The aim of the present research was to show that collective rituals have the potential to promote not only ingroup favoritism but also outgroup discrimination. In two studies, I used a minimal group setup and had participants engage in a lab-created ritual over the course of seven days. Afterwards, participants came into the lab and performed the actions in their ‘minimal’ group. In Study 1, I found that participants who performed the ad-hoc ritual distrusted outgroup members significantly more than did the control participants. Study 2 extended these findings by looking at ritual intensity as a factor of intergroup bias. Results showed, again, that participants in the two experimental conditions – elaborate and simple ritual – showed greater outgroup discrimination compared to the control, though the data showed no difference in biases between the two experimental conditions. I also found that tolerance to ambiguity moderated the effect of condition on intergroup bias.

The present research examined how daily experiences of intergroup contact through social interaction (direct contact) and exposure to outgroups in media (media contact) facilitate improvements in intergroup attitudes. A longitudinal diary study was conducted whereby participants indicated the amount of direct contact and media contact they had each day, as well as their intergroup attitudes. Results indicated that direct contact and media contact both independently predicted improvements in intergroup attitudes. For direct contact, but not media contact, this relationship was moderated by the perceived negativity of the contact. Time-lagged analyses indicated that direct contact on a given day predicted improved intergroup attitudes on a subsequent day above and beyond direct contact on that day, but that media contact has little or no residual impact. This suggests that although media contact and direct contact may both be effective at promoting more positive intergroup attitudes, direct contact may have a more lasting impact.

The present research explores a novel construct of fear of being single, without a romantic partner. This research demonstrates that those who fear being single may lower their relationship standards without realizing it, even accounting for constructs typically examined in relationship research such as anxious attachment and neuroticism. Study 1 explored the content of people’s thoughts about being single. Studies 2A and 2B involved the development and validation of the Fear of Being Single scale. Study 2C provided preliminary support for the hypothesis that fear of being single predicts settling for less in ongoing relationships, showing that fear of being single predicted greater dependence on unsatisfying relationships. Studies 3A and 3B explored the predictive ability of fear of being single for self-reported dating standards. Across both samples, fear of being single was unrelated to self-reported standards for a mate, with the exception of consistently higher standards for parenting. However, Studies 4 and 5 explored romantic interest in targets that were manipulated to vary in responsiveness (both Studies 4 and 5) and physical attractiveness (Study 5 only). These studies found that fear of being single consistently predicted higher levels of romantic interest in less responsive and less attractive dating targets. Taken together, the present research suggests that fear of being single is a meaningful predictor of settling for less in relationships.

The present research explores a novel construct of fear of being single, without a romantic partner. This research demonstrates that those who fear being single may lower their relationship standards without realizing it, even accounting for constructs typically examined in relationship research such as anxious attachment and neuroticism. Study 1 explored the content of people’s thoughts about being single. Studies 2A and 2B involved the development and validation of the Fear of Being Single scale. Study 2C provided preliminary support for the hypothesis that fear of being single predicts settling for less in ongoing relationships, showing that fear of being single predicted greater dependence on unsatisfying relationships. Studies 3A and 3B explored the predictive ability of fear of being single for self-reported dating standards. Across both samples, fear of being single was unrelated to self-reported standards for a mate, with the exception of consistently higher standards for parenting. However, Studies 4 and 5 explored romantic interest in targets that were manipulated to vary in responsiveness (both Studies 4 and 5) and physical attractiveness (Study 5 only). These studies found that fear of being single consistently predicted higher levels of romantic interest in less responsive and less attractive dating targets. Taken together, the present research suggests that fear of being single is a meaningful predictor of settling for less in relationships.

Master of Science / Department of Psychology / Mark A. Barnett / Previous literature indicates that individuals tend to believe that a woman who stays at home with a young child is a better mother than a woman who works full time despite having a young child. However, relatively little is known about perceptions of a woman whose work/family status represents a compromise between these two extremes (e.g., a woman who stops working for 18 months after the birth of her child and, then, gradually increases her time at work). Furthermore, prior research has not adequately addressed whether perceptions of mothers in various work/family situations are related to perceptions of their children and their relations with their children. The present study was an attempt to expand the literature by exploring selected individual difference measures as potential predictors of perceptions of mothers in various work-family situations (i.e., Stay-at-Home Mother [SAHM], Working Mother [WM], and Middle Mother [MM]) and by extending the target of these perceptions beyond the mothers to their children and the mother/child relationship. Ninety-six undergraduates (a) completed a series of individual difference measures, (b) were introduced to a WM, SAHM, or a MM via audiotape, (c) observed the mother interact with her child on the identical brief videotape, and (d) rated their perceptions of the mother, child, and mother-child relationship. Contrary to prediction, none of the individual difference measures was associated with any of the participants' attitudinal ratings. However, a consistent pattern was found in which the ratings of the WM, her child, and her relation with her child were less favorable than the respective ratings for the SAHM and MM (which did not differ from one another). The implications and limitations of the present study, as well as a discussion of future directions in research on perceptions of mothers with various work-family situations, are presented.

In the wake of 21 year old Don Sanderson’s death (January 1st, 2009), the direct result of head injuries sustained during an on-ice hockey fight, the social and political appetite for eliminating violence in amateur hockey appears to be at an all time high. Unfortunately, due to a variety of methodological and conceptual limitations previous research is currently unable to provide a unified and valid explanation for sport-specific aggression (Kirker, Tenenbaum, & Mattson, 2000). One of the primary impediments facing our understanding of sport-specific aggression is the descriptive and fragmented nature of the current body of literature. Over the years a number of independent lines of research have been undertaken, through which several psychological and social factors have been identified as potential determinants. However, in many cases these constructs have yet to be tested against athletes’ actual aggressive behaviour in sport and thus their predictive contribution to our understanding is still unknown. Consequently, the purpose of the current investigation was to assess the predictive influence of several commonly cited psychosocial constructs on amateur hockey players actual within-competition use of aggressive behaviour over a competitive season. A trait aggressive personality disposition emerged as the strongest and most stable predictor of athletes’ aggressive behaviour, accounting for 10 – 40% of the statistical variance depending upon the age and competitive level of the athletes under investigation. Differences in the overt expression of the this trait aggressive disposition between age cohorts (bantam / midget) and competitive levels (house league / rep) suggests that environmental and contextual factors also play a significant role in facilitating or repressing athletes’ aggressive behaviour. As such, the results of the current study support an interactive explanation for hockey-related aggression, whereby situational (e.g., team norms, perceived reinforcement) and personal factors (e.g., trait aggressive disposition, ego orientation) interact to either increase or decrease an athlete’s likelihood for committing aggressive penalty infractions over a competitive season. The current results are plotted and discussed within the parameters of Anderson and Bushman’s (2002) General Aggression Model (GAM), which is a frequently cited interactionist framework used in the broader study of human aggression.

Observers’ attributions of culpability in sexual assault cases have been studied in the context of psycholegal variables to explain how they come to their conclusions. Most research has revealed that there are differences between stranger and acquaintance rape, where victims of the latter are more likely to be blamed (Allgeier & Allgeier, 1995; Bridges & McGrail, 1989; Littleton, 2001; Mynatt & Allgeier, 1990; Scronce & Corcoran, 1995; Schuller & Klippenstine, 2004; Tetreault & Barnett, 1987). However, the work has been largely limited to examining rape myth acceptance and gender differences of observers. The present study addressed these limitations. The goals of this study were: (1) to examine judgments of perpetrator responsibility, (2) to examine the relationship between benevolent sexism and victim blame in an acquaintance rape, (3) to examine as to how benevolent sexism influences assailant blame, and (4) to examine differences between males and females on a sexism measure in relation to attribution of blame. This research utilized a community sample. Several groups of measures were utilized, including sexual assault vignettes with a questionnaire that assessed perceptions of sexual assault. Also administered were measures that assessed for social desirability, benevolent sexism, the preference for unequal relationships, and demographics. Two studies were conducted. The first one was a pilot study, which gathered qualitative and descriptive data for a measure designed specifically for this research. Participants (n= 20) reported that the measure was simple to read, understand and complete. The second study (200 participants) focused on the goals outlined and obtained reliability and principal components analysis information. Findings from study 2 revealed no significant differences between men and women in attribution of responsibility. However, assailant-victim relationship, and the presence of alcohol were statistically significant for blame. Although men scored higher on benevolent sexism in general, women obtained high scores when assailant-victim relationship and the presence of alcohol in the scenarios were taken into account. Similar to previous research (Abrams, Viki, Masser, & Bohner, 2003; Viki & Abrams, 2002; Viki, Masser, & Abrams, 2004), benevolent sexism was found to act as a moderator. Implications from results from this study were also discussed.

Evolutionary accounts of empathy often focus on the ways in which empathy-motivated helping can give rise to indirect fitness benefits. These accounts posit that empathy is adaptive insofar as it motivates strategic helping behavior, but they neglect a key feature of the empathic process – it can prepare one to act effectively within a shared environment. In particular, adopting the affective and motivational states of others provides a rapid and automatic way to avoid danger and threat, which play a disproportionately large role in shaping behavior. Based on the idea that empathic processes facilitate adaptive reactions to threat, I conducted four experiments to test the hypothesis that empathic reactions reflect withdrawal motivation. In the first experiment I used electroencephalography (EEG) to measure baseline right-frontal cortical asymmetry, a reliable neural correlate of withdrawal motivation. I then assessed empathic reactions to images of children ostensibly taken from a charity campaign. Participants who showed greater right-frontal cortical asymmetry also showed stronger empathic reactions to the images. In the second study I used self-report measures fear and anger to assess dispositional withdrawal- and approach-motivation, respectively. This time, participants indicated their empathic reactions to targets experiencing happiness and targets experiencing sadness. Empathy for both types of targets was positively related to fear and negatively related to physical aggression, again supporting a link between empathy and withdrawal motivation. In the third study I measured state withdrawal motivation by using facial electromyography (EMG) to assess disgust expressions towards charity images. These expressions were positively correlated with empathic reactions, demonstrating that state withdrawal motivation is also positively related to empathy. In the final study I manipulated approach and withdrawal emotions by having participants make emotional facial expressions. Focusing on fear and anger, I found that participants were more empathic when making fearful faces than when making angry faces, although these results must be interpreted with caution, as the manipulation may not have had the intended effects on emotional state. Taken together, these four studies provide converging evidence of an association between withdrawal motivation and empathy, supporting the idea that empathy plays a role in the adaptive response to threat.

“Homeostatic beliefs” (HBs) denote a sense that one’s life path will remain stable in the long-term despite short-term disruptions. Two studies have been undertaken to explore whether HBs exist independent of other constructs, and to develop a scale with which to measure them. In Study 1, 158 undergraduate students completed a draft HB scale and theoretically related scales. Convergent and divergent validity were assessed with correlational and regression analyses: HBs are most strongly related to, but not redundant with, optimism, trait extraversion, and satisfaction with life. Using exploratory factor analysis, a six-item HB scale was derived. Study 2 is in progress, and will assess the construct validity of the HB scale by attempting to manipulate HBs to possibly influence individuals’ reactions to a mortality salience manipulation. We hypothesize that high HBs may buffer individuals from transient disrupting stimuli such as a mortality salience cue.

In the present research, I examined individuals' evaluative responses toward traditional representations of environmentalists (e.g., tree-huggers and radical activists) as well as less typical but more mainstream environmentalists. Undergraduate students read about one of three types of environmentalists (i.e., radical activist, tree-hugger, or mainstream environmentalist). Participants then rated the extent to which they liked the individual they read about. Results revealed that participants evaluated the tree-hugger and radical activist less favourably than a typical student. In contrast, participants responded as favourably toward the mainstream environmentalist as they did toward a typical student. These findings indicate that individuals have distinct impressions of different types of environmentalists: Whereas mainstream environmentalists may receive favourable evaluations from individuals, stereotypical environmentalists may elicit negative reactions and even alienate members of the public.