An association between antisocial and histrionic personality disorders has been examined in familial and intrapersonal research. This association was explored within the framework of Gorenstein and Newman's (1980) model of disinhibitory psychopathology. Two studies were proposed to examine the association of these personality disorder features, with the second study contingent on the results of the first experiment. The first study investigated whether the response perseveration phenomenon would generalize to college students identified with antisocial personality features using a card playing task developed by Newman, Patterson, and Kosson (1987). Results indicated that the response perseveration phenomenon did not generalize, however, college females identified with antisocial features performed in a similar fashion on the card playing task as Newman et al.'s psychopathic subjects. The evidence gathered from this study suggest that whether the response perseveration phenomenon generalizes to antisocial feature college women requires further investigation. / Department of Psychological Science

Thesis (M.A.)--Bowling Green State University, 2008. / Document formatted into pages; contains vi, 73 p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Detroit, 1949. / "June 1949." Includes bibliographical references (p. 51-54).

M.A. (Psychology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

This study focused on the identification of patterns of personal relationships that were documented in a series of thirteen investigations involving a Theory of Democratic Processes in Classrooms. Descriptive summaries and analyses of the various investigations were sought with the intent of identifying additional concepts and insights which might contribute to the theory. The investigator sought answers to the following questions: (1) What investigations were undertaken? (2) How were the investigations conducted? (3) What were the major findings of the investigations? (4) What patterns of personal relationships were reported? (5) What implications for the theory have occurred as a consequence of the investigations? A review of related literature dealt with descriptions of personal relationships in classrooms which tended to foster democracy in education. Literary references for such descriptions included the thirteen investigations identified and used in this study. Literary considerations regarding the Theory of Democratic Processes in Classrooms were evolved regarding each of the categories employed as an analytical framework. One chapter of this study was devoted to detailing information regarding the date, author, title, problem statement, assumptions, methods, and findings of each of the thirteen investigations. The data chapters presented the findings of the coded results of the various investigations. In the final chapter, patterns of personal relationships concerning concepts and insights derived from the investigations were reported. Among the concepts and insights concerned with these patterns, the following seemed most heuristic: (1) Democratic processes tend to be experienced in an environment where there is daily interaction; where individuals seem to be in charge of their own choices; and where persons seem to accompany each other in a supportive manner, and (2) When democratic processes are experienced, persons tend to develop their maximum potential; learning appears to involve intrapersonal explorations of interests; and an atmosphere of freedom and trust tends to allow for mutual respect and concern.

Educators are beginning to realize that the apparent lack of "motivation" observed in many students may be due to a poor self-concept. The benefits of a positive self-concept are apparent in many different areas of a child's education ranging from attendance and behavior to interpersonal relations. While numerous studies support the need for a positive self-concept, the majority of leadership and motivation programs currently in existence are designed for the adult market. The "ASPIRE!" program, designed by the researcher, has been conducted in a number of secondary schools and is apparently meeting the motivational needs of the students. But, no statistical data existed to support this. The present study was undertaken to determine if the "ASPIRE!" program had any effect on helping selected secondary school students to develop a more positive self-concept and become more "internalized" in their locus-of-control. 240 students were involved in the study consisting of an equal number of male and female subjects as well as Anglo and Mexican-American subjects. The variables in this study were self-concept as measured by the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale and the Osgood Semantic Differential Scale, and locus-of-control as measured by the Rotter Locus-of-Control Scale. Demographic data was also collected. Significant differences were discovered on the measures of self-concept and locus-of-control for all subjects. It was found that the self-concept improved for all groups of students at the completion of the "ASPIRE!" program. The subjects also became more "internalized" in their locus-of-control. It was also discovered that there were no differences between males and females and Anglos and Mexican-Americans in developing a more positive self-concept. However, it was found that high socioeconomic status students and first or second born children or children from small families tended to have a more positive self-concept and be more internalized in their locus of control than other students. The findings suggest that the "ASPIRE!" program may be a useful tool in helping to improve the self-concept of junior and senior high school students.

Previous research indicates a link between shyness and the ability to recognize facial expressions of emotion, particularly among children. The current study examined college students’ facial recognition as a potential influence on their levels of self-reported shyness. Three factors related to facial expression recognition were examined: the participants’ ability to accurately identify facial expressions, their ratings of the intensity of the faces, and their tendency to make positive or negative interpretation errors. Demographic variables, introversion, self esteem, and mood were also examined for their ability to predict shyness. The results indicated a weak relationship between facial expression recognition and shyness. Possible limitations and future directions for research are addressed in light of these new findings. / Access to thesis permanently restricted to Ball State community only / Department of Psychological Science

The purpose of this study is to investigate the differences in college aptitude test scores, academic achievement, personality test scores, extra-curricular activities, age and class in school of (1) a group of men students who are undecided about their vocational choice or who have made as many as two changes while in college and (2) another group of men students who have made no changes in vocational choice since high school or who have made no more than one change in college. / Typescript. / "August, 1950." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts under Plan II." / Advisor: Stewart Murray, Major Professor. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 42).

College is recognized by many researchers to be an exceptionally stressful period of development. Despite considerable theoretical and empirical attention, many questions still remain regarding the experience of stress among college students. There is a dearth of multivariate investigations in this area and, to date, no clear consensus exists among researchers as to which coping strategies best attenuate negative affect, and whether male and female students cope with stress in different ways. As such, the purpose of this study was two-fold: (a) to examine the goodness of fit of a model depicting multivariate relations among self-report measures of appraised stress (Cohen, Kamarch, & Mermelstein, 1983), dispositional coping strategies (Carver, 1997), and negative affect (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1997); and (b) to identify, whether the model relations varied by gender. The model, based on previous research with college students (e.g., Dunkley et al., 2000; Soderstrom et al., 2000), specified that students' appraised stress would predict their negative affect, and that coping would partially account for the relation between these variables. Results derived from a large sample (N=1088) of college students (females, n=562; males, n=526) indicated that the model fit the data well, with no observed gender differences. The model pulled together common observations in the stress literature, and a more comprehensive and parsimonious understanding of college student stress has emerged. Overall, the model is a useful heuristic device (a) to understand, assess, and diagnose college student stress, as well as (b) to identify and target specific areas for intervention to promote well-being among college students. / Graduation date: 2004

Little empirical research has been conducted on self-gifts as a phenomenon of consumer behavior. A review of literature demonstrated that the phenomenon of self-gifts has been studied from the conceptual aspect, such as self-gift functions. Yet, our knowledge of self-gifts still remains limited because many of the determinants of self-gifts have not been explored (occasions and motivations, self-gifts relation to self-concept, and cultural influences on self-gift behavior). The purpose of this study was to identify occasions that prompt female college students to purchase clothing as a self-gift and some of their motivations for purchasing clothing as gifts for themselves. The data from the respondents was collected through audio-recorded interviews and were transcribed and analyzed by the researcher. A purposive, non-probability sample of 19 female college students was used. The instrument used to measure the occasions and motivations for purchasing self-gifts was the Self-Gift Thematic Apperception Test (SGTAT) developed by Mick, DeMoss, and Faber (1992). This instrument is a specially adapted Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) based on Murstein's (1963) criteria which was derived from the original TAT developed by Murray (1938). The respondents were shown four SGTAT stimulus pictures of drawings of a young woman standing by a counter purchasing a clothing item, with a salesperson nearby. The titles above the drawings suggested common self-gift contexts based on prior research (Mick et al., 1992; Mick & DeMoss, 1990a). The four self-gift contexts were referred to as reward, therapeutic, birthday, and nice-to-self. Content and interpretive analysis were performed by coding the occasions and motivations in the stories that were reported by the respondents. Seventy-two usable Self-Gift Thematic Apperception Test stories were produced (18 respondents by 4 self-gift contexts). Results of the study indicated that personal situations, which were related to significant life-transitions, work-related matters, school-related matters, and interpersonal relationship conflicts were strong occasions that prompted the purchase of self-gifts. In addition, the results of this study indicated that reward, therapeutic, and nice-to-self are common motivations for purchasing gifts for the self. These findings indicated that specific occasions and motivations for purchasing self-gifts can be identified. / Graduation date: 1995