Browsing by Subject "Social psychology"
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Item Affiliation under stress as a function of self-evaluation of abilities(Texas Tech University, 1971-08) Keating, Patrick HenryNot availableItem Becoming a media activist : linking culture, identity, and web design(2011-12) Fineman, Elissa Arra; Staiger, Janet; Christ, Bill; Kearney, Mary; Stone, Alluquere; Straubhaar, JosephThis dissertation explored two facets of media activism. It used a Life History research methodology to understand how someone becomes a media activist, and it employed a textual analysis to explain the visual interface choices made by a media activist on the Internet. Throughout, the study is informed by theories of social identity, authorship, visual culture, and agency. The results that emerged offer insight into four areas of media studies: digital resistance, media education, digital aesthetics, and the use of social psychology to understand new media production.Item Equity theory and friendships in later life(Texas Tech University, 1984-05) Roberto, Karen AThe purpose of the study was to examine the patterns of exchange that exist between older adults and their friends. Using equity theory as the conceptual base, five hypotheses were tested. Variables examined were the amount of distress reported in terms of the overall friend relationship, the helping aspect of the friendship and the affective component of the relationship by those individuals in equitable versus inequitable friendships; equity and friendship satisfaction; and the influence of demographic variables (i.e., gender, age, marital status, education, income, health, and contact with children) on the equity of exchanges between friends. A random sample of 116 white, urban adults, 65 years of age or older were interviewed for this study. Respondents were asked to discuss their relationship with their best friend and one other friend within their support network. Planned comparisons and Pearson correlations were used to test the first four hypotheses. Results provided support for these hypotheses. Older adults who perceived their relationship as equitable, were less distressed about all aspects of their friendships (i.e., overall, helping, affective) than participants who perceived themselves as being in an inequitable friendship. Pearson correlations showed that the more the respondents perceived themselves being overbenefited or underbenefited, the greater amount of distress they reported. In terms of friendship satisfaction, equity considerations seemed to be more important in the case of the "other" friend than for the "best" friend relationship. The fifth hypothesis was tested by means of a stepwise discriminant analysis. Several demographic variables distinguished between the equity of friendships in later life. Specifically, older males were more likely to perceive themselves in equitable friendships than older females. Respondents who reported frequent contact with their children were also more likely to be involved in equitable friendships. While additional research is necessary, equity theory seems to provide a useful conceptualization from which to examine friend relationships in later life.Item Essays on authority(2010-08) Sevel, Michael Allen; Deigh, John; Leiter, Brian; Woodruff, Paul; Martinich, Aloysius; Berman, MitchellThe chapters contained in this dissertation are three essays on the nature of practical authority, and the role it plays in the thought and action of those subject to it. In chapter 1, I criticize a recent and influential philosophical theory of authority, Joseph Raz’s service conception, and argue that it is inadequate because it does not recognize that authority thwarts an obedient subject’s ability to express her personality and character traits in action. In chapter 2, I argue that, in cases of personal authority, the issuing of a command involves the authority supplying the content of an intention to act to the subject, and that this breaks down the self-other asymmetries which theorists of self-knowledge have assumed exist with respect to the ‘privileged access’ one is said to have to one’s own mind. In chapter 3, I argue that in cases of both personal and non-personal (e.g., institutional) authority, there is a further problem in exercising and obeying authority which has gone unrecognized. I draw on recent work in social psychology to show that authoritative directives fix a subject’s understanding of her own actions across time and thus thwart the otherwise dynamic process of the development of the subject’s self-conception. I show that these arguments constitute a new burden in justifying authority and therefore revive the anarchist objection that authority and autonomy are conceptually incompatible.Item Genetic influences on social life : evidence, pathways, and implications for sociological inquiry(2008-08) Bradshaw, John Mattison; Ellison, Christopher G., 1960-; Hayward, Mark D.Scholars in diverse disciplines are currently engaged in debates concerning the causes and consequences of human social interaction in areas including personality development, interpersonal characteristics, social attachments and support, family life, religious involvement, civic engagement, socioeconomic attainment, and health and wellbeing, among others. Unfortunately, researchers in these areas are compartmentalized into two, largely isolated, camps: (1) social scientists who base their research on the assumption that social outcomes are primarily, if not exclusively, the products of social-environmental influences; and (2) biologists, geneticists, psychiatrists, and some psychologists, all of whom assume that genetic factors are important as well. The purpose of this dissertation, therefore, is to begin integrating sociological and biomedical research on social life. To facilitate this task, four specific research questions are addressed: Do genetic and environmental factors both influence social life, and if so, what is the relative contribution of each? Why and how do genetic factors influence social life, and what are the pathways by which they operate? Are genetic and environmental influences on social life correlated (i.e., non-additive), and do genetic factors bias social scientific studies that do not take them into consideration? Do genetic and environmental factors interact to produce social outcomes? To answer these questions, twin sibling data from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) is analyzed. In response to the first question, results reveal that both genetic and environmental factors are indeed important predictors of individual-level variation on several different aspects of social life, including religious involvement, civic engagement, personality and interpersonal characteristics, family relations, socioeconomic status, community attachment, neighborhood quality, and psychological distress. Further, genetic effects on several of these outcomes (e.g., civic engagement, psychological distress) are mediated by personality, interpersonal characteristics, and social relationships, which provides insight into the second and third research questions. With respect to the final question, the findings presented here suggest that genetic and environmental influences on at least one social outcome--health and well-being--function in both a correlated and interactive manner. Overall, the theoretical and empirical research provided in this dissertation highlights a growing need for research that integrates sociological and biological approaches to the study of social life.Item Indices of young adults' social network and friend relationships(Texas Tech University, 1983-05) Cardea, Jane MannweilerThe mid-range theory Consequential Relationism provided conceptual grounding for the empirical investigation of young adults' social network. Data were collected from 288 young, similarly aged adults, 72 males and 72 females from each of two cohorts. It was hypothesized that the numerous variables employed by researchers and clinicians to describe social networks could be reduced to at least two meaningful dimensions labeled structure and process. The hypothesis was confirmed utilizing factor analytic procedures. A second hypothesis stated that empirically defined dimensions could be utilized to predict young adults' personal well being and stress buffering capacities. This hypothesis also was confirmed. Cohort and gender differences were examined across both hypotheses.Item Interpersonal attraction in a dyad as a function of the physical attractiveness of its members(Texas Tech University, 1969-12) McWhirter, Richard MarshallNot availableItem Mall shoppping habits and preferences of retail consumers in West Texas(Texas Tech University, 1995-05) Matthews, Curtis BlaineSlogans from the past decade such as "when the gouig gets tough - the tough go shopping" and "shop till you drop" accurately portray the typical American consumer. But where does this shopping take placed Shopping maUs accounted for over half of this country's retaU sales in 1988 at $584 biUion (Stoffel, 1988). Malls have undergone widespread changes during the past 30 years, but one thing is certain, they play an important role in the social and economic lifestyles of today. In 1988, at the end of the 1980s buildmg boom, Stoffel wrote a New York Times article that noted the number of shoppuig centers in the U.S. had surpassed the number of secondary schools and post offices. At that time, Stoffel noted these shopping centers numbered 30,600. In 1993, the Wall Street Journal indicated the number had grown to approximately 38,000 shopping centers (Trachtenburg, 1993). In a Gallup poll conducted for the Intemational Council for Shopping Centers (ICSC), maUs ranked behind only churches and hospitals as the most respected institutions in the country (Laing, 1992). With these statistics in mind, it is no wonder malls are just as likely to receive an icon on a city map as a school, hospital or town haU.Item Millennial consumers’ perceptions of corporate social responsibility(2012-05) Smith, Shelly; Fowler, Deborah C.; Kim, JungsunThe purpose of this study was to measure consumer response to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). In recent years the adoption of CSR has become popularized by many companies, however little academic or industry related data has been collected to determine the relationship between consumer perception of CSR with purchasing and patronage. For this study, the well-known companies of Walmart, Starbucks, and Marriott web-sites were chosen, as these companies are geo-graphically diverse recognizable consumer brands which all have well-developed and award winning Corporate Social Responsibility programs. The sample sought in this study was the web-site surfing college-aged-members of Generation Y, a rapidly growing group of consumers whose purchasing power will play a role in the future direction of companies (i.e., online retailing, online marketing). The primary data sought in this study was the subconscious response of Generation Y when presented a web-site inspired PowerPoint containing the Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives of all three companies. As purchasing of goods is often a subconscious response and relies more on emotion rather than reasoning, obtaining subconscious data is crucial to understanding the minds of consumers. In order to test consumers’ subconscious responses, the neuroimaging instrument of Electroencephalography (EEG) was used . The EEG scan was conducted in NeuroImaging Cognition and Engineering Lab of within Texas Tech University. Prior to EEG scanning, a pre-survey was administered online to gather baseline participant responses to each of the companies and gather consumer opinion of each company’s CSR perception. After the EEG, a post survey was given to determine participant retention of the PowerPoint and future purchase intentions. Using the survey instruments described above, this study operates on the test-retest experimental research method and the theoretical framework known as Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR), which investigated the relationship between web-site stimulus of CSR and the internal emotional perception of consumers evidenced in the outcome or behavioral response. Data collection was gathered for three days in April of 2012 and consisted of a sample size of 6 females and 5 males. From the sample, no definitive results can be drawn from the EEG results. The results, or brain scan readings, were distorted with artifacts, (i.e., outside noise, physiological movement, etc...), so no definitive brain response analysis could link the stimulus to the response. Therefore, a convenience sample of students was gathered and completed the study without the use of EEG equipment. The second sample consisted of 49 participants, 45 female and 4 male. The methodology remained the same from the initial study; however the emotional and subconscious data were unable to be obtained. The most significant results of the study were descriptive statistics relating to whether or not the participants believed each company possessed the socially responsible behaviors. The participant mean responses increased, indicating the perception that after being presented with the CSR stimulus, people’s perception of the company was more favorable.Item Sexualized representation of female athletes in the media: How does it affect collegiate female athlete body perceptions?(2012-05) Riebock, Andrea; Bae, Sungwon; Massengale, Dana; Hart, Melanie A.The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of the sexualized representation of female athletes within the media on the body perceptions of collegiate female athletes. The intention of the research was to examine if such effects varied depending on college grade rank, ethnicity, or grade and ethnicity as interrelated factors. Data were collected using questionnaires which consisted of questions addressing the following aspects of self-objectification: (1) body shame, (2) consequences of body shame, and (3) goal of appearance. The only significant effect identified by the statistical analysis was on body shame for ethnicity. Overall, the results suggest that grade level and ethnicity do not play a significant role on the effects of the media on body perceptions.Item Shooting the messenger : ironic effects of imbalance in anti-drug messages from celebrities(2006-12) Athle, Deepashree Ajit; Wagner, Carson B.; Swann, William B.It is as easy to imagine that celebrities featured in anti-drug commercials uniformly encourage all viewers to abstain from drugs, as it is to imagine that the more closely viewers watch these commercials, the more effective the messages will be. The current research reconsiders both assumptions. Highly anti-marijuana (state of balance) and highly pro-marijuana (state of imbalance) viewers were selected, and their processing style (central vs. peripheral) was manipulated as they watched commercials (with anti-marijuana messages from celebrities for whom all viewers previously reported high appeal). The dependent measures were SOA (Strength of Association conveys the likelihood that attitudes will automatically activate to guide behavior related to marijuana), change in celebrity appeal (pre- to post-commercial), and level of counter argument after the messages. The findings confirm past research (Wagner and Sundar, 2003) suggesting that a peripheral processing style is more effective than central processing, in terms of SOA. They also suggest the usefulness of balance theory (Heider, 1946; Osgood and Tannenbaum, 1966) in studying media effects. In particular, they help understand how the presence of a celebrity, instead of leading to a decrease in the appeal of drugs for its viewers, may have unintended effects of a decrease in the appeal of the celebrity bearing the anti-drug message, and of greater counter-argument after the message. Ironically, these unintended effects were characteristic mostly of pro marijuana viewers who employed a central message processing style; this suggests that advertisers need to reconsider the effectiveness of this genre of messages, and underscores the relevance of social psychology to mass communication.Item Social anxiety appeals in marketing: a psychometric assessment of social situation(Texas Tech University, 1982-08) Smith, Allen EdwardNot availableItem Social influence in the counseling setting: effects of source credibility, issue involvement, and message quality(Texas Tech University, 1984-08) McNeill, Brian WilliamNot availableItem The sounds of social life: exploring students' daily social environments and natural conversations(2004) Mehl, Matthias Richard; Pennebaker, James W.Recently, concerns have been raised that psychology has lost contact with naturally-occurring social life and that the discipline would benefit from a course correction towards more context- and culture-sensitive research. What do people do over the course of a day? What psychological factors account for the different lives they live? These questions aim at rather basic issues in psychology. Yet surprisingly little is known about how individuals behave, select situations, and interact with their environments in the real world. We have recently introduced the Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR) as a research tool for sampling behavioral data in naturalistic settings. The EAR records 30-second snippets of ambient sounds in participants’ immediate environments approximately every 12 minutes. This dissertation used three major EAR data sets to reveal how students’ social lives are related to basic psychological processes that traditionally have been at the heart of the discipline. Study 1 laid the methodological foundations by showing that the EAR is generally tolerated well by students, perceived as fairly unobtrusive, and worn with high levels of compliance. Study 2 provided a quantitative ethnography of students’ daily lives. It established the base rates and the degree of interindividual variability in their social environments and natural conversations. It further tested for gender and ethnic differences in social life. Finally, it identified systematic circadian fluctuations in students’ daily lives. Study 3 investigated the role that everyday social life plays in interpersonal perception. Following Brunswik’s lens-model paradigm, the analyses showed that unacquainted observers formed fairly accurate personality impressions about a target person on the basis of the person’s EARrecorded social life. With regard to the underlying perceptual paths, the analyses revealed that observers’ impressions were shaped by various cues derived from the targets’ daily interactions, locations, activities, moods and language use. Taken together, the three studies identified the ways people select and interact with their everyday environments as powerful behavioral markers of individual differences. On a broader level they laid the foundation for a psychological study of naturalistic person-situation interactions that offers a new look at basic conceptual questions in personality psychology.Item The effect of activity therapy as a treatment for disengaged community-residing elderly persons.(Texas Tech University, 1975-05) Harris, John EwingNot availableItem The effect of exposure on categories of stimuli(Texas Tech University, 1973-08) Schick, Constance Joyce,Not availableItem The effects of age and sex on the modifications of perceptual judgements of a schizophrenic population(Texas Tech University, 1967-08) Cull, John GNot availableItem The effects of age and sex on the modifications of perceptual judgements of a schizophrenic population(Texas Tech University, 1967-08) Cull, John GNot availableItem Why do Internet users stick with a specific web site?: investigating the continuous use of information systems from a relationship perspective(Texas Tech University, 2002-08) Li, DahuiInformation Systems (IS) use is a major dependent variable in IS research. Most researchers investigating IS use have focused on the initial adoption of IS. Few researchers have studied the continuous use of IS, despite its clear importance to theory and practice. If IS are adopted but usage does not persist, there arc critical implications for systems development and implementation strategies. The present research investigates the reasons people use an IS on a continuing basis and the factors that contribute to continuous use. Based on theories and findings from various fields, this study predicates that an IS can be regarded as a social actor in a social relationship with the IS user. The research questions to be answered are: (a) Can relationship theories help explain continuous IS use? (b) What are salient relationship factors in the context of continuous IS use? Three relationship theories. The Investment Model from social psychology. Commitment-Trust Theory from relationship marketing, and a multidimensional construct of commitment from organizational behavior, are integrated to develop a research model of continuous IS use. It is proposed that an IS user's commitment to the IS and his trust in the IS are salient factors that influence his continuous use intention and behavior. It is also hypothesized that (I) commitment mediates the effects of satisfaction, quality of alternatives, and investment size on continuous use intention, and that (2) trust mediates the effects of communication quality and opportunistic behavior on continuous use intention. An empirical study using a survey methodology was conducted to test the research model. Web site was selected as a special type of IS. and students who used web sites were sampled as IS users. Using the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) method, data analysis showed that all the research hypotheses were supported. The analysis also suggested a modification of the research model by hypothesizing an association between satisfaction and trust and an association between satisfaction and continuous use intention. The findings of the study will contribute to post-IS adoption research and practice, human-computer interaction research, and business-to-consumer relationship marketing.