Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 367-392).

This research attempted to demonstrate that faction size affects what people are looking for when they attend to conformity stimuli. It was expected that subjects exposed to a majority look for valid informational reasons to agree with the advocated norm, subjects exposed to one influence source attempt to validate the other's judgment, and subjects exposed to a minority attempt both to validate and understand the reason for the minority's judgment. Reconstrual of the stimulus was the proposed mechanism by which majority subjects could find reasons to agree with advocated norm and minority subjects could come to understand the reason for the advocated norm. Thus, stimulus reconstrual was expected to mediate conformity and facilitate private acceptance. Faction size, norm extremity, and attention to the stimulus were manipulated; conformity, reconstrual of the stimulus, and subsequent private acceptance were measured. The stimuli consisted of trait adjectives that subjects rated for positivity during the conformity task. It was found that conformity was greater with a large faction, high attention, and high norm extremity. A main effect for attention had not been found in past research that used perceptual stimuli. It is argued that this difference in findings reflects some fundamental difference between factual judgments (e.g., perceptual stimuli) and value judgments (e.g., trait ratings). More specifically, it is argued that with factual judgments there is an objectively correct answer, whereas with value judgments "correctness" is determined by social comparison. The mplications of the presence or absence of an objectively correct response is discussed with regard to the balance between normative and informational influence mechanisms. In parallel to the effect on conformity it was also found that higher attention increased reconstrual and private acceptance. However, the Faction Size X Attention interaction, which was significant for private acceptance and marginal for reconstrual, indicated that these effects of attention were more pronounced for subjects exposed to a minority than for subjects exposed to a majority. Majority subjects showed almost the same amounts of reconstrual and private acceptance in response to both the high- and low-attention trials. Since it is assumed that subjects did not have enough time to reconstrue the stimulus before they gave their public response on the low-attention trials, this unexpected finding raises questions about the temporal ordering of conformity and reconstrual. That is does reconstrual precede and mediate conformity or succeed and justify conformity, and does the answer vary according to faction size and attention conditions. The present study could not directly answer these questions. Although no clear answer is provided to the question of whether faction size affects what subjects look for when they attend to conformity stimuli, a number of fruitful avenues for future research are discussed. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

Alcohol use among adolescents has been the subject of considerable research. A burgeoning literature exists identifying correlates and factors in teenage drinking. However, little is known about the adolescent abstaining from alcohol. The target of this study was this cohort of abstaining adolescents. The reasons for not drinking and the pressures to drink perceived among a sample of middle adolescent (grade 9) non-drinkers was investigated. The study was a survey administered in three parts. First, an alcohol-use survey was administered to all participating grade 9 students in two school districts. A second questionnaire was administered to 72 subjects reporting non-use of alcohol on the initial survey. Thirty of these subjects were then interviewed. Negative attitudes toward alcohol and drinking, a concern about alcohol's effects on health, and a dislike for the taste of alcoholic beverages were among the strongest reasons for not drinking given by the sample. The subjects' own attitudes about alcohol appear to be more important factors in their decisions to abstain than the direct influence of peers, parents or others. As in previous studies, religiosity was a strongly reported factor in the abstinence of a number (25%) of the subjects. It appears that at least for this sample of non-drinking adolescents, the perceived pressure to drink from peers, adults, the media or society generally is very limited. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

There is a consistent research base that shows that class and inequality is associated with poorer mental health and experiences of distress. Various explanations for this link have been proposed, including psychological, social, structural, material and political factors. Experiences of powerlessness and oppression have also been implicated. Nevertheless psychology focuses predominately on explanations and interventions at the individual level. To explore this incongruence, a Foucauldian Discourse Analysis was completed of texts produced by Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT), related to the development and practice within IAPT and supervision sessions of high-intensity therapists practicing in IAPT. The emerging discourses are discussed.

This thesis investigates the establishment and development of a religious community of immigrants from the Netherlands to Canada, whose lives centered around a small denomination called the Free Reformed Churches of North America (FRC). The purpose of this thesis was to explore major reasons for the insularity of the FRC community in Southern Ontario between 1950 and 1976. Primary sources for the research were the FRC???s denominational newspaper, The Messenger, and oral interviews of FRC members. The first chapter draws on the life stories of interviewees to explore the challenges of their early years of settlement in Canada, and the comfort they found in the church community. Chapter two focuses on the history, structure and leadership of the church, the faith and beliefs of members, and the connections between church and faith. The third chapter delves into the FRC???s perspectives on and relationships with other churches and Canadian culture. Chapter four considers beliefs about women???s roles and the experiences of FRC women at church, home and work. This thesis argues that the following factors contributed to the FRC???s sustained insularity and isolation: the church, its activities, leaders and laws; the individual faith of members; the strong ideological resistance of leaders and members to change and ???outside??? influence; and the social support and pressure of friends, family, and fellow members of the church community.

Positive psychology has become influential in research and practice. However, some have criticized positive psychologists who focus solely on the virtues of being positive. A tyrannical pressure to be positive may potentially exist in positive psychology, as well as mainstream United States culture. The following study explored perceptions of this theory using focus groups of individuals who differed in coping style, social desirability, and depression. Results suggest that individuals are affected by social pressures to be positive, and the expression of both positive and negative emotions is determined by social pressures, rules, context, and consequences. Although emotional expression, especially negativity, is contraindicated in several social contexts, there are also social, psychological, and physical benefits to all types of emotional expression.

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Introduction: Recent studies indicate high prevalences of disordered eating or eating disorders in adult athletes and a worrying increase in adolescent athletes. Although several risk factors for developing eating disorders have been identified for adult athletes (e.g., personality factors, sport-related pressure), research on risk factors in adolescent athletes is scarce. Methods: This study investigates the prevalence of disordered eating and eating disorder symptoms and its association with personality- and sport-related risk factors in a sample of 439 elite athletes aged 13–18 years. Self-regulatory personality factors, sports and social pressure, as well as sports biographical data, were investigated in relation to different weight control methods and the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire measuring disordered eating and eating disorder symptoms. Results: Results indicate a prevalence rate of clinically significant eating pathology of 5.5% for the total sample, in which female athletes aged 15–18 years show the highest rate (9.6%). The structural equation model indicates a predominant association of sports and social pressure and personality factors with eating disorder symptoms. Conclusion: Being in the age range 15–18 years, being female, and being an athlete in a high-risk sport (e.g., aesthetics, weight class, or endurance sports) were identified as risk factors as well as athletes’ mental association with weight loss and success, and athletes’ perceived social pressure on eating and on body shape. Disordered eating and eating disorders are not only of concern for adults but also for young elite athletes and recommendations for adolescent elite athletes, coaches, and parents are given.

Thèse (M.A.)--Université Laval, 1999. / Comprend des réf. bibliogr.

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