Melissa DeShaw, Abbie Joseph, and Grace Page (Advisor: Danielle Findley-Van Nostrand)

Background Information

In the midst of a pandemic, how have our relationships changed? Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we suspected that the number of individuals in long-distance relationships may have increased as a result of quarantine and travel restrictions. We also thought this may have disproportionately affected college students who were used to being in geographically-close relationships when they were living on their school’s campus. This shift from being in a geographically-close relationship to being in a long-distance relationship could be a major source of stress that ultimately decreases couples’ satisfaction, and we were interested in considering how this relational dissatisfaction could potentially be reduced in such unprecedented times. After researching relational maintenance behaviors, we decided to examine how the education and implementation of relational maintenance behaviors in college students’ romantic relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic could potentially affect satisfaction in their relationships. Relational maintenance behaviors refer to the several behaviors used to maintain a healthy and successful relationship (Weigel & Ballard-Reisch, 2001). The most common way to measure this is by using the Relational Maintenance Strategy Measure (RMSM) which contains five groups of strategies: positivity, openness, assurances, social networks, and sharing tasks (Stafford & Canary, 1991). These behaviors have been proven to increase satisfaction levels when implemented into a relationship (Weigel & Ballard-Reisch, 2001). Satisfaction was measured using the Relationship Assessment Scale (RAS) which describes several relationship dimensions such as love, problems, and expectations (Hendrick, 1988). Several studies have been conducted on how the use of relational maintenance behaviors correlates with satisfaction, but there are no studies that have used an experiment to test this like ours did. An experiment allows us to determine whether something like relational maintenance behaviors may have a causal impact on satisfaction, and whether they may be able to change through intervention.

Methods

The 36 participants were recruited through Roanoke College’s SONA system in the psychology department and received 2 SONA credits for participating in all parts of the study. Participants had to have been in a romantic relationship. Participants signed up for a Zoom session where they were asked to complete a pre-survey in order to measure satisfaction within their current relationships. After the completion of the pre-survey, participants were asked to return to the Zoom session. Those in the experimental group were read a list of examples from the RMSM and encouraged to try some in their current romantic relationships, and those in the control group were asked to watch a 5 minute video about helpful habits for better sleep. The purpose of a control group is to have a base-line to be able to compare the changes in the experimental group to. Within a week, all participants received an email with a link for a post-survey, and their satisfaction in their romantic relationship was once again assessed using the RAS.

Results and Discussion

Contrary to expectations, participants in the experimental group, who received the informational session on relational maintenance behaviors, did not report more satisfaction at the time of the post-survey compared to the time of the  pre-survey. Additionally, participants in the experimental group did not report more satisfaction than participants in the control group at the time of the post-survey. However, we did find that participants in both the control and experimental groups who reported using more relational maintenance behaviors at the post-survey also reported more satisfaction at the post-survey. Participants in both the control and experimental groups who reported more use of relational maintenance behaviors at the time of the pre-survey also reported more use of these maintenance behaviors at the time of the post-survey. Also, participants from both groups who reported high satisfaction at the pre-survey also reported high satisfaction at the post-survey.

Relational Maintenance Behaviors (Post-Survey) 

Satisfaction (Post-Survey)

Due to our very low sample size, the inability to have face-to-face sessions, and the inability for us experimenters to monitor the relational maintenance behaviors of participants, we did not find what we had previously expected. We did, however, find what previous studies have found, as the participants reported more satisfaction when they used more relational maintenance behaviors in their romantic relationships.

Reflection                                                                                                                                 

Through this process, we gained some much needed insight on what was beneficial to the success of this study, as well as what kept the study from reaching its full potential. First, we believe this study aimed to measure important variables and believe that a replication or partial replication of this study could result in significant and useful findings. Considering the majority of our findings were insignificant, however, we noted a few different aspects of our study that, if changed, may have led to greater significance. For example, the outcome of our study might have been significantly different if everything did not have to be done through online surveys and Zoom sessions. Additionally, we believe that the pressing SONA credit requirement for Psychology students at Roanoke College may have encouraged students to complete our survey for the sake of completion, rather than to provide quality data. If this study were replicated in the future, it would be important to ensure that the participants take the study seriously.

Conclusion

While we found that an information session regarding relational maintenance behaviors given to some participants did not significantly increase satisfaction, we found that all participants seem to already implement these maintenance behaviors in their relationships. The main finding from our study suggests that the use of relational maintenance behaviors in college students’ romantic relationships is associated with their relationship satisfaction, even during a global pandemic.

References

Hendrick, S. S. (1988). A generic measure of relationship satisfaction. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 50(1), 93–98.

Stafford, L., & Canary, D. J. (1991). Maintenance strategies and romantic relationship type, gender and relational characteristics. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 8(2), 217–242.

Weigel, D.J., & Ballard-Reisch, D.S. (2001). The impact of relational maintenance behaviors on marital satisfaction: A longitudinal analysis. Journal of Family Communication, 1(4), 265-279.

Ethan Abbott, Sydney Caulder, & Morgan Hamilton (Advisor: Danielle Findley-Van Nostrand)

Background Info

Emerging adulthood is a highly exploratory and developmentally rich period of time in an individual’s life. Between the ages of 18 to 29 is a big transitional phase for young adults to develop their own identity and find their niche in society. There are frequent changes experienced through changing vocations, relationships, and living situations attributed to a significantly reduced sense of stability as compared to parts of life prior to and after emerging adulthood (Arnett 2000; Arnett et al., 2014). In order to properly evaluate how young adults are handling the transitional stressors of their lives coupled with the extenuating circumstances brought on by COVID-19 pandemic, we wanted to see if individual’s locus of control helped mitigate stress. Specifically, an internal locus of control refers to how much one believes their actions are the result of their own efforts, relative to the belief that outside events influence their future (external locus of control). If individuals perceive to have some form of control over a situation then they will find the aversive stimulus to be less threatening.

Another facet of stress management we wanted to measure is an individual’s intolerance of uncertainty. This term refers to the cognitive ability to compartmentalize unknown potentially negative events so that it won’t hinder mental health or physical actions. This anticipation of uncertainty derives from the desire for predictability and an active engagement in seeking certainty and paralysis of cognition and action in the face of uncertainty (Birrell, Meares, Wilkinson, & Freeston, 2011). Emerging adults will also employ various coping strategies for the sake of their physical and psychological well-being. Coping mechanisms are vital towards a young adult maintaining proper mental health because poor maintenance of mental thoughts and adjustment can lead to instability. The four types of core coping mechanisms that young adults utilize are problem-solving, support-seeking, escape, & accommodation (Skinner, Edge, Altman, & Sherwood, 2003). Given the current circumstances of the world at large, we thought it wise to conduct and evaluate a survey administered to the Roanoke College student body to see how these three facets of handling mental stressors are being employed amongst the young adult student population. For the sake of our study we used locus of control and intolerance of uncertainty as predictors of various coping mechanisms.

Methods

Participants in this study were recruited from current students at Roanoke College through the Psychology Department’s SONA system. Participants who were enrolled in psychology courses eligible for extra credit upon participation received one half credit. In total, 145 participants completed the study.

The survey was administered online through Qualtrics where participants were asked demographic information including gender, race, age, year in school, and impact of COVID-19. Previously constructed measurements were used for locus of control, intolerance of uncertainty, and coping. For locus of control, the 24-item Multidimensional Locus of Control Scale was used. Intolerance of uncertainty was measured using the 27-item Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale. Finally, coping was measured using the 60-item COPE inventory.

Results & Discussion

We decided to focus on intolerance of uncertainty and locus and control as predictors of coping in a multiple regression model. A multiple regression model demonstrates the strength of two individual predictors controlling for one another while also controlling for shared variance in a single outcome. The COPE inventory included different subscales focusing on specific forms of coping such as focus on venting of emotions or active coping. There were several significant associations found among the different subscales of coping when intolerance of uncertainty and locus of control were used as predictors. And, in each set of tests, there was a large effect size, meaning that these explained a fairly significant amount of the individual type of coping.

Having a higher internal locus of control was related to greater use of managing distress emotions rather than dealing with the stressor (positive reinterpretation) and less use of behavioral disengagement when controlling for intolerance of uncertainty which was related to less use of positive reinterpretation and more behavioral disengagement.

Internal locus of control was unrelated to, and intolerance of uncertainty positively related to both venting of emotions and mental disengagement.

There was one subscale, active coping, that was positively related to internal locus of control but unrelated to intolerance of uncertainty. See the figure below for an overview of regression results across models; the positive sign indicates as the level of the predictor increases the level of the outcome also increases, and the negative sign indicates that as the level of the predictor increases or decreases the outcome would do the opposite of that increase or decrease).

We also explored differences of mean scores between males and female participants. There were no significant differences based on gender in internal locus of control and intolerance of uncertainty scores, or coping subscales of use of instrumental social support, positive reinterpretation, active coping or behavioral disengagement. There were significant differences in scores based on gender for the coping subscales of focus on venting of emotions, use of emotional support, and mental disengagement.

Our data collection and analysis produced logical results that were mostly as expected. Our research can open the door to future research on how different forms of coping may indicate how individuals perceive changes within their life or the amount of control they feel they have over those changes. This research was especially meaningful given the current COVID-19 pandemic and associated mental health difficulties. Intolerance of uncertainty and internal locus of control may be influential in encouraging adaptive forms of coping.

Figure: Visual Representation of Regression Results: Intolerance of Uncertainty and Internal Locus of Control as Predictors of Forms of Coping.

Reflection

Creating a study which was interesting to all of us and able to be done efficiently through remote learning certainly posed a tough challenge to our group. Initially we thought a study more focused on the current challenges for emerging adults amidst the COVID-19 pandemic would be interesting, but we ultimately decided emerging adults face many challenges with uncertainty regardless of if they are enduring a pandemic or not. The beginning stages were relatively easy to manage by dividing up the work and checking in on each other periodically, but as we started using Jamovi our difficulties took a turn. One of the many challenges posed due to remote learning was the opportunity to learn an entirely new data analysis application, Jamovi. Although Jamovi is user friendly when conducting data, we struggled getting it to be compatible with Qualtrics, and those problems were difficult to work through together. Ultimately these issues were ironed out through many meetings with our group and Dr. Findley-Van Nostrand via Zoom trying to figure it out. Although ultimately our outcome of our research was largely unchanged, it was difficult to manage each challenge together while completing our tasks remotely, but I think we all understood the value of good communication and patience through completing this experience remotely.

References

Arnett, J.J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: a theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American Psychologist, 55(5), 469–480.

Arnett, J.J. (2014). The new life stage of emerging adulthood at ages 18-29 years: implications for mental health. The Lancet Psychiatry, 1(7), 569–576.

Birrell, J., Meares, K., Wilkinson, A., & Freeston, M. (2011). Toward a definition of intolerance of uncertainty: A review of factor analytical studies of the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale. Clinical Psychology Review, 31(7), 1198-1208. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2011.07.009

Skinner, E.A., Edge, K., Altman, J., & Sherwood, H. (2003). Searching for the structure of coping: a review and critique of category systems for classifying ways of coping.. Psychological Bulletin, 129(2), 216-269.

Caelan DeMuth, Mason Wheeler, Maggie Lewis (Advisor: Dr. Findley Van-Nostrand)

Background Information

Many changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic have affected well-being of individuals, with college students being uniquely affected given the changes in their academic environment. Specifically, remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way students are expected to learn, potentially driving issues related to focus and to social isolation. Younger students with less experience in university level education may be at higher risk of struggling more than their older peers during the pandemic (Ledman, 2008). In this study, we students’ psychological well-being in relation to their individual need for structure (that is, the extent to which they desire structure and clarity and find ambiguity troubling), academic motivation (the extent to which they are motivated to remain in and do well in school), and academic year. We expected responses that underclassmen or younger students would report higher levels of a need for structure and lower levels of academic motivation, and that both motivation and need for structure would predict well-being. As motivation in academic settings during the ongoing pandemic had yet to be assessed this research may be used to provide insight into how to provide resources to students during upcoming academic terms.

Methods and Measures

Participants for this research were individuals currently enrolled at Roanoke College. There were 115 participants, of which 39 were freshmen, 39 were sophomores, 21 were juniors, and 16 were seniors; 30 identified as male, 83 identified as female, and 2 identified as nonbinary.  Participants were recruited via the Roanoke College Psychology Department through SONA and led to an external survey using Qualtrics. Participants answered a combination of questions pertaining to their academic year, gender, and demographics in addition to questions intended to assess individual needs for structure, academic motivation and well-being. Questions pertaining to structure were taken from the Personal Need for Structure scale. Academic motivation was assessed via questions in the Academic Motivation scale. Psychological Well-Being scale was used to gauge the well-being of participants. Ultimately the three scales demonstrated relationships between individualized preferences for structure, mental health and motivation to remain focused and engaged in coursework during COVID-19.

Results and Discussion

This study was facilitated successfully, especially given the challenges of a nontraditional semester. Contrary to the initial expectation for this study, participants enrolled in their senior year reported the lowest scores for perceived wellness whereas underclassmen reported the highest scores for this criteria. Although students in lower academic years reported higher values of perceived wellness, responses from first years did have the largest standard deviation, suggesting that there was more variation among participants in lower academic years. However, it was found that there was no statistically significant differences when separating between  the psychological well-being subscales (autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relations, purpose in life, self-acceptance) between academic years.

Personal need for structure was unrelated to academic motivation. Academic motivation was positively related to psychological well-being in the era of COVID-19 learning. Academic motivation is the voluntary engagement with coursework in terms of intrinsic and extrinsic variables (Cerino, 2014), suggesting that those who can maintain high levels of motivation are likely also experiencing higher well-being in other areas. It was found that personal need for structure statistically significantly predicted the psychological well-being subscale of purpose in life, while academic motivation as a whole statistically significantly predicted the psychological well-being subscale of personal growth, and somewhat significantly predicted the psychological well-being subscale of autonomy. Overall, results suggest that need for structure and academic motivation during the pandemic are related to well-being, but this depends on type of well-being.

Reflection

This research study challenged each of us extensively throughout the duration of the semester. The first and largest obstacle we as a group encountered was transitioning Research Seminar class typically taught in person to a fully remote and functional formatt. We were given the additional task to complete the workload together across time zones via Zoom rather than have the ease of access to be able to meet whenever necessary in person. Our initial research topic was a much broader version of our final product, with the first intent to be to examine COVID-19 impact on wellness in all of its dimensions and definitions. This was evidently too broad as the eight clinical dimensions of wellness (Stoewen, 2017) would have introduced a myriad of confounds to our research. The goal of our work was to examine if academic motivation and perceived wellness had been impacted during a semester of exclusively remote learning.

As our study was conducted via online survey, the ease in accessibility for participants was likely beneficial to the recruitment process. The convenience of the survey being administered online allowed for more people to complete it on their own time. An additional positive to the survey being conducted online eliminated the risk of observer bias and made participants more comfortable by removing the risk of potential exposure to COVID-19. Despite the challenges of conducting research in a fully remote manner, our group was able to find significant associations within our data and report conclusive findings.

Conclusion

The main findings of this study indicate that college underclassmen are experiencing higher perceived wellness than upperclassmen in the era of COVID-19, and that personal need for structure and academic motivation only significantly correlate with three of the six psychological well-being subscales (purpose in life, autonomy, and personal growth). COVID-19 has caused significant changes to what is defined as a normal academic setting. With this knowledge moving forward, academic institutions may use this information to provide adequate mental health resources for students as well as modify course plans to proceed in more academically efficient means.

References

Cerino, Eric. S. (2014). Relationships between academic motivation, self-efficacy, and academic procrastination. Psi Chi Journal of Psychological Research, 19(4).

Ledman, R. (2008). Comparing student learning in online and classroom formats of the same course. Retrieved September 15, 2020, from https://absel-ojs-ttu.tdl.org/absel/index.php/absel/article/view/424/390.

Stoewen, D. (2017). Dimensions of wellness: Change your habits, change your life. Retrieved September 15, 2020, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5508938/.

Autumn Cox, Christian Galleo, & Celine Taylor (Advisor: Chris Buchholz)

Background Information

Our study investigated how COVID-19 suddenly reshaped the school environment and whether this change has influenced introverts’ and extraverts’ perceived performance differently. While previous research from Teichner, Areess, and Reilly (1963) has examined the relationship between one’s degree of extraversion and the impact noise has on performance, there has been little research into how COVID-19 has modified today’s learning environment. This study intended to examine the auditory changes COVID-19 has had on the work environment and how this has affected introverts’ and extroverts’, and their perceived performance. We hypothesized that introverts would be more adversely affected by their home’s auditory environment and that they would have a larger decrease in perceived performance from pre-COVID-19 to the present. Meanwhile, we predicted that extraverts would not be as adversely affected by the auditory environment and may even display a slight increase in their perceived performance compared to their pre-COVID-19 perceived performance rating.

Methods

Ninety-four participants from Roanoke College completed our online survey. Participants completed measures of introversion/extroversion, as well as a Perceived Performance Questionnaire, Change in Auditory Environment Questionnaire, and a Noise Sensitivity Questionnaire (measures how sensitive an individual is to auditory disruptions while working). Many of these scales were created to evaluate how variables such as auditory environment and perceived performance changed from before COVID-19 to now, so that we can examine whether perceived performance has been negatively impacted by environmental changes.

Results & Discussion

Our analysis revealed that our results supported several of our hypotheses; college students indicated that not only had their auditory environment become more distracting but that their performance had worsened during the COVID-19 crisis (see Figure 1). When evaluating the relationship between time period (Pre-COVID-19, Post-COVID-19), perceived performance, and auditory environment, we found that both perceived performance and auditory environment were negatively impacted by COVID-19. This indicates that COVID-19 is responsible for increasing the amount of auditory disturbances that are experienced while working and that it has also decreased students’ perceived performance.

Figure 1. The effect that time period has on auditory environment and perceived performance

Our results also supported our prediction that introverts would be more sensitive to noise disturbances, and that introverts would also have lower levels of post-COVID-19 perceived performance than extraverts would. A possible explanation for the poorer performance may be that introverts are more sensitive to noise disturbances, which means that an increase in auditory disruptions, caused by COVID-19, would result in this group’s poorer perceived performance. This supports Eysenck’s theory of personality, which theorizes that introverts’ performance would be more adversely affected by, in this case, their sensitivity to noise disturbances than extroverts would be (Eysenck, 1997). Therefore, the more sensitive an introvert (i.e. high introversion) is to noise the worse their perceived performance is, but the more sensitive an extravert (i.e. low introversion) is to noise the better their perceived performance is (see Figure 2). Overall, our results indicate that the current school environment has been detrimental to the introvert’s perceived school performance and should be changed.

Figure 2. The effect that introversion level has on an individual’s noise sensitivity and perceived performance after COVID-19.

Reflection

The data collection process was a limitation because we could only obtain participants through Roanoke College’s SONA system which limited our pool of participants. Our limitations also included a lack of accessible research, the convenience sample, and the necessity to develop many of our own measures. Although there is very little research available, we learned how greatly COVID-19 has impacted the work and school environment and believe that further efforts should be made to understand the impacts of this ongoing pandemic.

Conclusion

Our results indicate that the new work environment, initiated by COVID-19, has not adversely affected extraverts and their perceived performance, which suggests that they may be able to continue functioning in this work environment after the conclusion of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, our results also indicate that the new work environment has brought on higher levels of auditory distractions into the work environment, which have negatively impacted introverts and their perceived performance. Our results indicate that, as COVID-19 comes to a close, employers and schools should give introverts the opportunity to return to their work environment and to work in a quieter environment that maximizes their performance.

References

Eysenck, H. J. (1977). Personality and factor analysis: A reply to Guilford. Psychological Bulletin, 84, 405-411.

Teichner, W. H., Arees, E. & Reilly, R. (1963). Noise and human performance, a psychological approach. Ergonomics, 6, 83-97.

Aaron Rogers, Vanessa Pearson, Courtney Ashley, & Ayars Lamar (Advisor: Chris Buchholz) 

Background Information

Humans are in fact social beings by nature—in addition to food and water, we also need social interaction to be healthy. For instance, research shows that that social isolation can lead to an increase in mental disorders (Santini et al., 2020). When considering the Covid-19 pandemic, we have seen a divide between individuals through the promotion of social distancing and the temporary closure of recreational businesses such as movie theaters and amusement parks. Institutions have implemented guidelines that have affected college students to limit the spread of the virus on campus. These guidelines are seen in various ways such as online teaching, social distancing of 6 feet in food courts, and the elimination of sporting events. These necessary precautions from institutions to prevent the spread of Covid-19 have also decreased social connectivity. The point of this study is to determine if increased social isolation causes increased levels of depression and daily stress in college students.  There is limited research on the effects of social isolation from the pandemic on college students.

Methods

Our study included 52 college students as participants. In order to run the study, we had participants complete three questions on depression, daily stress, and social isolation. The participants went through each of the scales twice. The first time the participants completed the section, they had to reflect on how they remember themselves feeling before Covid struck around January of 2020. Once the participants completed each section reflecting back to January, they were given the exact same questionnaire but asked to answer it with how they are feeling now in the current semester. Researchers then compared their answers pre-Covid to how they were feeling post-Covid.

Results and Discussion

We found that both social isolation and daily stress increased during the pandemic; however, only the increase in stress was statistically significant (see Figure 1). We also found that depression showed an increase that was statistically significant from pre-Covid compared to post-Covid. (see Figure 2). This indicates, that contrary to our predictions, on average participants were not reporting significant increases in social isolation. However, this is an average and the reality is that some participants did see an increase. In conclusion, the increase in depression and stress is consistent with larger national trends and that is concerning.

Figure 1. Social Isolation and Daily Stress over time.

Figure 2.  Depression levels from pre-Covid to post-Covid.

Reflection

As a group, and individually, we have learned a lot about this pandemic and how it has affected the college-aged population in terms of depression and stress levels. A new normal has been set for the foreseeable future and that has been a tough pill to swallow for the Roanoke College community and for the entire world. All of us are upper-level college students, so we have seen the contrast between in-person schooling and online schooling, and it is not the same. We empathize with the new freshman because they may not have some of the same college experiences that we once had in a pre-pandemic world. Conducting this study and analyzing the data gave us an idea of how our community is feeling, and we cannot stress how important maintaining your mental health during these times are.

Conclusion

We would like people to realize how important it is to stay connected and to check up on each other during these extremely tough times. Being socially isolated has major effects on the psyche and realizing that is so important. Check in on your friends, family members, significant others, and try not to assume that everyone is doing okay during these times because more than likely someone is struggling.

References

Santini, Z. I., Jose, P. E., Cornwell, E. Y., Koyanagi, A., Nielsen, L., Hinrichsen, C., Meilstrup, C., Madsen, K. R., & Koushede, V. (2020). Social disconnectedness, perceived isolation, and symptoms of depression and anxiety among older Americans: A longitudinal mediation analysis. The lancet public health, 5(1), e62-e70.

Rachel Harmon, Emily Jones, Carter Smith, Shannon Blair Snyder, Kayleigh Walker

 (Advisor: Dr. Findley-Van Nostrand)

Background Information

There have been many studies conducted on attachment styles (i.e., characteristic ways of emotionally connecting with others) between parents and their children, and studies performed to evaluate romantic relationship satisfaction, but there are few studies combining the two concepts in young adults (Xia et al., 2018). Attachment style is developed through an individual internalizing their relationship, or lack thereof, with a primary caregiver in infancy and early childhood (Searle & Meara, 1999). We wanted to look at whether attachment style is associated with emerging adults’ current romantic relationship satisfaction. We also explored additional variables such as gender and length of the relationship. We chose to focus on individuals in emerging adulthood for several reasons. First, it is during this formative stage individuals are considering life-changing decisions regarding education, friendships, careers, and romantic relationships (Arnett, 2000). Second, romantic relationships in this stage differ from those experienced in adolescence because they tend to be longer in duration and more serious in intention (Arnett, 2000). Finally, little research has been done on emerging adults’ romantic relationships and our research can provide insight into this newly defined developmental stage.

Methods

Participants in our study were students from Roanoke College who were at least 18 years old and in a committed romantic relationship. Participants for this study were recruited through the Roanoke College Psychology Department via SONA, as well as within the greater campus community. Participants who were enrolled in a psychology course received a half SONA credit for participating. Eighty-five total participants completed the study.

Our study was an online survey through Qualtrics. Participants were asked to answer questions regarding gender, gender of their partner, their sexuality, age, relationship length, whether they and their significant other have “taken a break” and if so, the number of “breaks” they’ve taken. To measure attachment style, we used the 36-item Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised Questionnaire. Scores on the ECR-R were calculated to reflect overall attachment insecurity, and anxious- and avoidant-attachment security as subscales. For relationship satisfaction, we used the 32-item Couple Satisfaction Index.

 Results and Discussion

          As expected, participants with secure attachment style reported higher relationship satisfaction (see Figure below- low scores on the ECR-R indicate more secure attachment). Also as expected, attachment-related anxiousness and attachment-related avoidance explained a pretty large amount of relationship satisfaction. Contrary to expectations, the association between attachment style and relationship satisfaction was stronger for participants who identified as male compared to participants who identified as female. Additionally, participants who reported higher levels of attachment-related anxiety and attachment-related avoidance had been in their current romantic relationship for a shorter-duration compared to participants with secure attachment. However, participants who had been with their current romantic partner for a longer amount of time reported higher levels of romantic relationship satisfaction. Participants who had not previously broken up with their current romantic partner also recorded significantly higher levels of relationship satisfaction compared to those who had previously broken up or “taken a break”.

Romantic relationships are an important part of emerging adulthood (Arnett, 2000). The results of the current study indicate that attachment style may influence satisfaction within romantic relationships during this phase of development. The results expand upon previous literature by investigating these associations specifically in emerging adulthood, while exploring the additional factors of gender, relationship duration and whether couples had previously broken up or “taken a break”.

Reflection

This research process has been one that challenged us all in various ways throughout the semester. The first obstacle we faced was developing a study that interested us all and was relevant to the course. Our original goal with this study was to have the Roanoke College student and their significant other complete the survey in person. Requiring both the SONA student and their significant other to complete an in-person questionnaire limited our pool of students to those in relationships with a peer and those in a relationship with someone who is local. This meant that students who are in long distance relationships, and who may have had a lot to offer the research, were unable to partake in it. The original goal with having both individuals in a relationship complete the survey was to be able examine relationship satisfaction and attachment style within a relationship.

We originally decided to make this an in-person survey to increase validity. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the transition to remote learning, our study had to be switched to online only. With this new requirement of the study having to be online, we had to re-evaluate our methods. We changed the study requirement of both partners needing to complete it, to only surveying one partner. This increased the number of students who could participate in our study, which we believe improved our sample size. Conducting the study online may have eliminated any response bias that would have occurred in the lab because originally they would have been taking the survey across from their significant other, and may have felt pressure or guilt to respond a certain way, which could have altered their initial thoughts or feelings. Overall, working remotely on this has been challenging and time consuming. Having to completely rethink our study methods and then communicate with one another via WIFI when two group members have poor connection was difficult. We no longer had the option to meet whenever was convenient and work on the data analyses as a group. We instead had to find time where we could all video chat and then have one person screen share, running analyses, while the others watched. In the end, switching to online research was beneficial because we were able to broaden our pool of participants, adjust our research in an efficient way, and find significant associations.

 Conclusion

          The main finding of our study indicates that the attachment style is associated with romantic relationship satisfaction. It is important to remember that attachment styles begin forming soon after birth and continue to evolve through the lifespan (Searle & Meara, 1999). While attachment-related anxiety and attachment-related avoidance were found to be significantly associated with romantic relationship satisfaction, we were also able to conclude that male romantic relationship satisfaction is somewhat more likely to be dependent upon attachment style in comparison to females.

References

Arnett, J. J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American Psychologist, 55(5), 469-480.https://doi.org/10. 1037/0003-066X.55.5.469

Searle, B., & Meara, N. M. (1999). Affective dimensions of attachment styles: Exploring self-reported attachment style, gender, and emotional experience among college students. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 46(2), 147–158. https://doi.org/10.         1037/0022-0167.46.2.147

Xia, M., Fosco, G., Lippold, M., & Feinberg, M. (2018). A developmental perspective on young adult romantic relationships: Examining family and individual factors in adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 47(7), 1499-1516.  doi:10.1007/s10964-018-0815-8

Ashley Rioux, Jordyn Markle, and Dionne Liberia

(Advisor: Dr. Danielle Findley-Van Nostrand)

How well do you really know yourself? Limited research has been done on the relationship between creativity and self-concept clarity. There is some evidence that people who have reached a higher status of identity are more likely to be creative while the antithesis is true for those in lower stages of identity development (Dollinger, Dollinger, & Centeno 2005). As the identity crisis is a common problem in adolescents (Riley, 1999), some art therapy techniques are designed to aid in the development of one’s identity (Beaumont, 2015). This is useful because self-concept clarity is related to positive adjustment. The current experiment was aimed at developing a more thorough understanding of how the expression of creativity affects self-concept clarity, particularly in individuals who already identify as artistic.

58 participants from Roanoke College psychology classes were gathered through the SONA online research management system. Participants, emerging adults who earned credit in class for their participation, were then randomly assigned to either complete a 2-D art task (a self-portrait) or to write about their last 24 hours (this was the control group). Before the task,  we collected information about level of artistic ability and experience in art. Before and after the task, they completed self-concept questionnaires, including indicating how certain they were (on a scale of 0-100) in each personality trait rated, and a self-report measure of self-concept clarity.

We found that overall, self-certainty (the average certainty in personality ratings) didn’t seem to differ based on doing the art task or not. But, then we ran tests separately for people who have an art background or not and found that if an individual already has an artistic background, they had higher self-concept certainty after doing a creative task than individuals who have no artistic background (see Figure 1). We expected this experiment would result in evidence indicating that creative outlets aid in one’s sense of self-concept clarity, and found that this was true only for people with an artistic background. However, other measures of creativity and experience in art were not related to certainty in self-concepts, and responses on the self-reported self-concept clarity scale were not related to participation in the task.

Since only one finding reached statistical significance, it is important to consider possible sources of error. Due to some unforeseen issues, we were forced to adapt our study into an online-only study. This may have been an issue because one group of participants was prompted to complete a drawing task. Without being able to supervise the participants, there was no way to control the conditions under which each participant completed the task. Another issue we faced was participants submitting incomplete surveys. This too may be due to the shift to online-only studies. One way we may have been able to get better results would be to have a larger sample size with more participants in each group, completing the study in person.

The purpose of this study was to determine if creative outlets are an effective way to aid in the development of self-concept clarity in college students. We wanted to expand upon the existing research by comparing 2-D art to a non-creative task, as well as further defining the effect creativity has on self-concept clarity in emerging adults. The evidence suggests a relationship between artistic expression and identity exploration, but only in those who already have an artistic background. So, creative outlets may be less helpful to self-concept clarity for people with little or no prior background in art. This study has helped us understand the relationship between artistic expression and the self-clarity concept in emerging adults.

Figure 1: Average Self-Concept Certainty by Art Task/Control group and by Previous Art Experience.

References

Beaumont, Sherry. (2015). Art Therapy Approaches for Identity Problems during Adolescence. Canadian Art Therapy Association Journal. 25. 7-14.

Dollinger, Stephen & Dollinger, Stephanie & Centeno, Leslie. (2005). Identity and Creativity. Identity. 5. 315-339. 10.1207/s1532706xid0504_2.

Riley, S. (1999). Contemporary art therapy with adolescents. London: Jessica Kingsley

Hailey Davis, Jon Cody Mactutus, Alina Marino, and Hayley Mulford

Advisor: Dr. Findley-Van Nostrand

[Picture of Girl Being Bullied] (2015). Retrieved from http://www.texasconflictcoach.com/2015/adolescent-relational-aggression-how-to-diminish-the-damage/

Background Information

The present study evaluated whether type of aggression (overt, relational) witnessed towards a peer impacted likelihood to intervene and/or desire to punish the aggressor, considering desensitization as a factor. Most peer aggression studies focus on childhood and adolescence, but we used emerging adults (18-24) instead because it would be further expansion as less is known about peer aggression in this age group.

Relational aggression is indirect, status hurting actions whereas overt aggression is direct actions with the intent to cause harm (Cairns, Neckerman, Ferguson, & Gariépy, 1989). Previous research has found that aggression has negative impacts on all involved; aggressors, victims, bystanders (Rivers, Poteat, Noret, & Ashurst, 2009). Both relational and overt aggression have internalizing and externalizing problems as negative possible outcomes for experiencing these types of aggression (Casper, Card, Bauman, & Toomey, 2017). The current study aimed to explore the differences in outcomes (intervening and punishing) based on the form of aggression (overt or relational). Although relational aggression is more common, especially in this age group, and just as problematic, people are less likely to recognize it as aggression (Crick & Grotpeter, 1995). So, we also tested whether people are more likely to perceive overt or relational aggression as aggression. Finally, we also explored the relationship of mood and previous exposure to aggression in these responses.

Methods

We recruited our participants through SONA, Roanoke College’s online psychology research website. Participants were awarded credit for their participation in this study. Everything was conducted in accordance with the guidelines of the Roanoke College Institutional Review Board, with participants supplying informed consent. In an online survey, participants were assigned to read a vignette about either relational or overt aggression where a familiar peer is aggressed upon by a stranger. First, they were asked questions to determine their current emotional state, then read a singular vignette, and then were asked if they thought the scene they read about was aggression. We also included a question to ensure that participants paid attention. 26 failed the check, leaving our final number of participants to be 130. We asked each participant whether what they just read about was aggression (and to what extent they thought it was aggression), how likely they would be to intervene in the situation, and to what extent they believed the aggressor should be punished. Participants were then asked about their previous exposure to either type of aggression. Lastly, participants were asked demographic information.

Results and Discussion

The results of the project were not as promising as we hoped. We had 60 participants in the relational aggression group and 69 participants in the overt aggression group. There was no significant difference in desire to punish between types of aggression. There was also no significant difference in likelihood to intervene between types of aggression. Sadly, the predictions that there would be a difference among the type of aggression and how a by-stander would feel and react were not found to be supported (see Figure 1). However, we did find that the type of aggression had an effect on the perception of whether the act was aggression or not- people were more likely to perceive overt aggression as aggression relative to relational aggression. Unfortunately, the predictions that prior exposure would account for some variance and predictive value in both intervening and punishing was not found to be supported either. Finally, emotion was not found to have a relationship with the likelihood to punish. We did not expect for most of our predictions to be rejected, but there are some promising ideas still prevalent. It is important that there is a relationship between how someone perceives aggression and the type because this can play a role in bullying. It seems from this study that relational aggression is not seen as aggression, which could help in efforts to reduce bullying. The statistical analyses we used may not have been complicated enough to reveal complex structures and relationships, but future studies could delve deeper.

Figure 1

Perception of Aggression, Likelihood to Intervene, and Desire to Punish Based  on Type of Aggression

Note. All variables were on a scale from 1-10. Perception of aggression (blue bars) differed significantly by type of aggression. The other variables did not.

Reflection

Despite our results not being what we anticipated them to be, we were able to find out how people interpreted aggression. Fortunately, we did not have any problems with our research when we were no longer on campus and able to access the lab. The only difference with having to make our study online was the amount of credit the participants received. Our study took into account a wide range of variables so we could look at multiple factors that could possibly have an influence on the participants’ answers.

Conclusion

In conclusion, thoughts about the aggression witnessed did not seem to differ much between type of aggression, current state of emotions, or prior exposure to aggression. Some of our results might contradict other research, like our finding that prior exposure did not influence intervention or punishing, but some of our results match very well. Our study, as well as many others, found that people correctly identified overt aggression as a form of aggression. So, people know overt aggression when they see it which means you can rest assured that people are watching out for you! However, it seems relational aggression is less recognizable, which could say something about the way college students interact.

References

Cairns, R.B., Cairns, B.D., Neckerman, H.J., Ferguson, L.L., & Gariepy, J.-L. (1989).  Growth and aggression: I. Childhood to early adolescence. Developmental Psychology, 25, 320– 330. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.25.2.320

Casper, D. M., Card, N. A., Bauman, S., & Toomey, R. B. (2017). Overt and relational aggression participant role behavior: Measurement and relations with sociometric status and depression. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 27(3), 661–673.      https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12306

Rivers, I., Poteat, V. P., Noret, N., & Ashurst, N. (2009). Observing bullying at school: The mental health implications of witness status. School Psychology Quarterly, 24(4), 211–223. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018164

Athey Crump, Emily Giovanini, Elizabeth Helminski, Mariyana McAgy & Kojiro Leonard (Advisor: Chris Buchholz)

Background Information

What causes individuals to complete difficult tasks? Locus of control is categorized into two levels: internal and external. Individuals with internal LOC believe they have control over their environment, whilst individuals with external LOC believe their environment controls them (Killpack, 2005). After examining current literature on LOC, we discovered a gap in past research, which had looked at the relationships between LOC and motivation, competence, and self-efficacy, but not perseverance (Rotter, 1996). Our research is designed to focus on the relationship between LOC and persistence. We hypothesized that those scoring a high internal LOC would have a longer duration while those scoring a high external LOC would have a shorter duration.

Methods

In this study participants (77) were asked to solve a series of math problems. Half of the participants were led to believe they had some control over the difficulty of the math problems, while the other half were led to believe that the difficulty of the questions was random. However, the manipulation did not work due to an unforeseen error in setting up the study. As a part of this study, participants were also asked to complete a scale that measured whether they possessed more internal or external locus of control using Rotter’s scale of Locus of Control.

Results & Discussion

Data collected from the survey was run with the results from the LOC questionnaire. While there was no difference in the total number of math problems completed for external vs. internal locus of control, those who have an internal locus of control did spend more time answering questions but these results were not statistically significant, as seen in Figure 1. So, while these two groups (internal/external) completed the same number of problems, it is possible that those with an internal locus of control spent more time thinking and working on them, as can be seen in Figure 2. This makes some sense in that those with internal locus of control feel they have more control, and thus they spend more time working (i.e. persisting).

Figure 1: Internal and external locus of control on number of math problems completed.

Figure 2: Internal and external locus of control on duration of survey.

Reflection

The process of conducting an experiment from start to finish provided the opportunity to put knowledge we’ve gained over the past four years into a single project. When creating an online study, we gained experience using programs like SPSS, SONA and Qualtrics. Though there were several changes that needed to be made to the study, this only allowed us the opportunity to showcase our knowledge of research skills. Though there were several challenges to overcome, this study allowed us, as students to think and act as researchers and provided the opportunity to have these skills as undergrads.

Nina Amato, Hailey Davis, Emily Deeds, Kinsey Overfelt, Valerie Spasojevic (Advisor Chris Buchholz)

Background Information

Music has been around for centuries and it has been used in many different ways, from ceremonies, to dancing, or even to uplift the soul.  Philosophers have wondered what the purpose of music is and what it does for us.  Many people believe that music can affect their mood – we were curious about this as well and wanted to take it a step further to see if happy or sad music was able to change ones mood when combined with having a certain personality trait.  We predicted that people with a high level of Neuroticism would have their mood shifted the most due to the type of music they were listening to.  We predicted that this specific personality trait would be most likely to change their mood due to the type of music because it is said that people with the personality trait of Neuroticism tend to be emotionally unstable, which would allow their mood to shift easily.  To examine the effects, we used different tests in order to assess how a happy song and a sad song affected the moods of different personalities.  Specifically, we predicted that people having a personality high in Neuroticism will convey a happier mood in the happy music group, as well as convey a sadder mood in the sad music group.  We  also predicted that those who are low in neuroticism will not have their mood as affected by the music since they are in theory more emotionally stable individuals.

Methods

Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions in the study, either listening to a happy or sad version of the same song.  Individuals then self-reported their mood via a slider scale immediately after listening to the song condition to which they were assigned.  Participants then took the Big Five Inventory (BFI) questionnaire to measure personality traits (e.g., neuroticism).

Results and Discussion

There was a significant difference between the moods of the people in the sad condition versus the happy condition (see Figure 1). Also, in line with our predictions, we found that those high in neuroticism did have a significant difference between their reactions to happy versus sad music, while this was not the case for those low in neuroticism (see Figure 2).

Figure 1: The effect of music on mood.

Figure 2: Interaction effects between music condition and neuroticism.

Reflection

We experienced challenges throughout our research because we anticipated our study to be conducted in a lab setting, not completely online. We originally decided that we wanted to have an in-person study so we could ensure that individuals would listen to the song entirely and not have any distractions, however, we had to switch to an online version of our study due to the Coronavirus.  Our study also does not take into account the mood the individual was already experiencing, which could have impacted mood persuasion.

The department normally hosts a poster session to present all of the research that happens each semester; however, due to stay at home restrictions we will present student research on our blog. Over the next several days we will be posting some of the research carried out by our students here. Congratulations students for all of your hard work!

–  Chris Buchholz, Psychology Department Chair