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

The purpose of this study was to understand how self-concept, including physical, social, and emotional factors, translates to perceived academic success for women in the college environment. The researcher hypothesized as positive self-concept increases, academic success also increases. Data were analyzed with regards to the experience of these women as it relates to their gendered experience. Quantitative analysis of 46 women at one Midwestern university provided a variety of data about the relationships of perceived academic success, in the form of reported GPA and academic performance, to self-esteem, body esteem, social environment, expectation scales. While most tests did not produce significant results (p < 0.05, two-tailed test), perceived academic performance compared to reported GPA and expectations compared to academic performance were significant. However, women still struggle with having positive self-concept in the college environment. Many respondents expressed concerns about physical appearance and acceptance from their peer group. These women are combating these negative feelings on a daily basis as they attend class and work to be academically successful. Further research about self-concept and academic success should be conducted at an all-women’s institution. This additional layer of research would be used to quantitatively compare the two populations and would provide a more accurate picture of the experience of women in higher education. / Access to thesis permanently restricted to Ball State community only / Department of Educational Studies

The central question of this study was to examine the moral orientation and the role of self in subject generated moral dilemmas for information on the developmental and cultural forces contributing to the etiology and maintenance of eating disorders in college women. The research was based on the theories of Carol Gilligan (1982, 1988, 1990). Twelve women identified as bulimic by therapists and twelve women with no eating disorder were administered the BULIT-R and the moral conflict and choice interview. A Guide to Reading Narratives of Moral Conflict and Choice for Self and Moral Voice provided the framework for analyzing the the interviews. Using Chi squares to analyze the data, no significant differences were found between the two groups on presence, predominance, and alignment of the moral voices of care and justice or on relationship framework, although a trend toward the bulimic sample aligning both with the justice and care orientations was noted. The bulimic sample expressed one or more of the vulnerabilities of care and both care and justice significantly more often than the comparison sample. No difference was found for expression of self care, though the quality of self care expressed was different. Subjects from the bulimic sample mentioned self care in conjunction with self-preservation, while subjects in the comparison group mentioned self-care as an ordinary consideration in conflicts. A significant difference was found between the two groups on mention of a problematic relationship with father, with bulimics describing an emotionally distant relationship with father more often. Finally, the quality of the conflicts described by bulimics tended to be more critical to self than those described by the comparison sample. Results were related to what Gilligan (1990) calls the biggest challenge of the adolescent female: how to integrate inclusion of self with inclusion of others. Disturbances in relationships within the family resulted in the women from the bulimic sample having difficulty with this task. Two coping styles were identified: role reversal and hostile avoidant (Salzman, 1990). The relevance of these coping styles to bulimia was discussed. Implications for therapy were reviewed and recommendations were made for future research. / Graduation date: 1992

Anxiety and depression are debilitating disorders that often co-occur. Their differentiation has important ramifications for theory and treatment. Beck's (1976) Cognitive Content Specificity (CCS) hypothesis proposes that depression and anxiety are characterized by unique cognitive profiles that should be reflected, among other variables, in their cognitions. Further, the Balanced States of Mind model (BSOM; Schwartz, 1997) asserts that the cognitive ratio of positive to the sum of positive and negative cognitions is implicated in distinguishing various levels of pathology from optimal functioning. The present study used a cross-sectional design to compare the differentiating abilities of the CCS hypothesis and the joint CCS/BSOM model by examining depression and test anxiety-relevant positive and negative cognitions separately versus the BSOM cognitive ratios. Additionally, the specific interval predictions of the BSOM model were tested for test anxiety and depressive content. Four groups of college women were selected from a larger sample of college women from a large public university: Depressed (n = 51), Test Anxious (n = 51), "Mixed" Depressed and Test Anxious (n = 51), and Control (n = 51). Findings indicated that the Depressed Group differed from Test Anxious Group on test anxious and depressive negative cognitions and BSOM ratios. Consistent with previous literature, positive anxious content yielded less specificity, as it failed to discriminate between test anxious and depressed groups. While the "Mixed" group was most dysfunctional, Controls showed a least dysfunctional cognitive profile on both cognitions and cognitive ratios. Thus, the quantitative parameters of the BSOM model with varying content were partially validated, with depressive content not fitting the predictions as well as test anxious content. Results support the integration of the CCS and BSOM models and the use of a specific anxiety disorder (i.e., test anxiety) as ways to improve depression-anxiety differentiation in nonclinical populations. Theoretical and treatment implications are highlighted, and limitations are discussed.

No description available.

The purpose of this research was to examine relationships between Scale 5 scores on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and adjectives endorsed on the Adjective Check List (ACL) for University Women. The groups being studied were undergraduate and graduate women, psychology and science women; and, women under 28 years old and women over 28 years old.The participants in the research were 93 women enrolled in courses at Ball State University during Spring Quarter, 1986. The sample consisted of 31 undergraduate women (15 psychology women and 16 science women), 32 graduate women (17 psychology women and 15 science women), and 30 women who were matched for area of study and level of education and then divided into two groups (Under 28 and Over 28) of 15 each.The participants were administered the MMPI, the ACL, a Demographic Data Sheet and a Closeness Rating Scale. They were asked to have a significant person in their life endorse the ACL as it applied to the participant and to complete a Closeness Rating Scale.A 2X2 ANOVA was utilized to analyze the impact of level of education and area of study on Scale 5 scores on the MMPI. A One Way Analysis of Variance was used to analyze the relationship of age and Scale 5 scores on the MMPI. Each of the 300 adjectives on the ACL's were compared using Chi Square or Fisher's Exact Test to derive lists of adjectives descriptive of the subgroups.The results of the research indicated that science women had a significantly higher 5 scale score than psychology women (49.52 vs. 44.22; probability less than .05). Lists of adjectives for each group were derived. However, the number of adjectives descriptive of each group was so small that the descriptors may be by chance.

The research of Stice et al. (1994) and Stice and Shaw (1994) proposed several mechanisms that may mediate the adverse effects of media exposure to the thin ideal including internalization of the thin-ideal, negative affect, and body dissatisfaction. The purpose of this study was to extend initial research of Stice and Shaw (1994) by incorporating two forms of media (e.g., TV and Magazines) to assess the effects of exposure to the media portrayal of ideal body shape on women's mood, body satisfaction, and internalization of societal values concerning attractiveness. The relation of these variables to bulimic symptomatology was examined. The current study improved upon Stice and Shaw's study (1994) by matching participants' scores on BMI, level of negative affect, and level of body satisfaction before random assignment to the experimental conditions. Female undergraduates aged 18 to 25 years participated in premeasure (N = 198) and post measure (N = 164) conditions. Results from repeated mulitvariate analysis indicated media exposure to ideal-body images demonstrated no significant changes in women's affect, body satisfaction or endorsement of the thin ideal. Indirect support for the sociocultural theory of eating disorders was provided by multiple regression analyses that demonstrated lower levels of satisfaction with size and shape of body and higher levels of negative affect predicted bulimic symptomatology in women. Future research should determine which females are at greater risk than others for the development of body dissatisfaction, negative mood, and internalization of U.S. values of attractiveness in response to media related messages communicating a thin ideal.

There is a lack of clarity in the current literature in how potential etiological factors interact and result in disordered eating. The purpose of this study was to examine an expanded model of Personality, Social Support, Appraisal/Coping Processes, Abuse History, Internalization of Sociocultural Standards, Psychological Disturbances, and Body Disparagement in the development of disordered eating. The current model was evaluated using 276 women in their transition to college, a time period highly associated with symptoms believed to increase a woman's risk for the development of disordered eating including perceived difficulty coping, weight gain, and negative affect. Structural equation modeling was used to allow simultaneous examination of the causal relationships between the factors. Structural analyses confirmed that college women with previous stressful experiences appraised the adjustment to college as more stressful and reported feeling less able to cope with the transition. Those women who identified the transition as overwhelming were also aware of increased negative mood and psychological states since beginning the school semester. Further, women with previous traumatic sexual experiences appeared to be at additional risk for increased negative affective symptoms. The resulting model confirmed that those women who experience negative mood states and those that endorse strong internalization of cultural values regarding attractiveness encountered increased dissatisfaction and disapproval of their bodies. Finally, women with higher levels of body concern engaged in more eating behaviors associated with disordered eating. The roles of personality functioning and perceived social support could not be identified in the developmental model. The predictive links between constructs in the resulting model provide meaningful information regarding the transition to college and associated risks for development of disordered eating. Validation of the model in an independent sample would provide confirmation of these relationships and longitudinal research examining females' attitudes across crucial developmental periods might provide important information regarding which individuals are most at risk for development of disordered eating.

Psychological and behavioral characteristics of female undergraduates with varying levels of disordered eating, as measured by the Questionnaire for Eating Disorder Diagnoses (Q-EDD; Mintz, O'Halloran, Mulholland, & Schneider, 1997), were investigated. Results suggest that the Q-EDD is an appropriate instrument for measuring eating disorder symptomatology. Greater disordered eating was associated with more bulimic, dieting, and weight fluctuation symptoms, higher impression management and approval-seeking needs, more dichotomous thinking, self control, and rigid weight regulation, and increased concern with body shape and dissatisfaction with facial features. Eating-disordered and symptomatic women evidenced more severe eating disorder behaviors and psychological distress than asymptomatic women. Findings are congruent with a redefined discontinuity perspective of eating disorder symptomatology. Treatment implications and campus-wide preventions are suggested.

Body image may be defined as the perception or attitude one has regarding the appearance of his or her body. Body image concerns are not only central to the diagnostic criteria of eating disorders, but also create distress for nonclinical populations. Females (n = 167) from three universities participated in a study by completing the Eating Disorder Inventory - 2 (Garner, 1991) and the Figure Rating Scale (Stunkard, Sorenson, & Schulsinger, 1983); watching a video; and then completing the instruments again. Subjects in the treatment group (n = 89) viewed a video designed to increase awareness of unrealistic body sizes and shapes seen in the media (Kilbourne, 1995). Subjects in the comparison group (n = 77) viewed a video unrelated to female body image.