SENIOR HIGHLIGHT: Maggie lewis, Lauren Powell, Destinee Sinclair, mason wheeler, and Allison tice!

Over the next few days, we will be highlighting the Psychology Department graduating seniors! This post will highlight 5 seniors: Maggie Lewis, Lauren Powell, Destinee Sinclair, Mason Wheeler, and Allison Tice.

Maggie Lewis

Maggie will be working full time as a Recovery Advocate at an inpatient psychiatric facility in my home state. 

Maggies favorite memory was completing mock clinical assessments in Dr. Hilton’s Clinical Psych course. 

Lauren Powell

After graduation, Lauren is continuing her education at the University of Lynchburg where she will obtain her M.Ed. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling! 

Laurens states: “My favorite memory of the psychology department is doing research with Dr. Buchholz over the course of four years as a part of the research fellows program!”

Destinee Sinclair

Destinee will be attending East Carolina University pursuing a Master’s degree in Industrial-Organizational Psychology. 

Mason Wheeler

Mason plans to pursue her PhD at Virginia Tech’s Fralin Biomedical Research Institute, studying Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health.

Allison Tice

Allison will be attending Virginia Tech (Roanoke Higher-Ed Center) to receive her Masters of Arts in Counselor Education. She plans to then potentially pursue a PhD and hopefully open her own counseling practice. 

When asked about her favorite memory she stated “I love pie-a-prof! Always such a fun event!”

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SENIOR HIGHLIGHT: Carolynn Bructo, Katherine Caldwell, Alyssa Mattson, grace page, and Vanessa Pearson!

Over the next few days, we will be highlighting the Psychology Department graduating seniors! This post will highlight 5 seniors: Carolynn Bructo, Katherine Caldwell, Alyssa Mattson, Grace Page, and Vanessa Pearson.

Carolynn Bructo

Carolynn plans to go back home to Columbus, Ohio, where she will take a gap year and then apply to Ohio State’s School Psychology program.

Katherine Caldwell

Katherine plans on working until going to graduate school to get her masters. She plans to become a marriage and family counselor in the future.

Alyssa Mattson

Alyssa will be taking an IL course as she resumes her LSAT studies and completes her research practicum. She plans to apply to law schools and resume her job search following her move to Washington, D.C.

Grace Page

Grace will be a part of Liberty University’s Marriage and Family Counseling Master’s program while also working full-time for a local non-profit organization.

Vanessa Pearson

After graduation, Vanessa will be teaching elementary school in Franklin County and will soon start a graduate school program on school counseling. 

Vanessa states: “My favorite psychology related memory is from Dr. FVN’s introduction to psychology class. During the lesson on conformity. We started the class standing up in order to see if anyone would come in late and see if they would sit down or stand up just because everyone else was. It was a fun activity to begin the lesson.”

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Congratulations Curt Kingery: Honors defense!

Kingery ’21 with his family while rocking his H.I.P (honors in psychology) shirt!

Congratulations to Curt Kingery ’21 for the successful defense of his Honors in the Major Project entitled “Tradeoffs In Designing Ideal Leaders: Does Political Ideology Predict Preferences for Dominant and Prestigious Leaders?” His supervisor, Dr. Lindsey Osterman was joined by committee members, Dr. Danielle Findley Van-Nostrand and Dr. Stacy Wetmore to oversee his defense.

Kingery ’21 and his committee members on his Zoom defense

Project Abstract:

Politicians rise to positions of significant influence through different displays of leadership behavior. Two distinct patterns for climbing social hierarchies, and obtaining leadership roles, have emerged from recent research: dominance-oriented and prestige-oriented strategies. These represent profoundly different navigation tactics that accomplish a singular goal, which is to ascend status hierarchies. Which strategy most effectively gains status depends heavily on contextual factors (such as environmental instability and perceptions of intergroup conflict) and the characteristics and needs of followers. Political candidates’ abilities to display cues consistent with one of these orientations, in the appropriate contexts, will impact perceptions of them by potential supporters who are critical to their political success. Evolutionary and social psychological research suggest followership evolved as a strategy to overcome multifarious cooperation and coordination problems from social group-living. Hence, left-leaning or right-leaning political followers’ preconceptions about the world may predispose them to defer status to qualitatively different leaders. In Study 1, we investigated whether or not political orientation reliably predicted a preference for traits associated with dominance or prestige-oriented leader. Participants designed ideal leaders, purchasing various characteristics with 3 different budgets. The different budgets unveiled trade-offs made under constraints. In Study 2, we replicated findings from the first study, and extended the understanding of circumstantial triggers for different leader orientations by assessing the role of—self-perceived—socioeconomic (in)security and pathogenic vulnerability on revealed preferences for an ideal leader.

Congratulations again to Curt Kingery ’21 on a successful defense and we look forward to seeing all you accomplish in the future!

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Congratulations Kaillee philleo: honors defense!

Philleo ’21 with her H.I.P (honors in psychology) shirt and bound copy of her final paper!

Congratulations to Kaillee Philleo ’21 for the successful defense of her Honors in the Major Project entitled “The Effect of Transitions on Parasocial Relationships: An Examination of Surrogate Use in College Freshmen During the COVID-19 Pandemic”. Her supervisor, Dr. Lindsey Osterman was joined by committee members, Dr. Todd Peppers and Dr. Stacy Wetmore to oversee her defense.

Project Abstract:

During the COVID-19 pandemic and with the increasing amount of time people spend interacting with media figures through online or broadcast platforms, an interest in examining parasocial relationships has become more popular. Specifically, little research has been conducted on parasocial relationships and their role during a period of transition. For that reason, this study set out to examine the role of surrogates within first-year college students. Specifically, we were interested in examining what interactions existed between engagement in activities (e.g., parasocial, social, and nonsocial), campus connectedness, loneliness, and closeness. While focusing on first-year college students, we also took into consideration the current pandemic and the state of the college during the time of this study. Results echoed previous research findings in that loneliness was found to be correlated with parasocial interactions. Moreover, we found partial support for our hypotheses through the findings that (1) loneliness mediated relationships between campus connectedness and parasocial and social activities, as well as (2) social activities mediated the relationship between campus connectedness and loneliness. Moreover, even though our moderation analyses did not result in significant main interactions, parasocial surrogate use was suggested within our data set. While some clear limitations were present within this study, we offered ways in which future research could continue to examine these variables.

Congratulations again to Kaillee Philleo ’21 on a successful defense and we look forward to seeing all you accomplish in the future!

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Congratulations class of 2021!

Congratulations to the Class of 2021! With graduation being less than 24 hours away, we want to invite, family, friends, community members, faculty, staff, alum and anyone else to join us in celebrating our 2021 Psychology Department graduates.

Using this link you may record a video, upload an image, leave a message or select some options for gifts to share with our 2021 graduates.

As a member of the class of 2021, I speak on behalf of all other 2021 graduates in thanking the entire psychology department for guiding us and being there for us these past four years. We certainly would not have gotten to where we are today without you all and thank each of you for all of your support throughout these last four years.

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CONGRATULATIONS Grace Page: HONORS DEFENSE!

Grace’s defense on 5/19/2021!

Congratulations to Grace Page ’21 for the successful defense of here Honors in the Major and Honors Distinction Project titled, “Examining marriage: A comparison of perceptions based on religious affiliation and religiosity” (abstract below). Her supervisor, Dr. Darcey N. Powell, was joined by her committee members, Drs. Travis Carter and Kristi Hoffman, to oversee her defense.

Grace with her Honors in Psychology t-shirt!

Project Abstract:
Relationships are oftentimes formed based on the similarities two individuals have in dating relationships; for example, individuals may look for similarities in religion and religious values as a way to choose a partner or to determine the dynamics of their relationships. Furthermore, research has indicated that there is a positive correlation between the similarity of partners’ religious influences and the quality of their relationship. Many religious individuals may often be misunderstood, however, due to existing religious stereotypes. Participants (N = 256) in this study were recruited to take an online survey through Prolific. Using six different beliefs/behaviors, this study examined participants’ self-reports of beliefs and behaviors, whether participants’ reported beliefs aligned with their behaviors, and if participants accurately perceived the beliefs of other religions/worldview’s beliefs. Results indicated that individuals of certain religions/worldviews shared similarities and differences in their beliefs and behaviors. Additionally, two thirds of the behaviors examined aligned with participants’ beliefs and, typically, participants did not accurately perceive the beliefs of others overall.

Congrats, again, to Grace Page ’21 on a successful defense! We look forward to seeing all that you accomplish in the future!

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Senior highlight: Kaillee Philleo, celine taylor, kelsey markle, and melissa DeShaw!

Over the next few days, we will be highlighting the Psychology Department graduating seniors! This post will highlight 4 seniors: Kaillee Philleo, Celine Taylor, Kelsey Markle, and Melissa Deshaw!

Kaillee Philleo

Congratulations! After her graduation, Kaillee plans to move to NYC to pursue her Master of Arts in Forensic Psychology. When asked about her favorite psychology-related memory, she couldn’t pick just one, so she gave three! 1. defending her Honors in the major project 2. presenting at SPSP in New Orleans, and 3. work

as a student assistant and “being able to enjoy the April Fools day pranks, share memes with the department, and enjoy all of Ellen’s lovely treats during the holidays”.

Celine Taylor

Celine plans on taking a gap year so she can gain more experience through an internship! Then, she is looking to apply to master programs that involve either mental health counseling or applied developmental

psychology. Her favorite classes in the psych department were the ones that Dr. Powell taught. “She has been such a positive influence and has helped me figure out the track I want to take with psychology due to her passion for her field. The human development concentration has been a great experience and I appreciate all the help she has given me over the past four years!” Congrats!

Kelsey Markle

Congratudlations Kelsey! We are so excited to hear that you will be starting to work in the Roanoke area as a Case Manager for Blue Ridge Behavioral Healthcare! Wishing you the best.

Melissa DeShaw

After her graduation, Melissa plans to go to graduate school for school psychology! We are very proud of you and cannot wait to see what the future holds! Congrats.

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Congratulations Carly schepacarter: honors defense!

Schepacarter ’21 with the art she produced for this project and later donated to HopeTree Family Services

Congratulations to Carly Schepacarter ’21 for the successful defense of her Honors in the Major and Honors Distinction Project entitled “Art for Healing: Experiencing Art Improves Emotion after a Negative Event”. Her supervisor, Dr. Travis Carter was joined by committee members, Ms. Katherine Shortridge, Dr. Darcey Powell, and Mr. Wes Brusseauto to oversee her defense.

Schepacarter ’21 with her art in Olin Galleries

Project Abstract:

Existing research suggests that making art has benefits for mental health, but can other interactions with art still help people (Henderson et al., 2007)? This project endeavors to address the relationship that individuals have with art, and determine if varied interactions with art can improve one’s emotional state—especially for participants primed to recall a negative life experience. Participants in the first study were primed to recall negative memories prior to completing an art rating task, the Discrete Emotions Questionnaire (DEQ; Harmon-Jones et al., 2016), and an art experience questionnaire. The second study primed participants with the same negative writing task prior to their completion of either art or non-art task. Ultimately, interacting with art evoked more positive emotions in both studies. The results of the research studies and a literature review were used to create works of art for a family services center in Salem, VA.

Congratulations again to Carly Schepacarter ’21 on a successful defense and we look forward to seeing all you accomplish in the future!

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Website: http://www.roanoke.edu/inside/a-z_index/psychology

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ALumna Highlight: kara lissy ’11 book publication

Kara Lissy ’11 recently published her book “Adult Children of Alcoholic Parents: An Evidence-Based Workbook to Heal Your Past.”

Lissy ’11 received her bachelor’s in Psychology at Roanoke and studied closely under the late Dr. Curt Camac and his wife Dr. Mary Camac, as well as completed her senior thesis relating to alcoholism under the supervision of Dr. Angela Allen.

This book is a workbook that is designed to walk people who grew up with alcoholic or otherwise dysfunctional parents through healing and recovery using vignetted, psychoeducation, and evidence-based exercises.

Book Description

Your healing is in your hands with this evidence-based workbook for adult children of alcoholics

As the child of a parent or caregiver with an alcohol use disorder, you may still feel the impact of your experiences. Take the next steps on your healing journey with this workbook full of therapeutic techniques, journal prompts, quizzes, and other short exercises and activities to empower adult children of alcoholics. The self-guided approach allows you to work at your own pace as you examine how your experiences have shaped you, learn coping skills, grow in self-love, and build healthy relationships free from the harmful patterns you’ve experienced.

  • Supportive exercises―Find exercises for combating negative self-talk, setting boundaries, working through guilt or shame, developing intimacy with yourself and others, and more.
  • Proven techniques―Rebuild using effective therapeutic methods including cognitive behavioral therapy, assertiveness training, and other empirically supported tools.
  • Realistic examples―Read stories from other adult children of alcoholics who have had similar experiences to help you remember that it isn’t your fault and you’re not alone.

Discover evidence-based techniques to help you heal in this workbook for adult children of alcoholics.”

If you are interested in purchasing this book, check it out here, and congratulations again Kara Lissy ’11 for this amazing accomplishment!

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CONGRATULATIONS Sydney Caulder: HONORS DEFENSE!

Congratulations to Sydney Caulder ’21 for the successful defense of her Honors in the Major Project entitled “Exploring Sensation Seeking and Psychopathy Factors: Associations with Risk-Taking Behaviors and Aggression”. Her supervisor, Dr. Danielle Findley-Van Nostrand was joined by committee members, Dr. Lindsey Osterman and Dr. Dane Hilton to oversee her defense.

Project Abstract:

Previous research has established a link between sensation seeking behaviors, aggression, risk-taking, and psychopathic personality. The links between both sensation seeking, psychopathy, and risk-taking are well-established, but literature on factors that might mitigate these associations (when healthier coping mechanisms are implemented) is limited. The current study examined associations between sensation seeking, psychopathy, risk-taking and aggression and aimed to extend this research by exploring whether activities that would fulfill sensation seeking tendencies in a safer way may buffer against risk-taking and aggression. Several moderation analyses were conducted to explore the effect of recreational risk-taking on outcomes of aggression and maladaptive risk-taking with predictors of sensation seeking and psychopathy. Correlations replicated previously established associations between these constructs, but the results of many of the moderation analyses were insignificant. However, recreational risk-taking moderated the association between sensation seeking and maladaptive risk-taking, but not as expected. Findings may serve as a good starting point to attempting to understand less maladaptive risk-taking mechanisms.

Congratulations again to Sydney Caulder on a successful defense and we look forward to seeing all you accomplish in the future!

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Blog: https://psych.pages.roanoke.edu/
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CONGRATULATIONS Carolynn Bructo: HONORS DEFENSE!

Carolyn defending her project on zoom before her committee.
Carolyn defending her project on zoom before her committee.

Congratulations to Carolynn Bructo ’21 for the successful defense of her Honors in the Major Project! Her project was titled  “STEM Students’ Perceptions of Changes in Motivation and Identity During a Global Pandemic: A Self-Determination Theory Perspective”. Her supervisor, Dr. Danielle Findley-Van Nostrand was joined by committee members, Dr. Darcey Powell and Dr. Matthew Fleenor to oversee her defense.

Project Abstract:

Student persistence in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) particularly deserves close attention given the alarming attrition rates from such programs. Education and academic achievement are vital pathways to personal and professional success, and the importance of promoting STEM students’ success to enter this field is arguably more evident yet challenging amid a global pandemic. In this study, we aimed to use self-determination theory (SDT), an established theoretical framework in educational psychology that states that individuals’ internal motivation strongly corresponds with the satisfaction of three specific psychological needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness), to understand better the perceptions of emerging adults’ satisfaction of these needs during an ongoing global pandemic, and how these needs along with science identity relate to intrinsic motivation, achievement, and intention to persist in STEM. We examined STEM students’ satisfaction levels of both general and domain-specific needs using an online survey (N = 60). As hypothesized, students perceived their domain-specific needs of competence, autonomy, and relatedness satisfaction to decrease from pre-pandemic to currently. There was mixed support for other hypotheses. Perceived satisfaction in autonomy, across all measures, was significantly positively related to intrinsic motivation. Students’ perceived satisfaction of competence, autonomy, and relatedness in basic and domain-specific measures were significantly associated with amotivation. Science identity was the most significant predictor of intention to leave STEM. Finally, academic achievement was negatively related to perceived autonomy satisfaction. We hope the results from this study can help us better understand how to promote the success of these students.

Bructo’21 with her Honors in the Major t-shirt.

Congratulations again to Carolynn Bructo on a successful defense and we look forward to seeing all you accomplish in the future!

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Meditation and Its Effects on Social Understanding

Carolynn Bructo, Rachel Freshwater, Kaillee Philleo, and Carly Schepacarter (Advisor: Danielle Findley-Van Nostrand)

Background Information

We know from previous research that meditation can provide positive outcomes for the individual, such as more prosocial behaviors, but can separate forms of meditation impact our self-reported feelings of compassion, self-compassion, and self-efficacy (Condon et al., 2013)?  We wanted to test this theory with mindfulness meditation that focused on the self, and compassion meditation intended to focus on others. Additionally, a large body of work recognizes the impact of meditation in longitudinal studies but lacks work on more immediate influences of meditation behavior. Through this research, our goal was to address the connection between different types of meditation performed the same day on various self-report scales about understanding the self and reacting to other people. We believed that participants who were asked to perform compassion meditation would report higher levels of compassion than those in the mindfulness meditation and control groups. We also believed that participants who performed mindfulness meditation would report higher levels of self-compassion and self-efficacy than the compassion meditation and control groups.

Methods

113 participants were recruited through Roanoke College’s SONA system in the psychology department and received 1 SONA credit for participating in all parts of the study. Participants then completed a survey in which they were randomly assigned into a group to practice compassion meditation, mindfulness meditation, or listen to a set of random facts for a control group. All of these presented as videos with a dark screen and were three minutes long. All participants then completed questionnaires to test their self-efficacy, compassion, state and trait-based self-compassion, and demographics following their interaction with the videos.

Results and Discussion

The compassion measure proved to be the only statistically significant result of the research. Participants who completed the mindfulness meditation had higher reported levels of compassion than the control group. This may have been true because the mindfulness video encouraged participants to be aware of how they were feeling in the moment, which could have led participants to feel more benefits of meditation than the compassion meditation video, which encouraged a bit more introspection and thoughts of less positive things. When we feel positive, we feel more likely to give, which could have led to this result. We attribute this to our inability to have face-to-face sessions and for experimenters to monitor the behaviors of participants while they were instructed to engage in the various types of meditation. Our meditation conditions did not seem to have an effect on compassion towards self and self-efficacy. Contrary to our expectations, the compassion meditation condition, specifically, did not have any effect on compassion towards others either. These results could indicate that a brief, isolated exposure may not be enough to see the results of increased compassion towards self and others, and self-efficacy.

Reflection

The biggest takeaway is that we likely were unable to find research initially about this topic because there are not strong effects between short-term meditation and social understanding. While instant meditation may quickly reduce stress, compassion (leading to prosocial behaviors) may take time to develop. That being said, our findings were based on a short-term study as well as one specific sample and should be further investigated among larger and more broad sample size. Through this process we learned how to think like researchers, quickly complete a comprehensive literature review, design and carry out a research study, and critically interpret statistical results. We also were able to implement writing strategies and effectively work in a group setting to apply our research knowledge learned throughout the psychology program.  

Conclusion

The main finding from our study suggests that college students’ use of a short mindfulness meditation had higher levels of compassion towards others than those in a control group. Those who completed a compassion meditation did not significantly impact their compassion towards others, self-compassion, or self-efficacy.

References

Condon, P., Desbordes, G., Miller, W., & DeSteno, D. (2013). Meditation Increases

Compassionate Responses to Suffering. Psychological Science, 24(10), 2125-2127. Retrieved February 24, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/24539409

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The impact of social isolation and loneliness on emotion regulation

Allison Tice, David Casson, Kelsey Markel, and Sydney Brenner (Advisor: Dr. Danielle Findley-Van Nostrand)

During the middle of a global pandemic, one cannot help but wonder about the implications of social isolation and loneliness on emotion regulation. Emotion regulation is the ability to control one’s emotional expression or outlook on a specific situation. As a group, we are interested in this topic after further investigating prior research that discusses the impact of social isolation and loneliness on emotion regulation strategies. Specifically, we looked at the emotion regulation strategies cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression. Cognitive reappraisal is the ability to change the way an individual can perceive a situation and change their emotions. Expressive suppression is the change in visible emotional state or the ability to change the way one feels about an emotion. For example, someone who is feeling angry might attempt to disguise their anger and display themselves in a happy or content state. We assessed these two strategies to see if cognitive reappraisal or expressive suppression was more prevalent in individuals. As a group, we were also very interested to see if there were any gender differences between emotional regulation strategies.

To see any valid relationships between loneliness. social isolation, and emotion regulation, our research team created a survey through software called Qualtrics. In our study, we had 102 total participants who completed the survey. The participants are all Roanoke College students, and many of them are either taking a PSYC-101 or INQ-260 class. The questionnaire consisted of forty-one questions. At the beginning of the survey, we included questions asking about participant’s demographic information and participants’ experiences with COVID-19. The remaining thirty-six questions were taken from three different scales. The University of Los Angeles Loneliness Scale measured participants’ levels of loneliness (Russell, 1996), the Lubben Social Network Scale measured levels of social isolation in participants (“Version of the LSNS”, 2021), and the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, measured levels of participants’ emotion regulation strategies, specifically expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal (John & Gross, 2004). Using these evidence-supported scales allowed us to study any possible associations between social isolation, loneliness, and emotional regulation strategies.

We predicted that with an increase in social isolation and loneliness, one’s ability to regulate their own emotions using either cognitive reappraisal or expressive suppression will be potentially more challenging because difficulties such as feelings of loneliness could be suppressed through expressive suppression which has shown to increase sensitivity regarding the intensity of the emotion exhibited. On the other hand, the negative feelings could also be curbed through cognitive reappraisal which has shown to have benefits associated with positive emotional outcomes as a regulation strategy. We were correct in expecting a higher level of difficulty regulating emotions, as more individuals who had less interaction with family and friends were likely to feel more lonely in general. Expressive suppression is moderately correlated with feelings of loneliness, which indicates that those who experienced the feeling of loneliness were more likely to suppress their emotions. Our hypothesis also suggested that our COVID-19 survey questions would play a role in our results, as well. The analysis of these questions indicates that a negative impact from COVID-19 is associated with higher levels of loneliness. Specifically, regulating emotions can be harder when feelings of loneliness and social isolation are present. Our results also show that the expressive suppression of negative emotions can be utilized to prevent exhibiting negative feelings, even though this method may not be mentally sound or healthy. These findings are important in the sense that it is helpful to understand ways in which social isolation and feelings of loneliness can be exacerbated, but also which strategies and methods can be used to help reduce the severity of negative feelings to more effectively regulate emotions.

We thought that the results were interesting in the way that there were differences between expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal based on gender. A limitation to the study would be the ratio of females to males in this study. With a female dominating sample size, we thought it would be interesting to see if there would be any changes in the results if the ratio of the genders were more equal.

What we hope you, the reader, takes away from our study is that there is a connection between loneliness/social isolation and the ability to regulate one’s emotions. Our analysis of results collected from participants’ answers to the UCLA Loneliness Scale and the Lubben Social Network Scale, shows loneliness is moderately correlated with higher levels of expressive suppression. Furthermore, based on the results from our study, those who feel lonely or isolated are more likely to suppress their emotions. Many individuals have felt the lingering impact of COVID-19. The public recognizes that social isolation is necessary to stop the spread, but this does not dismiss the fact that researchers recognize aspects of COVID-19 will have large implications for individuals, both interpersonally and emotionally. We hope that this study also brings forth further research that explores how individuals can remain connected while decreasing feelings of social isolation and loneliness.

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Social Media, Social Comparisons, the Self, and Relationships

Destinee Sinclair, Katie Caldwell, Megan Karau, and Brianna Webster (Advisor: Danielle Findley Van-Nostrand)

Background Information

Social media is generally perceived as a fun activity to pass time, but there is no denying that social comparisons are abundant and practically unavoidable and can have detrimental consequences to the health and well-being of those who internalize them. Our study focused on young adults’ social comparison orientation via social media and its relation to self-esteem and relationship insecurity. Previous research has found that individuals tend to compare themselves more to others on social media when they spend more time on social media and this might have a negative association with self-esteem and subjective well-being (Vogel et al., 2014). Furthermore, research also indicates that social comparison behavior and increased social media use influences our perceptions of relationship quality and satisfaction (Neyer & Voigt, 2004; Yacoub et al., 2018). It was our purpose to explore and establish distinct relationships between social media use and social comparison behavior, self-esteem, relationship insecurity, and mistrust in an effort to further understand the implications that social media and mechanisms related to social media has on our concept of self and our relationships.

Methods

For the purpose of our study, we specifically focused on social comparison orientation via social media and its relation to self-esteem and relationship insecurity. We hypothesized that our target population of college students spend significant amounts of time on social media, comparing themselves to others, and therefore negatively impacting their relationship quality and self-concepts. In particular, we expected that engaging in upward social comparisons (evaluating others as above or better than you) would be related to problems. To test this theory and measure social media usage and its relationship with self-esteem and relationship quality, we first recruited participants online to participate in our survey which utilized various measures. Regarding our measures of social media usage, we used a subset pulled from the Media and Technology Usage and Attitudes scale. To measure upward and downward comparisons on social media, we used the Scale for Social Comparison Orientation, and for self-esteem we utilized the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. For the last measure in our study, two subscales from the CAT-Personality Disorder Scales Static Form and a 7 item-measure to measure relationship insecurity and mistrust. 

Results and Discussion

We expected social media to have a positive relationship with both social comparison measures and have a negative relationship with self-esteem, relationship insecurity, and mistrust. What we found was not as expected, social media use was only mildly positively associated with social comparison orientation; the relationship between social media use and upward/downward social comparisons was not significant. We also found that social media use was positively related to self-esteem but only when controlling for both social comparison measures, but there were no significant relationships shown between social media use and relationship insecurity or mistrust. Next, we looked for the associations of social comparison orientation and upward/downward social comparisons with self-esteem, relationship insecurity, and mistrust. We hypothesized that social comparison behavior would negatively correlate with self-esteem, relationship insecurity, and mistrust, however, what we found was slightly different.  We found a negative relationship between self-esteem and both social comparison measures that were moderate in strength but found positive associations between both our social comparison measures and relationship insecurity and our mistrust measure. Our results imply that social media use might be directly related to social media orientation, but that there might be another mechanism about social media use that influences self-esteem, relationship insecurity, and mistrust. This indicates that it is not necessarily social media use that directly impacts our self-esteem, relationship insecurity, and mistrust, but rather the activities we are engaging in, like social comparison, on social media that then become harmful to ourselves and our relationships.

Reflection

This (almost) semester-long project has taught us a lot about the process of completing and finishing out a study. The process of working with different minds was so interesting and honestly added so much to our project. When deciding what we wanted to do, we really bonded over the topic we chose to study. Social media is something that is really big in all of our lives just as much as relationships and the self. When creating the study itself, the process of finding the right questions and specific scales for our study was a little difficult. When creating a study, you want everything to come across the way that you intended it to. The best part of this process was getting our data back and being able to analyze it.

References

Neyer, F. J., & Voigt, D. (2004). Personality and social network effects on romantic relationships: a dyadic approach. European Journal of Personality, 18(4), 279–299. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.519

Vogel, E. A., Rose, J. P., Roberts, L. R., & Eckles, K. (2014). Social comparison, social media, and self-esteem. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 3(4), 206–222. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000047

Yacoub, C., Spoede, J., Cutting, R., & Hawley, D. (2018). The Impact of Social Media on Romantic Relationships. Journal of Education and Social Development, 2(2), 53-58. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1490763.

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Congratulations Morgan Hamilton: Honors Defense!

Congratulations to Morgan Hamilton ’21 for the successful defense of her Honors in the Major Project! Her Project was titled “Family Dynamics and Parents’ Perceptions of Adolescent Social Self-Efficacy”. Her project advisor, Dr. Darcey Powell was joined by committee members, Dr. Hilton and Dr. Jackl, to oversee her defense.

Project Abstract: Throughout adolescence, youth experience increasing autonomy in many aspects of their lives, but especially in social functioning. Previous studies focused on shifts prior to and following adolescence, but less research about the effects of family systems on adolescent-aged children exists. The current study examined how parents’ perceptions of their family’s communication, expressions of affection, reactions to their child’s negative emotions, and their child’s coping is associated with perceptions of their child’s social self-efficacy. Parent participants (N = 146) whose eldest children were between 10 and 15 years old were recruited from English-speaking countries to complete an online survey via Prolific. Analyses revealed associations between affection, family communication, and parents’ perceptions of their reactions to adolescents’ negative emotions. Furthermore, associations between coping, affection, and social self-efficacy were found. Lastly, associations between affection, family communication, reactions to adolescent’s negative emotions, and coping were found with social self-efficacy. Examining the impacts of family dynamics on the child outside of the home adds to the literature about family dynamics and gleans further insight for family therapists about the impact of familial dynamics.

Hamilton ’21 with her Honors in the Major shirt

Congratulations again to Morgan Hamilton on a successful defense and we look forward to seeing all you accomplish in the future!

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Summer Internship Opportunity: Camp Starfish

Looking for ways to get more involved this summer? Or looking to build your resume/CV and experience? Then check out Camp Starfish!

Camp Starfish fosters the success and growth of children with emotional, behavioral, and learning problems by providing individualized attention as part of structured, nurturing, and fun group programs.

You may be thinking, well why should I work at Camp Starfish? Working at Camp Starfish

  • Allows for the development of transferable skills in supporting children with emotional, behavioral, and learning troubles
  • Offers the ability to participate in a paid internship to earn course credit and develop professional skills
  • Will receive a salary that includes: room and board, weekly laundry service, paid time off, and a travel stipend for far-traveling staff
  • Offers transportation to/from Boston
  • Will experience networking opportunities with current/past Starfish staff
  • Will receive hands-on training and professional development
  • Offers a chance to work with a diverse group of young people from around the world, and make lifelong friends

If you are interested in learning more about interning/working at Camp Starfish this summer contact Jessica Eades at (719) 640-9773 or Jessica.eades1257@gmail.com, as well as if you have further questions contact their staffing team at (978) 637-2617 or staffing@campstarfish.org

Moreover, follow their Instagram @campstarfishstaff and check out their website for more information and to apply today!

Learn more about completing an internship for credit at Roanoke College by going to our webpage or by contacting Dr. FVN at findley@roanoke.edu

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Senior Highlight: Kira Hunt, Abbie Joseph, David Casson, and Carly Schepacarter!

Over the next few days, we will be highlighting the Psychology Department graduating seniors! This post will highlight 4 seniors: Kira Hunt, Abbie Joseph, David Casson, and Carly Schepacarter!

Kira Hunt

Congratulations to Kira! After graduation, she plans to take a gap year working as a teacher’s assistant while home. Then, she plans on applying to graduate programs in preparation to become a Certified Child Life Specialist. Kira’s favorite memory of the Psychology department was attending the psychology reception for alumni weekend. “It was interesting to hear stories from alumni who had the teachers that I had. It’s also really fun to watch the psychology faculty interact with each other.”

Abbie Joseph

Congrats Abbie! After graduation, she will be attending the University of North Carolina at Charlotte for her master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Abbie’s favorite psych-related memory has been the opportunities to gain research experience and being able to carry out her own research study. She is “very thankful for Dr. Powell and all her patience and guidance!”

David Casson

Congratulations to David! His post graduate plans are to move to Easton, MD for the summer, since his folks have purchased a new house there recently. He will be working a job there over the summer and hopefully gaining resume experience while he plans what to do for a graduate school transition in the near future. David’s favorite memory of the Psychology department  was when he took a Drugs and Behavior class with Dr. Allen. “This class was extremely interesting, thought provoking, engaging, and fun all along the way. Learning how varying forms of substances affect different parts of the brain and behavior in unique ways was something I did not think I would learn at Roanoke.”

Carly Schepacarter

Congrats Carly! In the fall, Carly will be pursuing her Master’s in Art Therapy degree at George Washington University. She hopes to work part-time in a research lab or human services position as she works toward her degree. Carly’s favorite psych-related memory has been working in Dr. Carter’s research lab for the past 3 years! “Our lab meetings have been the highlight of my week each semester and I always appreciated the support I received from my lab partners and Dr. Carter in my time here.”

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How PSYC 110 Students Pursued Their Purpose

If you are a freshman or sophomore wrapping up this semester thinking, “What am I going to do after I graduate in a few years?” or are wondering, “What should I be doing these next few years to reach my career goals?” then make a note to add PSYC 110 to your Spring 2022 schedule!

PSYC 110 is a P/F course taught each spring that helps students consider their post-graduation pursuits, as well as clarifies for students the resources available to them within the department and across the college. In a typical (i.e., face-to-face) semester, students also shadow a professional in a career of interest to them. In this semester’s remote format, students complete two informational interviews with professionals in careers of interest to them. After completing the interviews, the students created posters summarizing what they learned.

Continue reading for some examples of the posters from this semester’s students.

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Paranoia and Attitudes on Covid-19 Health Guidance

Alise Bennett, Savannah Brown, Emily Gabrielian, & Alyssa Mattson (Advisor: Dr. Chris Buchholz)

Background

A little over a year ago, our world was quickly turned upside down once the news broke that we were heading into a global pandemic due to the coronavirus. With the rise of the pandemic, we also saw a rise in beliefs in conspiracy theories related to the coronavirus. COVID-19 skepticism became extremely present across the United States as some people demonstrated that they did not believe in the seriousness of the virus or that the pandemic was a hoax (Latkin et al., 2021). Recent research has demonstrated that COVID-19 skepticism is strongly associated with a decrease in engagement in COVID-19 prevention behaviors, such as isolating at home, social distancing, and wearing a face mask (Latkin et al., 2021).

Additionally, the research conducted on COVID-19 skepticism noted that the skepticism was associated with political conservation because there was a relationship between the sources of news that individuals consumed, the negative attitudes towards government spending on public health, and believing in conspiracy theories (Latkin et al., 2021). This current study aims to examine the relationship between paranoia levels and compliance in COVID-19 guidelines, such as wearing facial coverings and social distancing, in order to better understand the conspiracy theories surrounding the coronavirus. The possible limitations that may be present throughout this study are that we used a convenience sample from the Roanoke College student population, meaning that our data is not representative of the general population. Additionally, it is possible that when we were analyzing the data that we overlooked certain responses that may have been associated with the objective of the study. Overall, the findings of this study may reveal how paranoia contributes to these greater sociological problems as well as how to effectively address conspiratorial thinking as it affects our daily lives.

Method

Participants. 96 participants were sourced from either INQ-260 Psychology or Psychology 101 classes at Roanoke College. The students were notified about the survey through SONA, a subject pool software, and were given credit for completing the survey thoroughly and fully.

Materials. We used a survey platform called Qualtrics to build and conduct the following survey:

  • Experimental condition: Participants were assigned to one of two conditions: an experimental condition (a short video from John Hopkins University on COVID-19 vaccinations), or a control condition (a short video from Harvard University on mindfulness.)

Following the video, all participants were directed to the main survey:

  • Paranoia scale: a 10-item scale assessing paranoid tendencies.
  • Dark triad scale (Jonastan and Webster, 2010): a 12-item scale assessing the three dark triad traits, such as narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy.
  • Covid Compliance scale: an 11-item scale created based on the Health Belief Model assessing compliance with COVID-19 public health guidance. Additional questions included whether participants had previously contacted COVID-19 and their access to protective measures.

Procedure. The survey was live for a roughly three-week period. The participants were randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions (videos). After finishing the video, participants will move on to the questionnaire part of the survey. In this section, participants will answer a series of questions ranging from personality and paranoia to questions regarding COVID-19 prevention practices engaged in. At the end of the survey, participants were given the option to redirect to another survey to enter personal information to receive credit. Following the data collection period, data was analyzed and interpreted by our group.

Results

A 2 x 2 between-subjects analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to examine the effects of paranoia on compliance with COVID-19 public health guidance. It was predicted that participants who viewed the vaccination video would be more likely to respond positively to questions relating to compliance with COVID-19 guidelines. A second hypothesis suggested that those who score high in paranoia will score low in compliance to COVID-19, given a perceived tendency towards conspiratorial thinking and a resulting mistrust or disbelief in the effectiveness of COVID-19 preventative measures.

Our results indicated that the experimental condition (watching the John Hopkins University on COVID-19 vaccinations) did not significantly improve compliance with COVID-19 guidelines. As shown in Figure 1, those low in paranoia did show increased compliance with COVID-19 preventative measures; however, this difference was not statistically significant.

Figure 1. Experimental condition and paranoia on compliance with COVID-19 public health guidance.

Between both experimental conditions, narcissism and psychopathy were two dark personality traits found to be significant in compliance with COVID-19 guidelines. Those scoring high in narcissism were most likely to report low compliance with COVID-19 public health guidance (see Figure 2). Similarly, those high in trait psychopathy had much lower compliance with COVID-19 protective measures (see Figure 3).

Figure 2. Experimental condition and paranoia on compliance with COVID-19 public health guidance.

Figure 3. Psychopathy and paranoia on compliance with COVID-19 public health guidance.

While our main hypotheses could not be confirmed by this study, our exploratory variables yielded results in line with our predictions. One may attribute our findings to the multiple ways in which paranoia might play out given the context of COVID-19. For example, someone scoring high in paranoia may score low in compliance given a mistrust in these guidelines, or high in compliance given anxiety around contracting the virus. Regarding our experimental conditions, perhaps a short video, regardless of context, is not a “strong enough” stimulus to influence how people would respond to survey questions relating to an event such as COVID-19.

In contrast, our findings suggest that individuals high in narcissism and psychopathy are more likely to disregard COVID-19 public health guidance, in line with behaviors generally observed from individuals with these traits. In the case of narcissism, a preoccupation with one’s own interests, regardless of the consequences or harm it may cause others, may explain this relationship. A general disregard for others and their safety may characterize this relationship as applied to psychopathy.

Reflection

After completing this assignment, as a group, we have a better understanding of research methods overall. While we have participated in other experiments, now we more fully grasp how to design an experiment, clean and analyze data, and write formally for research. Essentially, this class allowed for the hands-on application of the knowledge we learned over our college careers. Additionally, we believe that it may be beneficial if this study was replicated in order to see if our results would be significant or stay the same. It is certainly possible that our participants were only completing our survey for credit in their course, which may have resulted in students not taking the time to provide complete answers to our questions.

Conclusion

The main findings of this study indicate that the Roanoke College students that participated in the survey demonstrated that paranoia had an effect on compliance to COVID-19 guidelines; however, this finding was not significant. Additional findings indicate that the relationship between both experimental conditions and the two dark personalities (narcissism and psychopathy) and compliance to COVID-19 guidelines was found to be significant. Moving forward, academic institutions may be interested in expanding upon this study in order to further understand the association between beliefs in conspiracy theories about COVID-19 and paranoia in order to see if there is a significant relationship. Additionally, it would be very interesting if academic institutions also conducted future studies on the association between narcissism and psychopathy and beliefs in conspiracy theories about COVID-19.

References

Latkin, C. A., Dayton, L., Moran, M., Strickland, J. C., & Collins, K. (2021). Behavioral and psychosocial factors associated with COVID-19 skepticism in the United States. Current Psychology, 1-9. doi: 10.1007/s12144-020-01211-3.

The Effects of Music Genres on Aggression

Luke Harbison, MaryDrew Collier, Hunter Andrews,  and                    Alice Chandler (Advisor: Dr. Buchholz)

Background Information

Why are people inclined to form mosh pits at heavy music concerts (Thrash, Death Metal etc.) but wouldn’t at something like a Barry Manilow concert? Do various genres have respectively different effects on human emotions and behavior?  Prior research studies have investigated these questions with findings supporting the supposed answer. Some studies show heavier music made subjects more likely to report negative feelings while other studies demonstrated that songs with negative lyrical content can make people report a higher frequency of aggression (Shafron & Karno, 2013; Anderson & Carnagey, 2003). In this study, we predicted the conditions of aggressive music (Drowning Pool-Bodies) or soft music (Claude DeBussy-Clair De Lune) would produce different results of aggression levels, specifically a greater level when listening to aggressive music compared to soft and no music conditions. Our study specifically focused on state aggression rather than trait aggression, while also taking gender differences into account (male, female) to look for possible interactions. The key aspect of this study revolves around examining participant’s current aggression levels.  By examining the participants’ current levels, we should gather results on the immediate effect music has on a person.

Methods

Our study was conducted entirely online. We created a survey on the website Qualtrics and received our participant pool by providing class credit for people in introductory-level psychology courses through a website called SONA. The survey respondents listened to one of three music clips: clip 1 being no music, clip 2 being Clair De Lune by Claude DeBussy, a representation of soft music, and clip 3 being Bodies by Drowning Pool, a representation of aggressive music. Respondents then answered questions related to their current emotional state, particularly how aggressive they felt. Results were put into a Jamovi where it was analyzed. In addition, we also asked respondents to tell us their gender (male and female) so we could look for possible interactions. We had two other gender selections (prefer not to say, non-binary) but they were not used in the analysis.

Results and Discussion

In order to evaluate the effects of gender and music genres on aggression, a 2 (male/female) x 3 (no music, easy listening, and aggressive music) between-subjects analysis of variance was conducted. There were 15 questions related to aggression and 5 related to negative feelings in general. Our analysis found that there was no difference in aggression level across the three groups. We did find a difference between men and women but it was not found to be significantly different. Additionally, we found no interaction between the main groups.

We anticipated that there would be significant findings, but our results show the likelihood of no change in aggression level being present.  However, other potential factors are present including the music clips being too short or respondents not paying attention and rushing through the survey. Although females reported higher levels of aggression, this could be affected by other factors that weren’t accounted for. While we did not have any significant findings, this information could benefit future researchers who want to examine aggression and its relationship to music. If this study were to be conducted in the future, we could potentially lengthen music clips and control the setting of where the survey is being taken at. Ultimately, we found no strong evidence that aggressive music poses a difference in state aggression in comparison to no music and soft music.

Figure 1. The effects of music genres on aggression.

Figure 2. The effects of gender on aggression.

Figure 3. The interaction between gender and music genres.

Reflection

Based on this study’s findings, we can conclude that our hypothesis was not supported. In examining the possible reasons for this, we determined there are multiple possibilities. The phenomena of mosh pits may be related to other factors such as drinking and the influence of people being around other people who are all in a highly stimulating environment. Additionally, our study had flaws that could result in missing the real effect that could be present. Our findings do not firmly guarantee that no effect occurs, conducting a different study could potentially identify it. Another important piece of information that we learned was how complex the process of creating a study, getting the study approved, gathering respondents, and compiling data all truly was. Going forward, researchers in the fields of musicology and the behavioral sciences may be able to use our research to examine the phenomena of music genres on behavior even further than us.

References

Anderson C.A., Carnagey N.L. (2003). Exposure to Violent Media: The effects of songs with violent lyrics on aggressive thoughts and feelings. Journal of Personality and social Psychology, 84(5), 960-71. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.84.5.960

Shafron, G.R., & Karno, M.P. (2013). Heavy metal music and emotional dysphoria among listeners. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 2(2), 74-85. doi: 10.1037/a0031722.

 

 

Can You Control It?

Curtis Kingery, Lauren Powell, and Alex Upright (Advisor: Dr. Buchholz)

Background Information

“Genius Grant” award winner Angela Duckworth recently asked, “What is the single most significant choice a human being can make in their life?” Distinguished Psychology researcher David Buss responded, “The selection of a long-term mate.” Since he is esteemed for research in human mating, he might be biased to answer that way. However, it is undeniable that mating is a critical part of human existence. In mate selection, most traits and qualities are considered essential by both sexes (e.g., kind, trustworthy, intelligent), yet some traits are prioritized more by one sex than the other. These differences in preferences on traits most valued in an opposite-sex partner are well documented, along with an evolutionary rationale for their existence. On average, men disproportionately favor youthfulness and physical attractiveness in female mates. Women’s preferences show an asymmetry, on average, towards a man’s ability to acquire resources (Buss, 1989; Li et al., 2002; Walter et al., 2020). These traits may vary in one’s ability to control them. That is, there may be a significant difference between the ability to control one’s level of attractiveness versus the amount of control one has over their earning potential. Prior research on this topic found just that. Traits highly associated with female mate value are perceived as less controllable, by females, relative to traits highly associated with male mate value—and their perceived controllability by men (Ben Hamida et al., 1998). However, there is individual variation within the sexes on how they perceive their control over these traits. That is, males will vary in the extent to which they perceive control over characteristics suggestive of resource acquisition ability. We sought to account for these individual differences, generally, in perceived controllability of traits and, specifically, on critical mating dimensions. (Mis)perceptions of control could inform our understanding of documented differences in human behavior between males and females.

Methods

Participants were recruited from a pool of current students attending Roanoke College through the College’s Psychology department SONA system, primarily students enrolled in PSYC 101 or INQ260-PY who were eligible for extra credit received a half-credit as compensation for the participation. There were 26 male participants and 69 female participants, for a total of 95 participants who completed the study.

Our survey was administered using Qualtrics where participants were asked to respond to a variety of different scales, including the Locus of Control, the Scale for Intrasexual Competition (specified for either male or female, depending on the participant’s indicated gender) and a controllability questionnaire. Participants in the manipulation group were shown eight images, one of a person’s body ‘before’ working out and getting fit, and the second of the same person’s body ‘after’ working out. This particular manipulation was used in order to explore the possibility of intervention where countermessaging could increase people’s perceptions of control of traits that they wish to improve. Participants were also asked demographic questions such as gender identity and sexual orientation.

Results and Discussion

We expected to find a relationship between one’s level of intrasexual competitiveness and their perceived controllability of myriad traits. Although the relationship wasn’t strong enough to make any reliable conclusions, we did see a reduction in perceived controllability as participants, on average, increased in intrasexual competitiveness. See figure 1.

Figure 1: The effect of intrasexual competitiveness and sex on self-perceived controllability

Figure 1 implies that as one focuses more on competing with same-sex peers for mates, their perceptions of control over their traits could be influenced by that preoccupation.

Similarly, we expected our experimental manipulation, where half of the participants saw body transformation images, to increase that group’s average perception of controllability. We did not find evidence for this relationship. This could mean that our manipulation wasn’t strong enough or it could imply that perceptions of controllability may be stable traits within individuals that are unlikely to be influenced in this manner.

As predicted, we did find that males and females, on average, showed substantial differences in their general perceptions of controllability of traits. See figure 2.

Figure 2: Self-perceived controllability of traits by sex

Moreover, we found a statistically significant result for differences in males’ and females’ perceptions of controllability, specifically on the dimensions regarded as critical to men when choosing a female mate. That is, traits related to youthfulness and attractiveness were considered more controllable by men than women. There was no evidence for these sex differences on perceptions of controllability for resource acquisition traits. These sex differences in perceptions of controllability could inform our understanding of behaviors that show increased or decreased occurrence in one sex versus the other (e.g., mate preferences, risk-taking, aggression, jealousy, and several psychological disorders such as depression and eating disorders).

Reflection

Unfortunately, while we were unable to find a strong enough relationship between competitiveness and controllability to make any conclusions, we were still able to determine a statistically significant difference in males’ and females’ perception of how well they can control their youthfulness and attractiveness.

Conclusion

We are all different people with different experiences and lives. There is no need to stress unnecessarily about being as attractive or successful as possible for fear of missing out on the perfect spouse. There is no need to compare yourself to others or feel that you must complete with them to find “the perfect mate.” Be patient, focus on the things that will not be changed by time, such as humor or personality, and make sure that you can be the best you can be, and the right person will be there at the right time.

 References

Ben Hamida, S., Mineka, S., & Bailey, J. M. (1998). Sex differences in perceived controllability of mate value: An evolutionary perspective. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75(4), 953–966. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.75.4.953

Buss, D. M. (1989). Sex differences in human mate preferences: Evolutionary hypotheses tested in 37 cultures. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 12, 1–14. doi:10.1017/ S0140525X00023992

Li, N. P., Bailey, J. M., Kenrick, D. T., & Linsenmeier, J. A. W. (2002). The necessities and luxuries of mate preferences: Testing the tradeoffs. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82(6), 947–955. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.82.6.947

Walter, K. V., Conroy-Beam, D., Buss, D. M., Asao, K., Sorokowska, A., Sorokowski, P., Aavik, T., Akello, G., Alhabahba, M. M., Alm, C., Amjad, N., Anjum, A., Atama, C. S., Atamtürk Duyar, D., Ayebare, R., Batres, C., Bendixen, M., Bensafia, A., Bizumic, B., … Zupančič, M. (2020). Sex differences in mate preferences across 45 countries: A large-scale replication. Psychological Science, 31(4), 408–423. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797620904154

 

 

Congratulations Kira Hunt: Honors Defense

Kira wearing her new Honors in the Major t-shirt!

On May 10th, Kira Hunt successfully defended her Honors in the Major and Honors Distinction Project. Congratulations Kira! The psychology department faculty/staff and your fellow departmental student assistants are so proud of you.

Her project was titled: “Ignoring Red Flags: Self Efficacy and Self-Disclosure in Online Romantic Relationships”. In addition to a successful defense, Kira completed an impressive two-lab project working in both Dr. Powell and Dr. Nichols’ labs. Her work beautifully combines aspects from multiple disciplines, including psychology and sociology.

Kira defending her project on zoom!

Project Abstract:

With the advancement of technology, dating has changed drastically, especially for emerging adults who make up a considerable portion of online daters. However, dangers surrounding dating someone met online (e.g., misrepresentation) are a major concern. Additionally, without the social cues usually gathered from face-to-face interactions, individuals often have intense feelings of intimacy and are more willing to self-disclose more than in face-to-face interactions. The first study aimed to examine if romantic self-efficacy and target attractiveness impacted the likeliness to self-disclose in online initiated relationships. There were no significant differences in likelihood to self-disclose based on romantic self-efficacy or target attractiveness. However, likeliness to disclose did appear to be affected by whether misleading information was included, and the depth or level of the information being disclosed. The second study utilized electroencephalogram (EEG) to determine if target attractiveness and presence of misleading information impacted brain activity. There were no significant differences in brain activity based on target attractiveness or vignette type, nor was amount of self-disclosure associated with brain activity. Although most of the hypotheses were unsupported, the current study suggests more research needs to be done to determine what characteristics of individuals or of potential partners might influence online dating behaviors (e.g., falling victim to online romance scams).

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Internship Opportunity: Therapy 4 the People

Therapy4thePeople is a new non-profit making it easier to access mental healthcare in the US by focusing on three of the biggest barriers to care: cost, complexity, and cultural mismatch. They are currently looking for an intern to help plan their social media content and manage accounts on Twitter and Instagram. Therapy4thePeople – Find mental health support that fits your budget and unique needs.

About the Organization

Therapy4thePeople is building the first national directory of free and low-cost mental health services that goes beyond therapy to include overlooked sources of support like chat services, support groups, research studies, and self-guided programs. They also bring expertise and insider knowledge onto their blog, where they publish guidance on navigating the mental health system and finding culturally sensitive care.

We are excited to expand our communications team to ensure that we get these important resources to the people who need them most.

More information about the organization can be found on their website, on their About Us page. You can also check out their existing Twitter account, @therapy4theppl.

About the Role

From the organization: “We’re looking for an intern to help plan our social media content and manage our accounts on Twitter and Instagram. The intern will play a key role in disseminating our work to help-seekers and mental health professionals on these platforms. Their primary role will be to create social media content that promotes our directory and blog and provides updates on our work. We’re also looking for someone who will find, create, and share online content aligned with our organization’s values (e.g., health equity, culturally sensitive care, evidence-based treatments, social justice). The intern will track social media engagement to help us maximize Therapy4thePeople’s impact and reach. One year commitment is required, with a flexible schedule of approximately 3-5 hours per week, including regular check-ins with our Executive Team. If looking for additional hours or experiences for internship credit, this role can be expanded.”

Role Qualifications:
  • Proficient with major social media platforms including Twitter and Instagram (TikTok is a plus!).
  • Strong writing skills and creativity.
  • Experience creating visual content (e.g., infographics, memes).
  • Experience with the mental health field (e.g., psychology student, provider, consumer).
  • Commitment to increasing access to affordable and culturally sensitive mental health services.
  • Self-motivated, able to work independently, and collaborative.
  • No formal higher education is necessary – instead, enthusiasm for and sincere interest in improving access to mental health services is most important.
Why Join Therapy4thePeople?

This organization says the role includes the following benefits…

  • Work on a collaborative team of early career professionals in psychology and social work who are committed to supporting and mentoring the intern.
  • Take on a fulfilling and impactful role that promotes mental health access.
  • Flexible schedule and independence.
  • Position is unpaid, however we’re happy to fulfill credit hours for internship coursework or write letters of recommendation in the future

Application Process

Interested applicants should submit a resume and cover letter that includes information about relevant mental health and social media experience, and two sample Twitter posts (preferably with visual content). Applications are due Sunday June 6. Applicants should expect to hear back regarding their application within two weeks, and if deemed a strong fit for the role, will be invited to a Zoom interview with the Therapy4thePeople co-founders. Please direct all inquiries about this position and application materials to:
Therapy4thePeople Executive Team
therapy4thepeople@gmail.com

“Our work centers the needs and experiences of people from marginalized groups, especially Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) and those from lower income backgrounds. We know that we can only achieve our mission if our team reflects the communities we aim to serve. Applicants who bring a diversity of lived experiences and identities are strongly encouraged to apply.” – Therapy4thePeople

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Get Connected!

Bloghttps://psych.pages.roanoke.edu/
Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/rcpsychology
Twitter: @RC_Psychology
Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/RC-Psychology-8140491/about
Website: http://www.roanoke.edu/inside/a-z_index/psychology
Instagram: rcpsychology

A Short Guide to Finals

https://nileswestnews.org/64958/uncategorized/tips-and-tricks-for-finals/

Finals are quickly approaching being less than two weeks away. Now is the perfect time to start studying and putting the finishing touches on final projects and assignments that will be due. Of course, this time of the year is not without stress especially now during the pandemic.

Keep reading for more helpful advice about stress management and how to succeed during the finals.

College-wide events:

https://www.roanoke.edu/events/chair_massages_may_12?recurrence=5%2F12%2F2021

Chair Massages

Chair massages for students for stress relief!

When: Monday, May 10th, Wednesday, May 12th, & Friday, May 14th 2021

Time: Sign up here 

Where: The WELL (Alumni 216)

Below are some tips on completing projects and how to study to avoid stress and turn in quality work.

How to Prepare

The best way to make sure that you have adequate time to start and complete all of the assignments is to come up with a plan.

  1. Write down all due dates for finals assignments/projects and dates and times of final exams.
  2. Schedule times to study or complete parts of the project and make sure to follow the schedule. Getting in the habit makes sure that you’re not waiting until the last minute.
  3. During scheduled times make a plan on what you want to accomplish. Breaking large assignments or studying for finals in smaller sections, not only reduces stress but makes it easier to remember.
  4. For studying, always review what you studied the day before. If on day one, you studied chapters 1 and 2, on day two, you would quickly review chapters 1 and 2 but focus on the next chapters.
  5. Make sure that you start early enough so you have ample time.

Take Breaks

The best rule to follow for work/life balance is 80/20 where 80% is focused on academics and 20% is focused on having fun. Studying for long periods of time can be draining and isn’t efficient in the long run. Breaks can be as simple as meditating or going for a walk. Just remember to come back to studying when you’re mentally prepared.

Ask for Help

Sometimes it can be really helpful to talk with other classmates for clarification. This can also apply to professors. It’s better to ask before to make sure you’re prepared for the test. In addition, being able to explain the material to someone else and having them understand it is a good strategy for understanding and remembering the material.

Where to Study

Now that 9 AM to 9 PM access to other residence halls has been restored to all residential students, you can use the study lounges across campus to your advantage. Make sure the spot you pick to study is quiet and free from distractions. The library also has some great resources such as the individual study rooms on the top floor and group study rooms in the basement.

These are just some tips and not all of these work for everyone. This is also by no means a comprehensive list. Starting early will help you figure out which strategies work best for you. Remember the psychology department is cheering you on!

Good luck with finals and enjoy your summer!

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Get Connected!

Bloghttps://psych.pages.roanoke.edu/
Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/rcpsychology
Twitter: @RC_Psychology
Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/RC-Psychology-8140491/about
Website: http://www.roanoke.edu/inside/a-z_index/psychology
Instagram: rcpsychology

Congratulations to Psychology Department Award Winners for 2021!

Please join us in congratulating the following students for their hard work and dedication within the psychology department! These students were honored in a ceremony on May 3, 2021. 

Senior Scholar in Psychology 

Autumn T. Cox

The psychology major who has the highest overall grade point average (a minimum of 3.2 is required) after completion of at least 27 units is designated as the Senior Scholar in Psychology.

 

Karl W. Beck Memorial Prize

Kaillee M. Philleo and Carly M. Shepacarter

A monetary prize that is made possible by gifts of friends in memory of the late Karl W. Beck, who was a professor and chair of the Roanoke College Psychology Department. This award is given for excellence in Psychology.

 

Curt R. Camac Student Research Award

Sydney M. Caulder, Kira N. Hunt, Abbie L. Joseph, and Curtis E. Kingery

From 1986 to 2012, Dr. Curt Camac was one of the leaders of a campus-wide movement to increase student-faculty research. As an inspiration to both students and faculty, he helped pave the way for the tremendous growth in research experiences we offer at Roanoke. This grant was developed in his honor to support student research.

           

The Charles E. Early Award

Aaron J. Rogers

In honor of Dr. Charles Early, retired Professor of Psychology, who taught at Roanoke from 1988

to 2015, this award goes to the student who best embodies Dr. Early’s love of learning, powerful work ethic, keen intellect, warm humor, and deep appreciation for pie.

 

The Jan H. Lynch Human Development Concentration Award

Morgan J. Hamilton, Abbie L.  Joseph, and Grace E. Page

In honor of Dr. Jan Lynch, retired Professor of Psychology, who taught at Roanoke from 1980 to 2015. This award goes to the students who have demonstrated excellence in the Human Development Concentration.

 

Outstanding Junior Psychology Majors 

Hunter J. Andrews, Kyra R. Baker, Benjamin S. Campbell,  Alice R. Chandler, Jessica A. Fritz, Emily P. Gabrielian, Kaitlyn S. Gifford, Carey S. Linkous, Claire M. McDonald, Sara C. Moody, Naomi H. Painter, Carrie N. Pohlman, Kaeley E. Pollock, Kristi R. Rolf, Hannah N. Schetselaar, Rebecca A. Shannon, and Sarah E. Young

Recognition given to the junior students who are deemed by the faculty as having demonstrated outstanding academic achievement and potential for continued success in Psychology.

 

Outstanding Student in the Neuroscience Concentration

Kira N. Hunt

This award is given annually to the student who has demonstrated outstanding academic achievement in the neuroscience concentration and has shown potential for continued success in the field.

 

Psi Chi Achievement Award 

Kaillee M. Philleo 

A gift given to the Psi Chi member who has best exemplified excellence in scholarship, leadership, and service. The recipient is chosen by student and faculty members of Psi Chi, the honorary society in Psychology.

 

Again, please wish these students congratulations if you see them around campus! Additionally, thank you to our amazing faculty and staff who help guide our students towards success! We are so very grateful to you!

 

 

Get Connected!

Blog: https://psych.pages.roanoke.edu/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rcpsychology
Twitter: @RC_Psychology
Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/RC-Psychology-8140491/about
Website: http://www.roanoke.edu/inside/a-z_index/psychology
Instagram: rcpsychology

Summer Job/Internship Opportunity: Camp Easterseals

Are you looking for a summer job? How about an internship experience? Well, look no further, because Camp Easterseals is hiring summer staff!

 

The Assistant Director states, “Camp Easterseals is an overnight camp that serves both children and adults with disabilities.  We offer our campers and staff an unique, fun, and supportive camp experience.  Many of our staff have called their time at Camp Easterseals a “Life-Changing” experience. Right now, we are currently hiring staff to join us for Summer 2021. (Per the Governor’s recent executive orders Overnight Summer Camps can open and operate starting May 1st).”

 

Camp Easterseals is currently looking for camp counselors, volunteers, horse specialists, lifeguards, and overall just people looking for fun and to make an impact.

 

More information can be found here,as well as feel free to contact Dr. FVN for ways in which these opportunities can translate into internship credit.