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1. The Role of Regional Contrast Changes and Asymmetry in Facial Attractiveness Related to Cosmetic Use
- Creator:
- Peissig, Jessie
- Description:
- This study collected behavioral data for testing how regional contrast changes due to the addition of cosmetics would affect attractiveness ratings. In addition, we used an established model of asymmetry to look for a correlation between changes in attractiveness related to the application of cosmetics to specific regions of the face and changes in symmetry. Using this asymmetry model we compared female faces with and without makeup. Specifically, we used a highly controlled set of grayscale faces in which makeup application was standardized to explore these issues from a perceptual perspective. The human data showed that adding upper eye makeup significantly increased attractiveness ratings. In contrast, increases in contrast to the lower eyes and lips did not lead to increases in attractiveness ratings; application of cosmetics to the lower eyes led to a significant decrease in attractiveness. We found that for the makeup condition that led to increased attractiveness, asymmetry did not change significantly when makeup was applied to the female faces. This suggests a role for mechanisms other than symmetry related to increases in attractiveness related to makeup use in females.
- Resource Type:
- Article
- Campus Tesim:
- Fullerton
- Department:
- Department of Psychology
- Creator:
- Segal, Nancy
- Description:
- Aim: Epigenetic comparisons within monozygotic twin pairs have enhanced our understanding of nongenetic mechanisms underlying disease etiology. We present epigenetic findings for a unique case of doubly exchanged Colombian male monozygotic twins raised in extremely different environments. Results: Using genome-wide DNA methylation data from cheek swabs from which blood-specific differentially methylated probes had been removed, the individuals grouped by shared genetics rather than shared environment, except for one twin who presented as an outlier. Closer inspection of DNA methylation differences within both reared-apart twin pairs revealed several genes and genetic pathways likely to be influenced by the rearing environment. Conclusion: Together with our previous findings, we suggest that genetics, pre- and postnatal environments contribute to the epigenetic profile, although additional studies are needed to quantify these effects.
- Resource Type:
- Article
- Campus Tesim:
- Fullerton
- Department:
- Department of Psychology
- Creator:
- Lukaszewski, Aaron
- Description:
- Human life history (LH) strategies are theoretically regulated by developmental exposure to environmental cues that ancestrally predicted LH-relevant world states (e.g., risk of morbidity–mortality). Recent modeling work has raised the question of whether the association of childhood family factors with adult LH variation arises via (i) direct sampling of external environmental cues during development and/or (ii) calibration of LH strategies to internal somatic condition (i.e., health), which itself reflects exposure to variably favorable environments. The present research tested between these possibilities through three online surveys involving a total of over 26,000 participants. Participants completed questionnaires assessing components of self-reported environmental harshness (i.e., socioeconomic status, family neglect, and neighborhood crime), health status, and various LH-related psychological and behavioral phenotypes (e.g., mating strategies, paranoia, and anxiety), modeled as a unidimensional latent variable. Structural equation models suggested that exposure to harsh ecologies had direct effects on latent LH strategy as well as indirect effects on latent LH strategy mediated via health status. These findings suggest that human LH strategies may be calibrated to both external and internal cues and that such calibrational effects manifest in a wide range of psychological and behavioral phenotypes.
- Resource Type:
- Article
- Campus Tesim:
- Fullerton
- Department:
- Department of Psychology
- Creator:
- Miller, Erikah
- Description:
- The purpose of the present study was to explore the relationship between perceived physical attractiveness and counterproductive workplace behavior. The main hypothesis was that the more physically attractive an employee rated himself/herself to be, the more likely he/she would be to engage in counterproductive behavior in the workplace. One hundred and sixty-seven participants were recruited for the present study; some from various undergraduate classes at California State University, Fullerton and others from the workplaces of these students who took part in the study. Close to half of the study’s participants (n = 88) were categorized as the “Worker” while the other half (n = 79) were labeled the “Coworkers” of the students in the Worker sample. Two measures of workplace deviance and one measure of attraction were used to survey the participants. Based on the participants’ self-reports (Counterproductive Behavior Index, Goodstein & Lanyon, 2002; Workplace Deviance Scale, Bennett & Robinson, 2000; and the Interpersonal Attraction Scale, McCroskey & McCain, 1974), no relationship between counterproductive workplace behavior and attraction was found in the Worker population even when age and work tenure were assessed. However, the Coworker ratings of the Worker population suggested otherwise. A positive relationship was found for physical attraction and counterproductive workplace behavior. Higher attractive ratings by Coworkers, correlated with higher ratings of counterproductive behavior of Workers in their workplace. Overall findings suggested a halo effect found in the Coworker ratings of their peers; Coworkers rated their peers much lower in all measures of deviance. Further investigation is warranted to assess this effect in the workplace.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fullerton
- Department:
- Department of Psychology
- Creator:
- Sanders, Janelle A.
- Description:
- The majority of Americans endorse egalitarian views, however our society is still plagued by prejudice and discrimination. (Dovidio & Gaertner, 2000). Unfortunately, great disparities exist in the treatment of individuals based on race/ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status (SES) (Dovidio & Gaertner, 2000). It appears discrimination has become more subtle over the past forty years; however, it can still have dire consequences for minority groups (Pearson, Dovidion & Gaertner, 2009). Though research has examined this understated form of discrimination in the legal system from various theoretical perspectives, little research has focused on Social Dominance Theory (Pratto & Sidanius, 1994) for biases in juror decision making. SDT describes how social divisions are created in order to maintain or increase hierarchical separation of groups (Pratto et al., 1994). A key component to SDT is an individual’s personal Social Dominance Orientation (SDO; Pratto et al., 1994). SDO refers to the degree in which an individual values social groups arranged hierarchically (Pratto et al., 1994). Applied to the legal system, jurors who endorse hierarchical arrangements of groups are more likely to be punitive toward perceived subordinate groups (e.g., minorities and the poor). In addition, juror demographic characteristics, such as gender and SES, have been shown to influence juror decisions. Specifically, juror gender and SES often combine to contribute to biases toward a defendant. The purpose of this thesis is to examine how Social Dominance Theory can explain the interaction of juror SDO, juror gender, and juror SES to explain juror biases in decision making. Archival data, collected from 375 undergraduates at California State University, Fullerton, will be used to examine the hypotheses that female jurors, with high SES and SDO, will find the defendant guilty more often, recommended harsher sentences, find the defendant to be more culpable of the crime, and rate the defendant more negatively on a variety of trait ratings. Results demonstrated a nonsignificant relationship between juror gender, SDO, SES and verdict outcomes; the majority of participants found the defendant to be guilty of the crime. Similarly, juror gender, SDO, and SES did not significantly relate to sentence length, however a trend showed that female jurors, of high SDO and SES, were among the participants more likely to recommend a life sentence to the defendant. As predicted there was a significant three-way interaction between the independent variables and culpability measures; however, the direction of results only partially supported the hypothesis. Lastly, the fourth hypothesis was fully supported in that female jurors, high in social dominance and socioeconomic status rated the defendant more negatively on a number of trait ratings. Several findings in the current study were surprising and additional research is needed to further understand the ways in which SDO interacts with genders and SES to influence juror decision-making. Future studies would benefit from taking into account whether or not the juror is a parents, as well as some demographic factors of the defendant.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fullerton
- Department:
- Department of Psychology
- Creator:
- Ryks, Melissa N.
- Description:
- The theory of Aversive Racism is often used to explain the contemporary prejudice being displayed towards racial minority defendants in the U.S. criminal court system. This form of contemporary racism is characterized by its subtleties; the aversive racist is sympathetic to past injustice, supports equality, and believes themselves to be non-prejudiced, but all the while harbors subtle and sometimes subconscious negative feelings and beliefs. The purpose of this study is to examine if aversive racism can best explain juror decision-making biases when race, socioeconomic status (SES), and attractiveness of the defendant are varied for mothers who are charged with killing their child. To date, no known research has examined juror decision-making when these sociocultural factors are varied. In a mock juror study, 375 participants were randomly assigned to one of 12 conditions in a 3 (ethnicity: European-American, AfricanAmerican, or Hispanic), X 2 (SES: high or low), X 2 (attractiveness: attractive or unattractive) between groups design. After reading a case transcript, participants were asked to provide a verdict, recommend a sentence, answer various culpability questions, and rate the defendants on a number of trait ascription characteristics. Participants also provided personal demographic information such a race, gender, age, etc. Based on previous research it is hypothesized that minority, unattractive, and low SES mothers will be found guilty significantly more often, receive lengthier sentences, be found more culpable, and be rated more negatively on trait ratings compared with European-American, attractive, and high SES defendants. Results demonstrated partial support for the proposed hypothesis. Significance was observed for sentence, with participants giving minority, low SES, and unattractive defendants lengthier sentences. Significant interactions were also observed for various culpability ratings. Limitations and future directions will be discussed.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fullerton
- Department:
- Department of Psychology
- Creator:
- Godbole, Gargi Kiran
- Description:
- This study explored the effects of interviewers’ emotions in a mock interrogation context. Prior research reveals that emotional states can either hinder or improve information processing and decision-making. For example, studies show that a sad, but not a happy, state leads to better lie detection accuracy (Ask & Granhag, 2007; Semmler & Brewer, 2002). Other research shows that a sad, but not an angry, state leads to careful processing of criminal scenarios (Tiedens & Linton, 2001). Emotion models suggest that happy and angry moods induce perceivers to a shallow-based, heuristics processing style, whereas sad moods lead to a deep, systematic-based processing style. Thus, it can be predicted that sad moods will have a more focused approach in interrogating suspects, while angry and happy emotions will lead to having a more dispersed choosing style. In this study, we examined angry, happy, sad, and neutral emotional states on mock interrogators’ decisions about the use of high- versus low-coercive interrogation tactics. Participant read a crime scenario where they imagined being an interrogator. Next, they were told to visualize and write an autobiographical event to induce one of the four emotional states – angry, happy, sad, or neutral. They then rated two broad categories of tactics – lowpressure tactics (e.g., “reduce fears”) and high-pressure tactics (e.g., “identify and exaggerate fears”) – on the extent to which they would use them to interview the suspect in the scenario. It was hypothesized that sad, but not angry or happy, participants would select less coercive tactics to interview the potential suspect. The results did not confirm the main hypothesis; although emotions were induced, they did not have an effect on selecting tactics. All participants across emotion conditions significantly selected the low-pressure tactics as a way to interrogate the potential suspect. One reason this may have happened is that the choice of low-pressure tactics could have been seen a more socially desirable response for the college student participants in this study. The limitations in this study and future research will be discussed.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fullerton
- Department:
- Department of Psychology
- Creator:
- Esquibel, Marissa S.
- Description:
- This study explores the relationship between negative religious coping (NRC) and symptoms of depression and anxiety in Arab American adolescents, an under-researched topic in an under-researched population. The data were provided by a previous study that investigated socio-cultural adversities, cultural resources, and psychological distress in Arab American adolescents (Ahmed, Kia-Keating, & Tsai, 2011). In general, research has demonstrated NRC is associated with poor mental health outcomes in samples varying in age, race, gender, religion, and so on. However, research investigating NRC in Arab American adolescents is nonexistent. The current study includes four hypotheses. First, it was hypothesized that NRC would have a positive relationship with depression. Second, it was hypothesized that NRC would have a positive association with anxiety. Third, it was hypothesized that female participants would have a stronger relationship between NRC and depression and anxiety. Fourth, it was hypothesized that second generation participants would have a stronger relationship between NRC and depression and anxiety. The sample consisted of a predominately Muslim Arab American population of 240 adolescents. The results demonstrated that NRC was positively associated with anxiety and second generation participants had a stronger relation between NRC and depression and anxiety. Understanding the relationship between NRC and mental health in Arab American adolescents can inform counselors and help provide better psychological treatment for this vulnerable population.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fullerton
- Department:
- Department of Psychology
- Creator:
- Quinn, Taylor A.
- Description:
- Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic pain condition most prevalent in women, particularly over the age of 50. Chronic conditions, including pain, affect more than half of adults over 65. Such conditions can contribute to functional limitations that lead to disability, illness, and death. Currently, the U.S. faces a national healthcare crisis that can be attributed to the deteriorating cognitive and physical health of older adults. Exploring ways to promote healthy behaviors that may prevent or delay such conditions should be of paramount importance. Past literature exploring the benefits of positive mood has linked elevated positive affect (PA) with improved memory, physical recovery, and habitual activity engagement. The focus of this study was to identify potential benefits of heightened levels of PA on various domains of cognition, physical performance, and perceived cognitive and physical health. A total of 94 individuals 50+ years of age with and without FM participated in the current investigation. A series of objective and subjective cognitive and physical assessments were administered. Results from the study indicate associated benefits of heightened PA for FM and non-FM individuals. For FM individuals, higher PA was associated with fewer reported problems with concentration and improved working memory performance. For non-FM individuals, higher PA was associated with fewer functional limitations, superior lower extremity strength, and fewer reported troubles with memory and concentration.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fullerton
- Department:
- Department of Psychology
- Creator:
- Walker, Amanda
- Description:
- This study examines the relationship between previous work experience and alcohol use after retirement. Stress-coping theory and role theory suggest that major life transitions can contribute to changes in alcohol consumption, but most investigations into this relationship have been limited to younger and middle-aged adults. Retirement is one of the most significant life changes, but research is mixed on the impact of retirement on alcohol use. Using data from the first two waves of the Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) and National Study of Daily Experiences (NSDE), this study examines the prior work experience and subsequent drinking changes in middle-aged and older retirees. Overall, participants maintained their usual levels of drinking after retirement and results suggest that work-related variables, such as work pride, coworker support, supervisor support, skill discretion, decision authority, and workplace demands were not significant predictors of changes in alcohol consumption in retirement. Despite the expectation that people who were working longer hours and experiencing more workrelated stress during employment would be more likely to drink post-retirement, results did not uphold these hypotheses. Findings suggest that work-related factors do not influence drinking status changes following retirement, but additional research is needed to fully understand the possible differences between cohorts as well as to explore other important contributing variables.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fullerton
- Department:
- Department of Psychology