The purpose of this study is to investigate the attitudes people have about weight and their bodies. Participants were given an online survey covering various attitudes related to their weight, such as self-perceived weight, body consciousness, and changeability of body weight. We will be testing the research hypothesis that people who perceive themselves as having a healthy weight will consider weight more controllable than those that do not, regardless of whether or not they fall within a healthy range for body weight.
Since the 2016 presidential election, social psychologists as well as the general public have expressed renewed interest in the influence of partisan identification on voting behavior. More specifically, does partisan identity exert a greater influence on voting behavior than substantive policy positions? We investigated this question by presenting subjects with one of two fake newspaper articles depicting Democratic and Republican candidates competing in an election for local political office. In the control condition, candidates held policy stances in line with their respective party platform. In the experimental condition, candidate’s policy positions diverged from the party line. Subjects were then asked to choose which candidate they would vote for if this election were to be taking place in their municipality of residence. After being questioned as to vote choice, subjects completed a measure of social group identity in reference to their political party. We hypothesize that when candidates diverge from the party line on issues of moderate saliency, voters who view their political party as a social identity will be more likely to vote according to their partisan identification rather than candidate’s policy stance. Subjects were recruited from the UNC Asheville community and via Amazon Mechanical Turk. Statistical results will be presented and discussed in light of relevant theory.
Research has found that pejorative terms (words used to express contempt or disapproval) can have gender connotations (Jay & Jay, 2013). These connotations seem to highlight gender stereotypes consistent with the expression of ambivalent sexism. Because of these connotations, it is possible that popular pejorative language could serve to influence and maintain traditional gender roles and/or strengthen sexist assumptions. However, derogatory language, including the words, definitions and frequency of use, has been found to change over time (Jay & Jay, 2013).The current study seeks to update our understanding of how pejorative terminology is presently used; the words associations with the assumed gender of the target of each expression, the assumed user of each term, as well as the current definition of each word. We will also investigate assumed power and demeaning quality of specific words. We expect that certain terms will have stronger gender connotations than others. The results of this research will be used to inform future studies where we will investigate the effect of exposure to gendered pejorative terms on stereotypical assumptions made about the target of the term, and how these assumptions may be related to ambivalently sexist beliefs.
Substance abuse, which is the misuse or overuse of a substance, often has many negative consequences to one’s health. In addition to this, people experiencing substance abuse may perceive that they are being stigmatized by society. This perceived stigma, resulting from the discriminatory or negative words, actions, and beliefs of others, may have serious deleterious effects on an individual (Ahern et al., 2007; Birtel et al., 2017; Can et al., 2015, Luoma et al., 2007). This internalized and perceived stigma felt by those experiencing substance abuse may stem from the societal perception of this population. This study seeks to investigate the public perception of individuals who experience substance abuse.
In recent years, there has been an increased public interest in the issue of sexual assault due to the growing number of women who are speaking out about the traumas that they have suffered (Zacharek, Dockterman, & Sweetland Edwards, 2018). The rise of this issue in the public domain has coincided with an increase in research conducted related to the negative outcomes associated with exposure to sexual assault, such as Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which can in some cases cause severe psychological impairment (Messman-Moore, Long, & Siegfried, 2000). Another line of research that is also related to similar negative psychological outcomes is the study of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) (Felitti et al., 1998). The original ACEs study by Felitti et al. (1998), indicated that there is a connection between the experience of trauma during childhood and lasting negative physical and psychological health outcomes such as depressed mood, suicide attempts, an increase in drug in alcohol use, and a history of sexually transmitted diseases. As a result, individuals who have experienced both childhood trauma and adult sexual assault (ASA) may be at greater risk of experiencing negative health outcomes following an experience of ASA. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between ACEs, ASA, and the experience of PTSD symptoms. Data on these subjects will be collected by administering a general demographics form, the ACEs questionnaire, a modified version of the Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Sexual Misconduct questionnaire, and the PTSD Checklist- Civilian Version through an online survey platform to an adult population. The findings of this study may be used to strengthen the connection between the negative outcomes associated with the experience of ACEs and those associated with ASA such as PTSD.
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been linked to a number of negative outcomes in adulthood. The purpose of this study is to explore the link between adverse childhood experiences and the prevalence of self injurious behavior in adolescence and young adulthood. General findings consisted of those who had attempted self-harm were more likely to engage in self-harm in the near future. Though there wasn’t an overwhelming amount of sources for this subject, it is able to serve as background information for this study. One of the more popular data points that was concluded from research was the idea of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) often lead to results such as self-harm.
