Thesis (Ph. D.)--Drexel University, 2002. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-132).

This study examined sex differences in attitudes and attributions of responsibility in acquaintance rape situations. The existing literature in this area has focused solely on examining explicit attitudes, or those attitudes that are within an individual's conscious awareness. No attention, however, has been focused on the implicit attitudes that individuals have in acquaintance rape situations. Implicit attitudes are those that operate outside of an individual's awareness and reflect his or her underlying attitudes and beliefs about an object. In an effort to examine implicit attitudes in acquaintance rape situations, a variation of Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz's (1998) Implicit Associations Test was utilized. Additionally, Burt's (1980) Rape Myth Acceptance Scale, the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale and an Attribution of Responsibility measure were administered. It was hypothesized that responses to these measures would predict participants' sex. A stepwise discriminant function analysis was conducted. Age and attributions of responsibility were identified as the factors that best predicted sex. Significant relationships were identified between Rape Myth Acceptance and Attributions of Responsibility. Those participants who adhered to rape myths were more likely to attribute responsibility for the acquaintance rape to the survivor than were those who did not adhere to rape myths. Significant sex differences were also identified on the Attribution of Responsibility measure, with men being more likely than women to attribute responsibility for acquaintance rape to the survivor. Limitations to generalizability of these results and implications for future research and clinical practice are discussed. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [67]-73).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Lehigh University, 2006. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-81).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2006. / Title from title screen (site viewed on Nov. 22, 2006). PDF text: 266 p. : ill. ; 11.45Mb. UMI publication number: AAT 3214544. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in microfilm and microfiche format.

M.A. (Clinical Psychology) / Despite similarities, shame is expressed differently among individuals. The aim of this study is to explore the lived experience of shame in two female victims of acquaintance rape. Using the tenets of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), a case study approach was adopted. The findings revealed how the female victims' relationship with the known assailants influenced the experience of shame. Moreover, encountering acquaintance rape twice had implications for how shame was experienced. For instance, intense self-blame and the belief in being inherently flawed was evident. Of equal importance, in both women, anger manifested primarily as indignation. Furthermore, shame manifested primarily as feeling dirty and having elements of moral impurity. However, shame did not affect the self-identity of one of the participants; instead she displayed resistance to the notion of shame affecting her global self. Thus, the study concluded that despite similarities in some features, the manifestation of shame in the context of acquaintance rape is different from in other contexts. These findings have implications for future research and clinical practice. Ultimately, this study adds to the discourse on shame in women in the context of acquaintance rape in South Africa. Moreover, it provides a theoretical framework that enables the therapist or healthcare worker to intervene with clients in such a context.

Our beliefs utilize various sources: perception, memory, induction, etc. We trust these sources to provide reliable information about the world around us. My dissertation investigates how this trust could be justified. Chapter one introduces background material. I argue that justification rather than knowledge is of primary epistemological importance, discuss the internalism/externalism debate(s), and introduce an evidentialist thesis that provides a starting point/framework for epistemological theorizing. Chapter two introduces a puzzle concerning justification. Can a belief source provide justification absent prior justification for believing it's reliable? Any answer appears to either make justifying the reliability of a source intellectually unsatisfying or all together impossible. Chapter three considers and rejects a plethora of proposed solutions to our puzzle. Investigating these solutions illustrates the need to further investigate evidence, evidence possession, and evidential support. Chapter four discusses the metaphysics of evidence. I argue that evidence always consists of a set of facts and that fact-proposition pairs stand in confirmation relations isomorphic to those holding between pairs of propositions. Chapter five argues that justification requires what I call actually connected possession of supporting evidence: a subject must be aware of supporting evidence and of the support relation itself. Chapter six argues that the relation constitutive of a set of facts being justificatory evidence is a sui generis and irreducible relation that is knowable a priori. Chapter seven begins by showing how Richard Fumerton's acquaintance theory meets the constraints on a theory of justification laid down in previous chapters. I modify the theory so as to: (i) make room for fallible foundational justification, and (ii) allow inferential justification absent higher-order beliefs about evidential connections. Chapter eight applies the developed theory of justification to our initial puzzle. I show how my modified acquaintance theory is in a unique position to vindicate the idea that necessarily a source provides a person with justification only if she is aware of evidence for the reliability of that source. However, this awareness of evidence for a source's reliability falls short of a justified belief and thereby avoids impalement from our dilemma's skeptical horn.

Yes / Mentalizing (otherwise known as ‘theory of mind’) involves a special process that is adapted for predicting and explaining the behaviour of others (targets) based on inferences about targets’ beliefs and character. This research investigated how well participants made inferences about an especially apposite aspect of character, empathy. Participants were invited to make inferences of self‐rated empathy after watching or listening to an unfamiliar target for a few seconds telling a scripted joke (or answering questions about him/herself or reading aloud a paragraph of promotional material). Across three studies, participants were good at identifying targets with low and high self‐rated empathy but not good at identifying those who are average. Such inferences, especially of high self‐rated empathy, seemed to be based mainly on clues in the target's behaviour, presented either in a video, a still photograph or in an audio track. However, participants were not as effective in guessing which targets had low or average self‐rated empathy from a still photograph showing a neutral pose or from an audio track. We conclude with discussion of the scope and the adaptive value of this inferential ability.

This paper argues that Gertler’s (2012) account of acquaintance is inadequate because it cannot perform the explanatory role that it’s supposed to perform. My argument builds from two central claims. First, I argue that our judgments about phenomenal absences have the special features that acquaintance is supposed to explain. Second, I argue that Gertler’s take on acquaintance does not allow us to be acquainted with phenomenal absences. This suggests a general methodological lesson: when developing an account of the epistemology of acquaintance, we should make sure that we are capturing all of the relevant sorts of cases. / Master of Arts

There has been a great deal of research concerning the prevalence of date rape that occurs on college campuses around the country. Researchers also have investigated whether or not prevention programs are effective in lowering the incidence of date rape on campuses. While there have been numerous investigations done on prevention programs, few have implemented follow-up measures, and none have investigated if exposing participants to more than one program is more effective than just participating in one program. The purpose of this study was to determine if a prevention program that implements a three-session program is more effective than one that implements a one-session program. In addition, changes in attitudes were measured at four weeks follow-up, to determine if changes are permanent or not.Nine undergraduate counseling psychology classes consisting of 79 males and 156 females were randomly assigned (according to class) to a three-session, onesession, or control group. Each group completed a series of attitude scales at pre-test, post-test, and at four weeks follow-up.Results indicated that males in the three-session group displayed attitude changes in the desired direction at posttest, but rebound effects occurred according to their follow-up scores. Males in the three-session group had even less desirable scores at follow-up than they did at pretest. Males in the one-session group displayed similar trends, but not as severe as their counterparts. Females did not show similar trends, as their attitudes were already more desirable then the males at pre-test. At any time, females had more desirable overall scores than did males. Students who participated in the one-session program indicated that they would be more willing to help prevent date rape (i.e., by volunteering to present prevention programs) than those in the three-session program. Openended questions that addressed what the students liked about the program were asked, as well as what suggestions they had to improve the program. Overall, students in the onesession program reported more satisfaction than those in the three-session program. Limitations as well as suggestions for further research in this area were discussed. Further investigation is needed to examine what kinds of prevention programs will be most beneficial in changing men's attitudes in the desired direction. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services