physical health. Findings from this study suggest that female emerging adults who use cannabis regularly may be uniquely vulnerable to cannabis-related risks.

Identity-Driven Targeted Violence in a College Setting: An Overview of Prevalence and Behavioral Responses.

Online and offline identity-driven harassment disproportionately affects minoritized college students, contributing to poorer academic performance and attrition. Because victims are often hesitant to formally report incidents, additional research is needed to understand the genuine prevalence of these experiences as well as the responses victims engage in following the incidents. A large undergraduate sample (N = 2000) from a Midwestern university responded to an anonymous survey assessing the frequency of identity-driven behavior occurring on-campus and beyond, in addition to how they responded to harassment. The results unveiled that perpetrators most often targeted an individual's sex and gender, followed by their sexual orientation and race. Specific behaviors ranged from more frequent, mild forms of harassment (i.e., verbal harassment, invading space) to less frequent, severe forms of harassment (i.e., physical and sexual assault). Victims reported engaging in informal activities following harassment, such as relying on social support or ignoring the perpetrator. The current study unveiled patterns of identity-driven behaviors experienced by college students as well as how they respond to victimization. Future directions and practical implications are discussed.

Endorsing Deviance: Examining the Influence of Legitimacy and Injustice on Responses to Strain

ABSTRACT Although scholars have theoretically addressed how information from others can affect justice processes, little empirical research investigates how individuals make sense of a distributive injustice when also attending to other justice and legitimacy concerns. This research examines how legitimacy conditions emotional and behavioral responses to various forms of injustice associated with strain. Drawing from General Strain Theory (GST) and the social psychological literature on legitimacy and justice, I investigate how endorsement of a deviant response to injustice, while failing to support the perpetrator of injustice, influences negative affect and projected deviant coping in response to a distributively unjust blocked goal. A randomized vignette survey was distributed to a sample of undergraduates. Results reveal that legitimacy affects perceptions of justice and conditions the effect of unjust strain on negative affect and the likelihood of deviance, but only when certain types of injustice are present.

Is Bedtime Media Use Good or Bad? A Competitive Analysis Between the Sleep Displacement Hypothesis and the Media Recovery Hypothesis

ABSTRACT Bedtime media use is often maligned in research and pop culture. However, the evidence for the relationship between bedtime media use and sleep for adults has been mixed – sometimes sleep quality is negatively affected by media use, sometimes it is positively affected. Competing explanations include the sleep displacement hypothesis (i.e. media use leads to later sleep onset, less total sleep, and lower sleep quality) and the media recovery hypothesis (i.e. media use helps reduce stress, and this relaxation helps people fall and stay asleep). Two retrospective diary studies test these competing hypotheses in an undergraduate sample (n = 200) and a general population U.S. adult sample (n = 202). Overall, results provide more support for the sleep displacement hypothesis than for the media recovery hypothesis. However, some evidence suggests potential for positive relationships between media use and sleep. More work is needed to explicate the complicated relationship between bedtime media use and sleep.

Perceived posttraumatic growth: positive change occurring because of or despite the trauma?

ABSTRACT Background Some researchers have posited that self-reports of PTG are often illusory, designed to help trauma survivors maintain positive views of the self. We examined whether participants might select an alternative, attractive option to reporting PTG that could similarly help maintain positive views of the self – reporting that the respondent experienced positive growth despite exposure to an adverse event, which we call Positive Change-Despite (PC-Despite). Method In two separate studies, after asking respondents about positive change they experienced following exposure to an adverse event, we then asked about the extent to which they experienced positive change because of the adverse event (PC-Because) or despite the adverse event (PC-Despite). Results We found that participants rated 40% (Study 1 – undergraduate sample) and 31% (Study 2 – first responder sample) of their positive change as PC-Despite. Further, in both studies PC-Despite scores were positively related to measures of distress and both adaptive and maladaptive coping, suggesting a link with an illusory form of PTG. In contrast, PC-Because was only related to adaptive coping. Conclusion Participants chose an attractive alternative response to reporting PTG at substantial rates, supporting the notion that many self-reports of PTG reflect motivated biases and coping processes.

Mentorship Matters: Exploring Experiences With, and Perceptions of, Mentorship in an Undergraduate Sample

Mentorship is crucial for undergraduate students’ success, yet its definition varies widely. Understanding the nuances of mentorship experiences and perceptions is vital for optimizing mentorship programs and promoting student success. This study investigated undergraduate students’ experiences with, and perceptions of, mentorship, examining its relationship with GPA and demographic variables. A sample of 137 undergraduate students from a private Christian university participated in the study. Data were collected through an online questionnaire containing both qualitative and quantitative measures. While no significant overall relationship between mentorship and GPA was found, complex differences emerged across demographic variables. Significant differences were observed between genders in perceptions of professors and overall mentorship scale. Ethnicity was associated with experiences with mentorship and GPA, highlighting potential biases in mentor-mentee selection. Findings underscore the importance of addressing biases in mentorship selection processes and increasing faculty diversity to meet the needs of diverse student populations. Further research should explore mentorship in community colleges and vocational institutions, prioritizing access to mentorship resources for fostering a supportive learning environment.

Further validation of the visceral sensitivity index: Psychometric properties and utility for predicting disordered eating in a diverse university sample

Gastrointestinal (GI) visceral sensitivity (i.e., anxiety/worry over GI sensations) may be a key maintaining factor for disordered eating; however, it is unknown whether GI visceral sensitivity predicts the range of disordered eating behaviors in nonclinical samples. The current preregistered study aimed to replicate previous construct validity findings of the Visceral Sensitivity Index (VSI; i.e., factor structure, convergent and discriminant validity) and examine its criterion-related validity for predicting a range of disordered eating attitudes and behaviors in a diverse undergraduate sample. A total of 591 university students were retained in the final analytic sample (53 % women; 23 % Hispanic [Any Race], 10 % Asian, 9 % Black) and completed the VSI, disordered eating, and additional validity measures. A confirmatory factor analysis tested the factor structure of the VSI, and correlations were used to examine convergent and discriminant validity. Hierarchical regressions and t-tests were used to examine criterion-related validity. Results replicated previous construct validity findings in a diverse undergraduate sample. Exploratory analyses supported invariance of the VSI across gender and the VSI discriminated between individuals at high- versus low-risk for an eating disorder and predicted a range of disordered eating attitudes (e.g., body dissatisfaction) and behaviors (e.g., restricting, binge eating, purging, compulsive exercise). GI-specific anxiety appears to be transdiagnostic across disordered eating behaviors and relevant across the spectrum of disordered eating severity. Future work may include developing transdiagnostic models of GI visceral sensitivity in disordered eating and investigating inclusion of the VSI in university screening efforts.

The Dual-Pathway Model of Respect in Romantic Relationships

Respect has been shown to be an important aspect of romantic relationships. The current research explored whether the associations that status-based respect and inclusion-based respect had with romantic commitment would be mediated by satisfaction, investment, and the perceived quality of alternative romantic partners. Study 1 examined these associations with an undergraduate sample (N = 200), whereas Study 2 replicated the results of Study 1 using a community sample (N = 264). Study 3 (N = 187) extended these results by focusing on a specific situation in which participants felt either disrespected or respected by their romantic partners. Across these studies, status-based respect and inclusion-based respect were associated with romantic commitment. For example, status-based respect and inclusion-based respect had associations with commitment that were mediated by satisfaction in each study. The findings of the current studies indicate that people who experience disrespect in their relationships tend to be less satisfied, which, in turn, may lead to them being less committed to maintaining their relationships. In our discussion, we explore how status-based respect and inclusion-based respect can offer insights into understanding commitment to romantic relationships.

Identity Distress, Confusion, Synthesis, and Social Media Use for Coping: Implications for Identity Development

ABSTRACT How do emerging adults undergoing identity distress during an adverse collective life event such as the COVID-19 pandemic use social media for coping? This study addressed this question by examining the associations of identity distress, confusion, and synthesis with social media use for coping with a national, multisite undergraduate sample of university students (N = 1257; M age = 20; 908 women) in the United States. Results indicated that emerging adult college students undergoing increased identity distress during the pandemic reported utilizing social media frequently for coping, such as socially connecting with others and alleviating negative emotions. Similarly, emerging adult college students experiencing increased identity uncertainty (marked by greater identity confusion and lower identity synthesis) during the pandemic reported using social media frequently for coping. Moreover, findings implied that emerging adult college students experiencing high identity distress severity, interference, and duration were almost two times more likely than their peers undergoing a lesser degree of distress to use social media to alleviate negative emotions. Implications for mental health practitioners working with emerging adults during an adverse collective life event are discussed.

Barriers and facilitators of help-seeking for eating, weight, and shape concerns among college students

Objective: Prevalence of disordered eating among college students is concerning, but professional help-seeking rates are low. This study examined barriers and facilitators of help-seeking for eating, weight, and shape concerns in this population. Participants: A non-clinical sample of undergraduates (N = 134; 64.7% females; 63.9% White; 61.7% freshman) were recruited from a research pool. Methods: Participants reported on help-seeking barriers, facilitators, intentions, and behaviors, as well as disordered eating, anxiety, and depression. Results: Commonly endorsed facilitators of help-seeking for disordered eating included desire to get better and other mental health issues. Commonly endorsed barriers highlighted themes of self-reliance. Recent and lifetime help-seeking behaviors suggested preferences for informal sources of help. Greater disordered eating predicted more endorsed facilitators of help-seeking, whereas greater depression predicted more endorsed barriers. Conclusion: Findings—highlighting self-reliance and preferences for informal sources of help—can facilitate efforts to better serve students who may be experiencing disordered eating.

Autistic traits are associated with differences in the perception of genuineness and approachability in emotional facial expressions, independently of alexithymia.

People with autism and higher levels of autistic traits often have difficulty interpreting facial emotion. Research has commonly investigated the association between autistic traits and expression labeling ability. Here, we investigated the association between two relatively understudied abilities, namely, judging whether expressions reflect genuine emotion, and using expressions to make social approach judgements, in a nonclinical sample of undergraduates at an Australian university (N = 149; data collected during 2018). Autistic traits were associated with more difficulty discriminating genuineness and less typical social approach judgements. Importantly, we also investigated whether these associations could be explained by the co-occurring personality trait alexithymia, which describes a difficulty interpreting one's own emotions. Alexithymia is hypothesized to be the source of many emotional difficulties experienced by autistic people and often accounts for expression labeling difficulties associated with autism and autistic traits. In contrast, the current results provided no evidence that alexithymia is associated with differences in genuineness discrimination and social approach judgements. Rather, differences varied as a function of individual differences in specific domains of autistic traits. More autistic-like social skills and communication predicted greater difficulty in genuineness discrimination, and more autistic-like social skills and attention to details and patterns predicted differences in approach judgements. These findings suggest that difficulties in these areas are likely to be better understood as features of the autism phenotype than of alexithymia. Finally, results highlight the importance of considering the authenticity of emotional expressions, with associations between differences in approach judgements being more pronounced for genuine emotional expressions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Impact of Economic Crisis and Socio-Demographic Factors on Milk and Milk Product Consumption of Undergraduates: A Case Study of Eastern University, Sri Lanka

Milk consumption is influenced by a wide range of factors, including gender, age, income, education, ethnicity, health condition, and presence of children in the household. The current study was designed to investigate the effects of the recent economic crisis and socio-demographic factors on the milk and milk product consumption patterns of undergraduates. The questionnaire survey was used as the primary data collection tool. The survey was conducted with a representative sample of undergraduates (n=238) using a self-structured online questionnaire. The collected data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. As per the results, the majority of undergraduates in the sample size consume raw milk (83%). Therefore, cattle milk was the most widely consumed type of raw milk (84%). Ice cream is the most popular milk product (99%) in sample size. Despite the economic crisis, the majority of undergraduates (53%) maintain steady milk consumption habits. However, the milk consumption of undergraduates during the financial crisis was significantly associated with factors including locality (p=0.017), family size (p=0.014), monthly family income (p=0.000), parental educational level (p=0.000), and employment status (p=0.014). Further, this study investigated the fact that the purchasing frequency of milk and milk products was not associated with socio-demographic backgrounds (P>0.05).

Are holistic thinkers intellectually humbler? A first test

Intellectual humility (IH) is the tendency to consider that one's beliefs might be fallible. In a pre-registered preliminary study with an undergraduate sample (n = 350), we adapted IH measures to Turkish and in line with past research, we replicated IH's positive correlation with Openness to Experience and negative correlation with Closed-Mindedness. However, IH was not related to Discomfort with Ambiguity. Moreover, consistent with recent theoretical discussions of an overlap between IH and certain aspects of East Asian worldviews, we found that holistic thinking tendency positively predicted IH scores, beyond social desirability and effortful thinking. Our confirmatory study (n = 693) revealed that higher levels of middle way approach and perception of change components of holistic thinking were associated with greater intellectual humility beyond demographics and other substantive predictors of IH. While the effects were small in magnitude and their generalizability awaits further testing, these associations are sensible and motivate continued exploration of the relationship between IH and holistic thinking.

Sex and Sexual Orientation Differences in Dark Triad Traits, Sexual Excitation/Inhibition, and Sociosexuality.

The present study sought to investigate sex and sexual orientation differences in several traits related to sexuality and sexual behavior. Examining sexual orientation differences alongside basic sex differences to help identify correlates of sexual orientation diversity, and whether individuals with varying degrees of same-sex attraction show concurrent sex-atypical shifts in other domains. Males tend to score higher than females in the Dark Triad (DT) traits of sub-clinical narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism. Similarly, females tend to be more cautious than males in their attitudes and desires toward casual sex activity (i.e., sociosexuality). These sex differences may be related to the propensity for individuals to become easily sexually excited, which is higher in males, or to instead inhibit sexual arousal, which is higher in females. In a large undergraduate sample (N = 2047), we replicated expected sex differences in DT traits, sociosexuality, and sexual excitation/inhibition. We found that non-heterosexual females were "male-shifted" in some of these traits, but these shifts tended to be strongest among mostly heterosexual and bisexual individuals. Furthermore, we found that within-sex variation in sociosexuality, sexual excitation, and sexual inhibition was not related to sexual orientation in a linear fashion. Instead, sociosexuality and sexual excitation were related to sexual orientation in a curvilinear (inverted-U) fashion, especially among females. The fact that traits correlated with bisexuality and homosexuality were somewhat distinct is consistent with the idea that different developmental pathways may lead to these discrete sexual attraction patterns.

The Self-Dehumanization Scale: Three Studies on Its Development and Validation

Self-dehumanization, a phenomenon relevant to social psychology, has been somewhat absent from clinical psychology research. Furthermore, measures of self-dehumanization are few, and to our knowledge, no validated and generalizable self-report measure exists. To address this gap, we present a Self-Dehumanization Scale (SDS). This work incorporates evidence from three studies examining the reliability, validity, and factor structure of the SDS in an undergraduate sample, a clinically relevant community sample, and a sample with at least one minoritized identity. The SDS was derived from dehumanization theory and was developed to measure animalistic and mechanistic self-dehumanization. All studies suggested an 8-item SDS, with Study 1 suggesting a single-factor solution with, however, some indication of a two-factor structure, and Studies 2 and 3 affirming a two-factor solution. The SDS, and its respective factors, generally showed discriminant validity from related, yet distinct, measures of self-hate, self-esteem (Study 2), dissociation, and measures of discrimination (in Study 3). Finally, animalistic and mechanistic SDS showed somewhat mixed but promising evidence regarding their associations to minoritized identities and to symptoms of depression, and suicide risk, above and beyond each study’s fairly stringent control variables. Thus, self-dehumanization may prove to be a clinically promising leverage point in assessing psychopathology, particularly among minoritized communities.

Development and validation of the positive evaluation core beliefs scale for social anxiety

Fear of positive evaluation (FPE) is becoming recognised as an important component of social anxiety that is distinct from fear of negative evaluation (FNE). While core belief scales exist for fear of negative evaluation (FNE), none has been developed for FPE. Therefore, this paper describes the development and validation of a measure of core beliefs that is specific to FPE. An exploratory factor analysis was performed on 60 initial items with an Australian undergraduate sample, in which a confirmatory factor analysis was performed with an independent Australian general population sample. A series of further analyses were performed to test convergent and divergent validity. The Positive Evaluation Core Beliefs Scale (PECS) emerged as a 17-item two-factor psychometrically valid measure that correlates more strongly with measurement of FPE than FNE. The PECS measure offers a new opportunity for researchers and clinicians to better explore cognitions associated with social anxiety.

Supernatural Attributions for Extraordinary Events: Examining Cognitive and Contextual Predictors

AbstractWhy do people make supernatural attributions (SA) for events? This article focused on five possible predictors: stressfulness, unusual events, religiousness, seeing a supernatural explanation as meaningful, and seeing supernatural entities as powerful. We also predicted that people would be more likely to adopt supernatural explanations seen as highly accessible, motivating, and plausible. We focused primarily on SA in general and secondarily on specific entities. We tested preregistered hypotheses using survey data in two samples of undergraduates: one reporting life‐changing events (N = 594) and another reporting on an event with a supernatural air, or supernaturally perceived events (N = 475). Results supported all proposed predictors except for stressfulness. Path analyses revealed that, in both samples, predictors were linked with seeing supernatural explanations as accessible, plausible, and motivating; these ratings, in turn, had positive associations with SA. These results begin to integrate previous theory and research on individual predictors of SA.