<p> Compared to actual infidelity, little research has been carried out on intended infidelity. Based on male-female differences in sexual interest, stronger male than female interest in extra-dyadic sex (EDS) was predicted. The effects of relationship quality and individual differences in sexual interest, sensation seeking, and masculinity on intended EDS were also assessed. Males scored significantly higher than females on almost all sexual interest variables and indicated a significantly greater interest in EDS. </p><p> Sexual interest, as measured by socio-sexual orientation (SO), was a much stronger predictor of intended EDS than gender or relationship quality. SO fully mediated the effect of gender on EDS; however, sensation seeking and masculinity revealed no mediation. Contrary to expectations, relationship satisfaction had a greater impact on intended EDS at higher levels than at lower levels of SO. Willingness to have sex with someone who is already in a relationship proved the strongest predictor of intended EDS. </p><p> <i>Keywords:</i> Infidelity, Male, Female, Sexuality, Extra-dyadic sex (EDS), Relationship quality, Socio-sexual orientation (SO).</p>

<p> This thesis examines the psychosocial and cultural factors behind body modification practices of breast augmentation, female circumcision, and foot binding in order to understand the growing trend of cosmetic surgery. Body modification is examined through the lens of Albert Bandura&rsquo;s social learning theory using hermeneutic methodology that analyzes quantitative and qualitative data. Cross-cultural research on breast augmentation, female circumcision, and foot binding provides insight into how body modification practices are internalized through observational learning. The findings demonstrate that women are faced with social pressures to conform to physical ideals that often require modification of the body. Bandura&rsquo;s theory of self-efficacy provides insights into how women can exercise choice, personal agency, and self-direction to guide personal decisions pertaining to cosmetic surgery within the context of social pressures.</p>

<p> This phenomenological case study of finding meaning explored the developmental nature of Pepperdine University&rsquo;s Doctor of Education in Organization Change (EDOC) program through graduates, who as students, found deep, visceral, and life changing meaning. The primary request of participants, identified as co-inquirers, was to: describe in as much detail as possible how meaning was found through their participation in the EDOC program. Detailed storied descriptions from 10 graduates were gathered through interviews. Anecdotes were gathered by email from other graduates concerning the meaning found, relational experiences, and vivid program experiences. In my analysis of data, I explicated the structure (the relationship among the most invariant constituents of the phenomenon) and meaning (implications) from their lived experience. Though particulars differed, the interview data revealed a structure surrounding each of the ten co-inquirers as being (a) self-aware learners who joined the program with assumptions concerning the challenging nature of the learning experience; (b) a socially constructed environment that facilitates the formation of relational sets and community engagement; (c) deep and rich dialogic relationships among participants within the learning community; (d) co-constructed learning through collaboration with faculty and fellow students; (e) abundant free-space in learning enabling the transcendence of boundaries to personal growth; (f) an immensely helping and caring environment; (g) significant opportunities to challenge and broaden worldviews through program experiences; and (h) consistent validation of progress toward personal, educational and life goals. In coming to understand the phenomenon for finding meaning, I used descriptive phenomenology and given my presence as a student in the program being studied, I offered my own observations. I framed propositions from the study&rsquo;s findings for progressive educators and organization development professions. Meaning found led to life changes such as improved personal and professional effectiveness, a deeper sense of self and self-worth, a clearer view of the world, and an ability to enact what had been taken from the experience; a significant educational outcome in addition to cognitive competencies, field knowledge and application. Those who have experienced the program came away with a deeper sense of purpose and far reaching capabilities to serve.</p>

<p> The purpose of this thesis was to examine the factors associated with psychological distress among older Vietnamese adults. Utilizing information from secondary data called the California Health Interview Surveys (CHIS), a quantitative research method was completed for this study. The study explored levels of psychological distress with several factors including demographic characteristics, language use and proficiencies of patients, patients' understanding of rights to request for an interpreter during doctor visits, number of visits to doctors' offices, language used by doctors during consultation (English, Vietnamese, or other), and lastly, quality of interaction with doctors. </p><p> The result of this study indicated significant relationships among several factors and the level of psychological distress among older Vietnamese adults. These factors, include: demographics, patients' understanding of rights to an interpreter, number of doctor visits, language used by doctors during consultation, and doctor-patient communication.</p>

<p> Mental health stigma, while common, leads to harmful consequences. There is some evidence to show that education reduces stigma. The reduction, however, is short term and only observed in those who are relatively open and flexible with their beliefs. Emerging research suggests that variables such as empathy, perspective taking, and psychological flexibility may be key processes in stigma reduction. Relational Frame Theory (RFT) provides a framework for understanding the development of stigma, the role of inflexibility in maintenance of stigma, and how education that targets flexibility might facilitate reduction in stigma. Applications of RFT have resulted in the development of the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure, a tool that can be applied for assessment of not only implicit stigmatizing attitudes, but also the flexibility with which they are held. The current study examined the impact of divergent educational experiences on mental health stigma using college students with various levels of formal education relevant to psychological difficulties both implicitly with self-report measures and explicitly with the IRAP. Also examined were empathy and psychological flexibility as moderators of the relationship between education and stigma. Data suggest that mental health bias is a function of education, but that didactic and experiential education may have differential effects. Increases in education and empathy factors were associated with reduced stigma measured explicitly; however, these variables did not correlate with the measure of implicit stigma. Additionally, when empathy moderated the relationship between education and implicit stigma, high levels of empathy were associated with increases in implicit stigma. Inconsistencies in results from implicit and explicit measures indicate a clear need for continued research in this area to more fully understand mental health stigma and to develop reduction interventions. </p>

<p> Psychological struggle seems to be an inherent part of the human experience. Unfortunately, the public attitude towards the obese focuses more on negative stereotypes (e.g., undisciplined, ugly, stupid, and lazy) than on the underlying psychological components that lie at the heart of the struggle. Negative stereotypes like these have an affect upon the way the obese think about themselves and may lead to self-stigmatization, which in turn may interfere with a person's attempt to gain control of their health and emotional well-being when eating is used to relieve the associated distress. Many people who struggle with their weight are found to be very rigid in their thought processes regarding food. Perhaps it is not the content of food and body-related cognitions that is important, but the inflexibility with which they are held.</p><p> The current study will investigate the relationships among avoidant eating behavior, perceived stigmatization, self-stigmatization, and psychological flexibility. Participants will be recruited from a population of obese individuals who are seeking help at a bariatric clinic, and from Facebook. Participants will initially complete a packet of questionnaires on psychological flexibility, perceived stigmatization, self-stigmatization, and eating behavior online. Then for seven days they will receive four text messages a day for seven days, three of which will provide them with a link to the Periodic Assessment of Stigmatizing Experiences, and one text message providing a link to the Daily Eating Survey. It is hypothesized that 1) Perceived stigmatizing experiences (i.e., a fear of enacted stigma from society) will predict disordered eating 2) Weight- and food-related psychological inflexibility will moderate the relationship between perceived stigmatizing experiences and disordered eating 3) Self-stigma (i.e., self-devaluation due to perceived stigmatization from society) will moderate the relationship between perceived stigmatizing experiences and disordered eating 4) Psychological inflexibility will predict increased perceived self-stigma.</p>

<p> Media outlets perpetuate an ultra-thin feminine ideal which has been linked to body dissatisfaction among women (Lew, Mann, Myers, Taylor, &amp; Bower, 2007). The present study focused on the inclusion of warning labels, similar to those in cigarette ads, on advertisements. Previous research indicates that these labels might have a protective factor for women's body satisfaction, but results are inconsistent (Slater, Tiggemann, Firth, &amp; Hawkins, 2012; Tiggemann, Slater, Bury, Hawkins, &amp; Firth, 2013). The purpose of this study was to resolve inconsistencies from past research and extend the findings to Women of Color (WOC). Participants of this study included 161 female college students at a Midwestern university. Results indicated that warning labels may serve to decrease body dissatisfaction within both White Women and WOC. Implications for practice were also discussed.</p>

<p> Trauma is a social justice issue by which many of its sufferers historically have remained mystified in a web of misdiagnosis, the most notorious being <i> hysteria.</i> Today, individuals suffering from attachment disorders, anxiety, and depression and the victims of violence, addiction, emotional abuse, and physical abuse often have overlapping symptoms roughly mirroring trauma response symptomatology. These individuals comprise the bulk of those seeking relief from the healing professions, yet the <i>DSM-V </i> has but one diagnosis for trauma: posttraumatic stress syndrome. Recent advances in neuroscience have converged with observations from the field of psychology to confirm the need for a more complex trauma diagnosis. It is time to bring trauma out of the lab and into the streets. Using artistic-creative methodologies, this production thesis channels the expanding body of trauma research into comic strips designed to stimulate social dialogue about the existence of trauma response symptoms in our communities.</p>

<p> The effects of entertainment-education narratives on pro-social, story-consistent beliefs and behaviors have been discussed by many. Less research has looked into the underlying mechanisms that facilitate these effects. Past research have attempted to explain the process through which persuasion occurs in narrative using a variety of theories, models and constructs. Recently, a better-integrated and structured theoretical framework &mdash; the Entertainment Overcoming Resistance Model &mdash; has been proposed to account for the persuasive effects. It clarifies the role of some similar constructs in narrative message processing. The present study examined several hypothesized relationships in the EORM by investigating the effects of exposure to a major bipolar disorder storyline embedded in a popular serial teen drama &mdash; <i>90210</i> &mdash; compared to those of exposure to a PSA addressing bipolar I disorder. The role of identification, transportation, parasocial interaction, perceived similarity, counterarguing, reactance, and perceived invulnerability in producing persuasive outcomes were re-examined in this bipolar I disorder E-E narrative. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three viewing conditions, a Stormwater Runoff Public Service Announcement plus a video of <i>90210 </i> excerpts containing bipolar disorder storyline, a bipolar disorder PSA paired with a video of <i>90210</i> excerpts without bipolar disorder storyline, and the Stormwater Runoff PSA plus the video of <i> 90210</i> excerpts without bipolar disorder storyline (control condition). They completed a questionnaire immediately after viewing each video and filled out another online follow-up questionnaire two weeks later to assess their responses to the program. Results of the study indicated the following: (1) Relative to the control condition, BPI E-E narrative exposure was not associated with greater overall pro-treatment behavioral intention and behaviors regarding BPI but did enhance the behavioral intention to seek help from mental health professional regarding BPI; (2) among the three resistance-related variables examined in this study, only perceived invulnerability was negatively associated with behavioral intention; (3) identification with characters was the only construct that contributed to reduced perceived invulnerability; and (4) the additional consideration of perceived invulnerability of "others" seemed helpful in understanding the effects of the bipolar I disorder narrative. Implications of findings, suggested areas of future research, and limitations of the present study are discussed.</p>

<p> Prior research has identified a variety of common correlates between food security and depression but oftentimes the data used in these analyses are not representative of the US or do not consider multiple categorical levels of the focal variables. Using data from the 2009-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination (NHANES), this study sought to examine the relationship between four levels of food security - full, marginal, low and very low - and depression. The findings indicate low and very low food security are significantly related to an increased risk of depression, while marginal food security is not significantly different from full food security. Inclusion of interaction effects between food security and gender as well as food security and having a child/children were not found to be a significant improvement to the model.</p>