Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Psychological Sciences / Donald A. Saucier / To better understand factors related to greater social control of norm violators, I conducted two studies. The social group membership of the norm violator was of foremost importance to these studies and tested the general prediction that who violates the norm determines the perceived appropriate reaction to the norm violation. Consistent with contemporary theories of prejudice (i.e., the justification-suppression model of prejudice, the stereotype content model, and aversive racism theory) results revealed that norm violators with intellectual disabilities were given stronger (yet more paternalistic) social control reactions than Black norm violators and that Black norm violators were perceived as less competent when they violated a norm that was high (vs. low) in personal implication. Results also supported theories related to social-identity theory by demonstrating that White norm violators were generally less liked than other norm violators. The results of these studies demonstrate that social group membership influences how individuals react to norm violators and contributes to our understanding of the unfair treatment of individuals in our society.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Psychological Sciences / Mark A. Barnett / The term “moral rebel” describes an individual who refuses to comply, stay silent, or conform to others when doing so would compromise his/her values (Monin, Sawyer, & Marquez, 2008). Preliminarily, this study examined the extent to which adolescents themselves, their peers, and their teachers agree in their ratings of adolescents’ general expressions of the tendency to be a moral rebel, tendencies to possess a moral identity (i.e., prioritize morality as an important part of identity), and tendencies to possess moral courage characteristics (i.e., qualities that motivate individuals to take action on their beliefs and values). As a theoretical and empirical extension of previous research (see Sonnentag & Barnett, 2013), the present study's primary purpose was to examine the interactive and independent roles of moral identity and moral courage characteristics in adolescents’ general and situation-specific (i.e., caring, just, and brave) expressions of the tendency to be a moral rebel. With regard to the interactive role of moral identity and moral courage characteristics, the present study examined (1) if relatively high levels of various general moral courage characteristics (i.e., Self-Esteem, [Low] Need to Belong, Self-Efficacy, Assertiveness, Social Vigilantism) encourage adolescents to act on their moral identities to display the general and situation-specific expressions of the tendency to be a moral rebel and (2) if relatively high levels of situation-specific moral courage characteristics (i.e., Empathic Concern, Justice Sensitivity, Willingness to Take Action in Physically Dangerous Situations) encourage adolescents to act on their moral identities to display the corresponding situation-specific (i.e., caring, just, and brave, respectively) expressions of the tendency to be a moral rebel. As predicted, results revealed significant positive correlations among the self-report, peer, and teacher ratings of adolescents' (1) general expressions of the tendency to be a moral rebel, (2) tendencies to possess a moral identity, and (3) tendencies to possess general moral courage characteristics. These significant positive inter-correlations emerged for the entire sample as well as for the male and female participants when they were considered separately. Contrary to prediction, moral identity (when considered independently and in combination with the general and situation-specific moral courage characteristics) did not consistently predict the general nor situation-specific expressions of the tendency to be a moral rebel. Furthermore, although the general moral courage characteristics did not consistently predict the adolescents’ caring, just, and brave expressions of the tendency to be a moral rebel, all of the indices of the adolescents' general moral courage characteristics (i.e., Self, Peer, and Teacher ratings; Self-Esteem, [Low] Need to Belong, Self-Efficacy, Assertiveness, Social Vigilantism) positively predicted the adolescents’ self-reported general tendency to be a moral rebel. Finally, two of the situation-specific moral courage characteristics (i.e., Empathic Concern and Willingness to Take Action in Physically Dangerous Situations) were found to be positively associated with the corresponding situation-specific (i.e., caring and brave, respectively) expressions of the tendency to be a moral rebel. The implications and limitations of the present findings, as well as directions for future research on the topic of moral rebelliousness in adolescents, are addressed

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Jared R. Anderson / The current study tested Rusbult’s (1980) investment model of relationship commitment. Specifically, this study used data from 875 married individuals to examine the associations between marital satisfaction, alcohol use, video gaming, relationship length, and the presence of children on two types of relationship commitment: psychological attachment and behavioral intent. The results indicate that alcohol use, video gaming, relationship length, and presence of children are not significantly associated with psychological attachment or behavioral intent. However, findings in the current study do suggest that psychological attachment and behavioral intent are independent constructs and should be examined separately. Furthermore, neuroticism and religiosity did predict individual’s behavioral intent, but not psychological attachment.

Expertise in poetry reading and writing have been examined in previous studies using think-aloud protocol analysis of expert and novice participants. These studies have revealed important information about the way in which expert readers understand poetry and the way in which expert writers compose and revise expository pieces of writing. However, there are no previous studies that examine how expert and novices compare in terms of poetry composition. The current study confronts this gap by analysing the how expert and novice poets engage in a task of poetry revision and composition. Analysis of think-aloud protocols indicates that expert poets think more about processes of recursive revision and strategies for creative engagement, than do novice poets. In addition, issues of syntax and semantics drive the revision process for experts, whereas novices are concerned with issues of whether the poem conforms to expectations of poetic form and poetic textual devices.

This study provides an initial analysis of how effective commonly used risk assessment and psychological tests are in postdicting the severity of the index offense and the individual’s most severe offense in a forensic inpatient sample. The study involved a chart review of risk assessment measures, cognitive and personality tests, and criminological data for 65 patients at St. Joseph’s Hamilton Mountain Centre for Mental Health Care. The results found a significant correlation between the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (Wechsler, 1997) and index offense severity. Moreover, an aggression typology (Nussbaum, Saint-Cyr, & Bell, 1997) showed promising signs in differentiating severity by offender type. The study also suggests that further research is necessary in this area, given the limited relationship found between risk instruments and severity of violence, though the risk assessment measures did show good concurrent validity.

This study provides an initial analysis of how effective commonly used risk assessment and psychological tests are in postdicting the severity of the index offense and the individual’s most severe offense in a forensic inpatient sample. The study involved a chart review of risk assessment measures, cognitive and personality tests, and criminological data for 65 patients at St. Joseph’s Hamilton Mountain Centre for Mental Health Care. The results found a significant correlation between the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (Wechsler, 1997) and index offense severity. Moreover, an aggression typology (Nussbaum, Saint-Cyr, & Bell, 1997) showed promising signs in differentiating severity by offender type. The study also suggests that further research is necessary in this area, given the limited relationship found between risk instruments and severity of violence, though the risk assessment measures did show good concurrent validity.

Expertise in poetry reading and writing have been examined in previous studies using think-aloud protocol analysis of expert and novice participants. These studies have revealed important information about the way in which expert readers understand poetry and the way in which expert writers compose and revise expository pieces of writing. However, there are no previous studies that examine how expert and novices compare in terms of poetry composition. The current study confronts this gap by analysing the how expert and novice poets engage in a task of poetry revision and composition. Analysis of think-aloud protocols indicates that expert poets think more about processes of recursive revision and strategies for creative engagement, than do novice poets. In addition, issues of syntax and semantics drive the revision process for experts, whereas novices are concerned with issues of whether the poem conforms to expectations of poetic form and poetic textual devices.

Four studies were conducted to examine whether disinhibited eating among restrained eaters can be differentiated from simple overeating, which occurs among both restrained and unrestrained eaters. We propose that disinhibited eating is caused by the conscious relaxation of inhibitions on food intake. In contrast, simple overeating is an umbrella term encompassing all forms of inadvertent overeating. This includes overeating in response to cues that redefine acceptable intake, and thus allow people to eat more than usual without viewing their food intake as excessive. Disinhibited eating in dieters should result in continued overeating in the absence of factors causing reinhibition, whereas simple overeating does not undermine dietary inhibition and should not result in continued overeating, and may not even be experienced as overeating. Furthermore, unlike simple overeating, disinhibited eating should be accompanied by perceptions that one has eaten too much. Study 1 examines whether restrained eaters who become disinhibited continue to overeat after the disinhibitor is removed. Restrained eaters who were disinhibited by expecting their diets to be broken, and only those restrained eaters, continued to overeat when presented with a second eating opportunity. Studies 2 and 3 assess whether simple overeating in response to normative cues can be distinguished from disinhibited eating in response to cognitive cues related to thinking the diet is or will be broken. In Study 3, restrained eaters who became disinhibited by thinking that their diets would be broken viewed their food intake as excessive and continued to overeat after the disinhibitor was removed. In contrast, restrained eaters who ate a lot after being informed that other study participants had eaten a large amount did not view their food intake as excessive and did not go on to overeat during a second eating opportunity. Study 4 was designed to further examine the role of awareness of having overeaten in disinhibited eating, but no disinhibition effect was observed. Overall, the results suggest that disinhibited eating can be distinguished from simple overeating on the basis of whether restrained eaters view their intake as excessive and whether they continue to overeat during a second eating opportunity.

Four studies were conducted to examine whether disinhibited eating among restrained eaters can be differentiated from simple overeating, which occurs among both restrained and unrestrained eaters. We propose that disinhibited eating is caused by the conscious relaxation of inhibitions on food intake. In contrast, simple overeating is an umbrella term encompassing all forms of inadvertent overeating. This includes overeating in response to cues that redefine acceptable intake, and thus allow people to eat more than usual without viewing their food intake as excessive. Disinhibited eating in dieters should result in continued overeating in the absence of factors causing reinhibition, whereas simple overeating does not undermine dietary inhibition and should not result in continued overeating, and may not even be experienced as overeating. Furthermore, unlike simple overeating, disinhibited eating should be accompanied by perceptions that one has eaten too much. Study 1 examines whether restrained eaters who become disinhibited continue to overeat after the disinhibitor is removed. Restrained eaters who were disinhibited by expecting their diets to be broken, and only those restrained eaters, continued to overeat when presented with a second eating opportunity. Studies 2 and 3 assess whether simple overeating in response to normative cues can be distinguished from disinhibited eating in response to cognitive cues related to thinking the diet is or will be broken. In Study 3, restrained eaters who became disinhibited by thinking that their diets would be broken viewed their food intake as excessive and continued to overeat after the disinhibitor was removed. In contrast, restrained eaters who ate a lot after being informed that other study participants had eaten a large amount did not view their food intake as excessive and did not go on to overeat during a second eating opportunity. Study 4 was designed to further examine the role of awareness of having overeaten in disinhibited eating, but no disinhibition effect was observed. Overall, the results suggest that disinhibited eating can be distinguished from simple overeating on the basis of whether restrained eaters view their intake as excessive and whether they continue to overeat during a second eating opportunity.

The psychological literature on mental health has shown that oppressions such as racism, sexism and classism can be extremely stressful. Thus individuals' identities, such as race, gender, and socioeconomic status, and the oppression these can lead to have clinical implications. The current research sought to investigate the intersection of Black Canadian women's identities and how it contributes to their unique experience of depression and coping. The aim of this study was to identify significant experiences of depression and coping of this population in order to develop a theory of healing.