Organizational Behavior/Applied Psychology students and faculty from Albright’s School of Professional Studies program presented research posters at the Eastern Psychological Association’s 2019 Conference in New York, N.Y., Feb. 28-March 2.
Kristyn Hines co-authored “Dating Disclosures: Stigma and Mental Illness”
The purpose of this study was to determine if a mental illness diagnosis affects the impression of an individual when on a date. Participants (N = 176) viewed a vignette in which an individual disclosed seeking help for a mental illness on a date.
Lisa Filoon co-authored “Student Perspectives of Cohort-Based Education in Psychology”
Forty-two students currently enrolled in psychology cohorts at a small, private liberal arts college participated in an online mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative) survey on their experience as a member of a cohort-based educational program in undergraduate psychology. Results (focusing solely on student satisfaction) indicated reasons why cohort-based learning might be particularly beneficial in the study of psychology.
Sarah Holl authored “Effects of Toy Color and Gender-Typicality on Perceptions of Children’s Toy Enjoyment”
This study investigated the effect of color and gender-typing of toys on adults’ perception of how enjoyable a toy would be for a child. Participants rated nine toys in a 3 (color: pink, blue, or grayscale) X 3 (gender-typicality: girl, boy, or neutral). Boy toys were seen as more enjoyable for boys and girl toys more enjoyable for girls. Pink toys were perceived as more enjoyable for girls, regardless of gender-typicality.
Lesley Anne Jenkins co-authored “Emotional Reactivity in Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents”
This correlational study looked at whether being raised by an emotionally immature caretaker makes one prone to emotional reactivity in adulthood or if it makes one better suited to handle stress. One hundred thirty-five participants answered questions about emotional reactivity, impulsivity, and their primary caretaker’s emotional immaturity during their childhood and found that the higher the emotional immaturity of the caretakers, the lower the emotional reactivity of the adult child.
Gwendolyn Seidman co-authored “Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry in Perceptions of Romantic Partners and Relationship Outcomes”
258 participants completed a survey assessing how narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry and evaluations of oneself and one’s romantic partner relate to relationship outcomes outlined in the investment model. Narcissistic admiration was positively, and narcissistic rivalry negatively, associated with partner and self-views. Admiration was associated with more satisfaction. Rivalry was associated with lower commitment. Admiration and rivalry were associated with more perceived alternatives. Self and partner perceptions mediated associations between narcissism and investment model constructs.
Erin Smith authored “Effects of Sociosexuality, Sexual Appeal and Product Type on Advertisement”
This study investigated effects of sexual advertising appeals, product type, and sociosexual attitudes on responses to advertisements and memory. Participants rated enjoyment and purchase intentions for four types of advertisements varying in sexual or nonsexual appeal for sexual or nonsexual products. Participants enjoyed nonsexual advertisements more and had higher purchase intentions for nonsexual products. Unrestricted sociosexuality was related to greater enjoyment of advertisements for sexual products and greater likelihood to purchase products using sexual appeals.
Nicole Suchora, Jaime Hoagey, Ana Aguilar, Elise Amon, Jeffery Cupitt, Gina Diluzio, Susan Giancola, Michelle Marshall, Jeremy Matrician, Deja Pitts, Anthony Suppi, Myla Thomas, Jonathan Troop, Emily Vandergeest and Rosali Vernelson co-authored “Passenger Perception of Ride-Sharing Service Based on Driver Attractiveness and Vehicle Quality”
We hypothesized that attractiveness of driver and quality of vehicle in a vignette about ride-sharing would affect perception of safety using a ride-sharing service. Two hundred and seventy-two participants viewed a randomly assigned vignette (varying vehicle quality and driver attractiveness) and answered questions in this online study. People may feel less safe in poor quality cars and when they perceive their driver as unattractive.
Catherine Alvarado and Laura Gelety co-authored “Gender Differences on Moral Reasoning in Adults”
This study examined the influence of gender on moral reasoning in adults. The independent variable was participant gender and the dependent variables were the levels of justice and care moral orientation. It was hypothesized that there are no gender differences in justice-oriented and care-oriented moral judgment in adults. The results showed that there were no gender differences in either type of moral reasoning but indicated that situational factors can predict moral reasoning better than gender.
Laura Luczeczko and Gwendolyn Seidman co-authored “Perceived Importance of Gendered Characteristics for Gendered Professions”
This study examined the perceived importance of gendered traits for success in male and female-typical occupations. Participants rated the importance of masculine, feminine, and neutral traits for male-dominated, female-dominated, or gender-equal professions. Masculine traits were perceived as more important than feminine traits for male professions, and feminine traits were viewed as more important than masculine traits for female professions. Across all professions, neutral traits were seen as more important than gendered traits.
Jessica Zamora authored “The Effects of Tattoos on Patrons’ Comfort Levels with Blue/White Collar Professions”
This study examined the effects of visible tattoos on potential patrons’ comfort levels with professionals in blue or white collar occupations. In an online experiment, participants viewed targets varying in gender and tattoo presence and rated how comfortable they were with each target in 8 different occupations. For blue collar jobs, tattoo presence did not affect comfort levels, but for white collar jobs, participants were more comfortable with targets without tattoos than those with tattoos.
Sydney Baybayan authored “How Language Affects Implicit and Explicit Perceptions of Mental Illness”
This study examined the association between language describing mental illness and implicit stigma endorsement. Participants completed three Go/No-Go Association Tasks to measure implicit attitudes on three domains (good/bad, competent/helpless, and innocent/blameworthy) and self-report measures of explicit attitudes toward depression. As expected, participants exhibited positive explicit attitudes toward persons with mental illness. Participants in all conditions implicitly associated mental illness with competence, while participants in the romanticism condition exhibited a general implicit bias against mental illness.
Lauren Hudak and Gwendolyn Seidman co-authored “Motivations for Active and Passive Social Media Usage”
An online survey examined motivations behind active and passive social media use, and how these motivations relate to mental health. Results showed that active use is motivated by acceptance and attention seeking, passive use by information seeking, and both by fear of missing out (FoMO). Active use was associated with greater depression for those low in connection motives and high in FoMO. Similarly, active use motivated by FoMO was associated with lower self-esteem.
Briana Samuel and Bridget Hearon co-authored “Psychosocial Predictors of Health Halo Effects”
The current study investigated potential psychosocial moderators of health halo effects. Two-hundred fifty-one participants rated images of either an unhealthy food alone or the same food coupled with a healthy side dish and completed questionnaires assessing moderators of interest. Results revealed that state positive affect and current food craving were associated with lower calorie estimates when the unhealthy item was paired with a healthy item.
