Thesis (Ph.D.)--Lehigh University, 2009. / Adviser: Michael J. Gill.

<p> This research explored the topic of team building for a multicultural team and investigated the impact on group cohesion. The participants were members of a work group, each of a different nationality. Review of existing literature revealed a list of team building elements most suited for the multicultural context. A team building program incorporating those elements and customized for the participant group was designed and implemented. Pre and post survey data showed no significant difference in group cohesion, although there was a slight increase in the score for task cohesion. Qualitative interview data, however, suggested a positive impact on group cohesion, with the impact perceived to be greater on task cohesion than social cohesion. Elements of the team building program that were found to be the most impactful were: it provided an opportunity to generate a deeper awareness of others, it provided an opportunity to generate deeper self-awareness, it provided a platform for team collaboration, and it contained fun and interesting activities.</p>

<p> Previous research indicates that ecstasy use is positively associated with higher levels of impulsivity and risky sexual behaviors. In addition, methamphetamine use, which is chemically related to ecstasy, has been associated with higher levels of adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms. This study adds to the existing literature by investigating the relationship between adult ADHD symptoms, impulsivity, ecstasy use, and unprotected anal sex. Participants were recruited from the Center for Behavioral Research and Services in Long Beach, California. Adult ADHD symptoms were associated with unprotected anal sex among women, but not for men. Furthermore, ecstasy use was found to be associated with unprotected anal sex among men who have sex with men (MSM) but not for women or men who have sex with women (MSW). In addition, higher levels of impulsivity were associated with both ecstasy use and unprotected anal sex among women, MSM, and MSW.</p>

<p> Is exposure to death the formula to accept one&acute;s own demise? The present research tested terror management theory among groups with varying degrees and types of exposures to death from Varanasi to find an answer. Study 1 included 120 funerary workers and 120 farmers. Participants were reminded of their death or a control topic and then reported their level of cultural worldview defense operationalized as attachment and glorification of India and pro-India bias. Farmers increased their worldview defense following death reminders. This increase brought farmers to the same high level of worldview defense displayed, independently from the condition, by funerary workers. This was interpreted as support for the idea that chronic exposure to death leads to a chronic use of cultural worldview defense. Study 2 tested whether a more experiential form of exposure to death involved in going through a terminal illness is the silver bullet to accept death. A group of 30 terminal cancer patients and 30 farmers with no major health concerns from Varanasi completed similar measures as in Study 1. Death reminders increased attachment to India in both groups. These findings suggest that daily exposure to death - at least to dead bodies and illness symptoms - or a Hindu cyclical view of life and death do not lead to death acceptance. Alternative types of exposure to death are offered in the discussion as possible roads to reach death acceptance. </p>

<p> The role of fathers in the workplace and in the home has changed dramatically over the past 30 years. The typical American family has two full-time working parents in a household, rather than one full-time worker and one full-time stay-at-home parent. Additionally, the ways in which fathers are expected to contribute to a child's caretaking and development has changed dramatically during this timeframe. The benefits in the workplace for fathers in the United States have not changed to reflect these dynamics however. While equal pay, time off work and other benefits have been increasing for mothers in the workplace, there is a noticeable absence of paternity leave available for fathers in the United States. Moreover, fathers in the United States typically take less time off following the birth of their first-child than fathers in other countries, reducing the amount of bonding time available with their newborn child. Understanding how these experiences impact first-time fathers in the United States who were forced to take unpaid time off to bond with their child formed the research question and focus of this qualitative study: What is the lived experience of first-time fathers in the United States as they attempt to manage the work-life balance without government mandated paid paternal leave? Heuristic research methodology was utilized to discover the meaning and essence of the experiences of becoming a first-time father while managing their work and home life responsibilities while taking unpaid time off work. Eight first-time fathers who were forced to take this unpaid leave during the past five years were interviewed, gathering their experiences on managing their dual roles, finances and the transition to becoming a parent. The personal experience of the researcher is also included in this process. The aim of this qualitative study is to provide additional insight into the current body of knowledge and add to the experiences of becoming a first-time father for working fathers in the United States, where paid paternal leave is not a government sponsored benefit.</p>

<p>This thesis uses a heuristic research methodology to investigate the patterns of cognition and emotion that are present when one practices self-discipline. A sample of several studies on the subject are presented, compared, and analyzed via a personal experience. The theories presented include ego depletion theory, self-determination theory, organismic integration theory, cognitive evaluation theory, self-control failure, goal setting, and goal visualization. The analysis herein suggests the clinical and counseling applications of incorporating self-discipline techniques into psychotherapy. </p>

<p> This study assessed the extent to which multiple administrations of an intensity scale; in this case, the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ), influences participant responding on subsequent administrations of the same scale. The first experiment sought to determine this by using a laboratory task in which one group of participants were asked to watch a number of identical videos depicting a simulated drive from the driver's point of view, and fill out an SSQ and Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) between viewings of the videos. Another group of participants were asked to view the videos, but were only asked to fill out the SSQ and CES-D once before the first video and once after the last video. Overall, it was found that multiple administrations of the SSQ and CES-D do not substantially influence subsequent responding on both scales. The second experiment sought to replicate the findings from the first experiment online by using Amazon's Mechanical Turk service. Here, the same pattern of responding to the SSQ was found. Together, these findings suggest that additional administrations of an intensity scale; in this case, the SSQ, do not substantially influence participant responding on subsequent administrations.</p>

<p>Throughout history, humans have gathered to create, produce, or listen to music. The ubiquity of behavior suggests music provides a social bonding mechanism, a concept however, that remains theoretically controversial. This dissertation uses four studies to examine social bonding theory, by testing the hypothesis that music structure and social context interact in the brain to produce pro-social behaviors, such as music preference similarity. To begin, we quantify and validate musical structure by employing a fractal model (1/f</p><p>&beta;of pitch interval complexity, and measure the effects on higher order systems such as perception (i.e., complexity, melodicity), emotion (i.e., mood, preference), and cognition (i.e., memory) in both a novel and repeated exposure paradigm. Results show that when complexity reflects an optimal ratio of predictability to unpredictability, random tone sequences evoke the perception of music, positive mood, and near perfect memory recognition. In addition, optimal levels are unaffected by repeated exposure, but responses to higher and lower levels become more music-like as exposure increases, providing the first evidence of a categorical response to different levels of musical complexity. Neurally, we show that optimal levels of complexity engage the primary sensory cortex (i.e., bilateral A1) and the sub-cortical reward system, specifically the nucleus accumbens (NAcc), a structure known to process both pleasant music and social rewards. We finish by showing that for an adolescent population, social context (i.e., knowledge of peer ratings) interacts with the level of complexity. When sequences are initially rated as musical, knowledge of positive peer ratings increases the magnitude of ratings. In contrast, when highly complex sequences are initially rated as ambiguous (i.e., neither musical nor not musical), negative peer ratings result in subsequent strong non-musical ratings. Together, results show that social context causes an additive effect that segregates the perception of what is rated as musical and what is not, ultimately driving preference similarity. In addition, results may account for why some preferences are universal and others are highly specific to a group or culture. Future directions are discussed in light of potential neural assessment tools and sound-based therapies to facilitate social bonding.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to identify meaningful personality differences (and/or personality disorders) between convicted sexual offenders and convicted Internet sex offenders. For the purpose of this study, convicted sexual offenders will include only rapists and child molesters, referred to as Hands-On Adult Victims (HOAV) and Hands-On Child Victims (HOCV), respectively. </p><p> Nine of the 24 MCMI-III clinical scales were used to examine potential meaningful differences: schizoid, avoidant, depressive, dependent, histrionic, narcissistic, antisocial, compulsive, and negativistic scales. Archival data consisting of MCMI-III scores of 75 convicted sex offenders from the three groups were analyzed. Significant differences were found in two of the nine MCMI-III scales: schizoid and narcissistic. Internet offenders displayed higher elevations on the schizoid scale when compared to the HOAV and HOCV offenders; no differences were found between the HOAV and HOCV offenders in this scale. On the narcissistic scale, HOCV and HOAV offenders scored similarly to each other but both had elevated scores compared to the Internet offenders. The general lack of differences in personality profiles among the three offender groups suggests that treatment interventions could usefully focus on dynamic risk factors rather than on personality factors.</p>

<p> We know that development is greatly influenced by early parenting experiences (Gauthier, 2003; Koestner, Franz, &amp; Weinberger, 1990). Sibling violence has been shown to have long lasting effects into adulthood, including a range of mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, low self-worth, and aggression (Graham-Bermann, Cutler, Litzenberger, &amp; Schwartz, 1994). What is less known is the combined impact of sibling violence and parental physical aggression on subsequent adult intimate partner relationships. A study was conducted with 93 participants to examine the relationship of sibling violence while controlling for the experience of parental physical aggression in childhood on conflict resolution styles experienced in adulthood. Four hierarchical regressions were conducted to determine the relative influence of parental and sibling violence as well as the severity of each type of violence on four conflict resolution styles. Participants were recruited from the internet and completed the Conflict Resolution Style Inventory (CRSI) (Kurdek, 1994) measuring current conflict resolution styles, the Conflict Tactics Scale 2 (CTS2) measuring sibling violence, and the Conflict Tactics Scales: Parent/Child Version (CTSPC) (Straus, Hamby, &amp; Warren, 2003) measuring parental use of physical aggression. It was found that familial violence was related to three of the conflict resolution styles: Conflict Engagement, Withdrawal, and Compliance. Social learning theory could account for these findings, as what we learn in the family environment we tend to later emulate in other relationships.</p>