UMD Theses and Dissertations

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/3

New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a given thesis/dissertation in DRUM.

More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.

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Subject: search.filters.subject.Psychology, Behavioral

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 22
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    INFLUENCES OF CUSTOMER MISTREATMENT ON EMPLOYEES' EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING: THE MODERATING ROLES OF ON-LINE AND OFF-LINE EMOTION REGULATION STRATEGIES
    (2011) Zhan, Yujie; Wang, Mo; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Customer mistreatment is a growing issue for service organizations. The present study specified two forms of customer mistreatment behaviors: aggressive and demanding mistreatment and tested their proximal and lagged effects in predicting within-person fluctuation of service employees' emotional well-being. An archival data set was used to test the hypotheses. One thousand one hundred and eighty-five daily surveys were collected from 149 customer service representatives from a call center for 8 weekdays. Multilevel analyses were conducted to test the hypotheses. First, drawing on the cognitive appraisal model of emotion, theory for mood development, and resource perspective, the present study examined both proximal and lagged effects of customer mistreatment on employees' emotional well-being (i.e., daily emotional exhaustion and negative mood in the next morning) and the role of daily emotional exhaustion in mediating the lagged association between daily customer mistreatment and employees' negative mood in the next morning. The mediation model was largely supported by the current sample. Second, positive treatment by customer was demonstrated to be a significant moderator in buffering the detrimental effect of demanding but not aggressive customer mistreatment in predicting daily emotional exhaustion. Third, employees' on-line emotion regulation strategies (i.e., surface acting, deep acting, and natural expression) and off-line emotion regulation strategies (i.e., rumination and social sharing) were tested as moderators on the negative relationship between customer mistreatment and employees' lagged negative mood. The current findings supported some of these moderation effects but were not consistent across aggressive mistreatment and demanding mistreatment. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed.
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    Eye for an eye, but not for everyone: Revenge and its relationship with the need for closure
    (2011) Boyatzi, Lauren Minacapelli; Kruglanski, Arie W; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The urge for revenge after an individual experiences a transgression is ever-present. However, little is known about why one chooses revenge specifically versus other options. This paper examines the desire for revenge as a function of the need for closure. Specifically, this paper argues that due to its evolutionary benefits, revenge is the most cognitively accessible reaction and thus, individuals high (vs. low) in the need for closure seize and freeze on it after a transgression occurs. Results provide convergent support for the positive association between the need for closure and the desire for revenge but are unable to provide evidence that revenge serves the urgency and permanency desires of high need for closure because of its greater saliency. Methodological limitations and theoretical implications are discussed.
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    Examination of the Brain Processes Underlying Emotion Regulation within a Stress Resilient Population
    (2011) Costanzo, Michelle Elizabeth; Hatfield, Bradley D.; Neuroscience and Cognitive Science; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Emotion robustly affects the quality of cognitive-motor performance under conditions of mental stress. As such, the regulation of emotion is critical to successful execution of motor skills during emotional challenge. Previous investigations of the stress-performance relationship have typically focused on behavioral outcomes, however, few have adopted a cognitive neuroscience approach to examine the involved mechanisms underlying this relationship. Furthermore, it is unclear if individuals who have a history of superior performance under stress (stress resilient population) exhibit brain responses characterized by an efficiency of neural processing and an adaptive emotion regulatory strategy. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the present study examined activation in critical brain regions during affective challenge (i.e., presentation of International Affective Picture System negative images and Sport-Specific negative images) in 13 elite athletes (intercollegiate football players who have demonstrated successful execution of cognitive-motor skills under mental stress) relative to an age-matched control group (n=12). The present dissertation is organized into three main sections. The first report, entitled Brain Processes during Motor Performance under Psychological Stress, an Independent Component Analysis of EEG, is an examination of brain processes during competitive stress. This study revealed non-essential neuromotor cerebral cortical noise with a quantified increase in complexity during a cognitive-motor task. The second report is entitled Efficiency of Affective Brain Processes in Expert Cognitive-Motor Performers during Emotional Challenge. This fMRI examination of elite athletes revealed processing economy in brain regions critical to self regulation, management of emotional impulses and social cognition. The third report, entitled The Specificity of Neural Regulatory Processes during Emotional Challenge in a Stress Resilient Population, examined with fMRI if elite athletes spontaneously engage in cognitive reappraisal during the presentation of arousing sport-specific images. Results suggest that elite athletes process sports-relevant affective information in an automatic manner, congruent with a cognitive reappraisal strategy, which neutralized the negative impact of the scenes. In conclusion, the results suggest that elite performers are important models of stress resilience and respond not only in an efficient manner to stressful events, but demonstrate an adaptive regulatory response when challenged within their domain of experience.
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    INDIVIDUAL LEVEL PREDICTORS OF EMOTIONAL LABOR STRATEGIES AND THEIR DIFFERENTIAL OUTCOMES OVER TIME: ROLE OF LEADER BEHAVIOR.
    (2010) Singh, Sheetal; Tesluk, Paul; Business and Management: Management & Organization; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    In this longitudinal study, I evaluate the role of individual level cultural values of power distance, collectivism, and femininity in predicting individuals' emotional labor strategies. Additionally, I identify the differential effects of deep acting and surface acting on outcomes. I also test for the moderating role of leader behaviors on the relationship between emotional labor and job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion. I begin with a qualitative research phase to identify the leader behaviors that influence the relationship between emotional labor strategies and outcomes. Then I use a survey-based field study to test my model where I collected data from 198 individuals at time 1 and one month later at time 2. I also collected matching data on performance from their supervisors at both time 1 and time 2. Results demonstrate that individuals who are high on collectivism tend to engage in emotional labor and surface acting more than individuals who are low on collectivism. I did not find support for the hypotheses relating power distance and femininity with emotional labor strategies. Surface acting had a positive impact on emotional exhaustion and depersonalization at time 1 and time 2. Deep acting had a positive impact on job satisfaction at time 1 and time 2. However, deep acting had a negative impact on job performance at time 2. Several leader behaviors such as leader inclusiveness, empowering leadership, and leader positive emotional expression interacted with surface acting and deep acting to predict emotional exhaustion and satisfaction at time 1 and time 2.Psychological safety interacted with surface and deep acting to predict emotional exhaustion at time 1 and time 2. I discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the findings.
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    Examining the Effect of the LET'S ACT Behavioral Activation Treatment for Depression on Substance Abuse Treatment Dropout
    (2009) Magidson, Jessica F; Lejuez, Carl W.; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Despite the prevalence of depression among substance users and the negative impact of depressive symptoms on substance abuse treatment outcomes, few interventions targeting depression have been developed to meet the needs of depressed substance users, particularly in low-income urban areas. The current study aimed to replicate and expand upon promising preliminary findings for the use of a brief behavioral activation approach [Life Enhancement Treatment for Substance Use (LET'S ACT; Daughters et al., 2008)] to treat depression in the context of inner-city residential substance abuse treatment. Main extensions to the previous study include a comparison of LET'S ACT to a contact-time matched control treatment, Supportive Counseling (SC), and a more definitive evaluation of the effect of LET'S ACT on substance abuse treatment dropout. Results indicated that compared to SC, participants receiving LET'S ACT evidenced significantly lower rates of substance abuse treatment dropout and depressive symptoms, as evidenced by a significant treatment x time interaction with the change in self-reported and clinician-rated depressive symptoms from baseline to the 2-week follow up, as well as significantly higher rates of behavioral activation, as evidenced by a significant treatment x time interaction with scores on the Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale (BADS) from pre- to post-treatment. This study builds on preliminary evidence for LET'S ACT as a short-term behavioral treatment for depression in residential substance abuse treatment and offers initial support for the effect of LET'S ACT on substance use outcomes.
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    The structure and perception of budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus) warble songs
    (2009) Tu, Hsiao-Wei; Dooling, Robert J; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The warble song of male budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus) is an extraordinarily complex, multi-syllabic, learned vocalization that is produced continuously in streams lasting from a few seconds to a few minutes without obvious repetition of particular patterns. As a follow-up of the warble analysis of Farabaugh et al. (1992), an automatic categorization program based on neural networks was developed and used to efficiently and reliably classify more than 25,000 warble elements from 4 budgerigars. The relative proportion of the resultant seven basic acoustic groups and one compound group is similar across individuals. Budgerigars showed higher discriminability of warble elements drawn from different acoustic categories and lower discriminability of warble elements drawn from the same category psychophysically, suggesting that they form seven perceptual categories corresponding to those established acoustically. Budgerigars also perceive individual voice characteristics in addition to the acoustic measures delineating categories. Acoustic analyses of long sequences of natural warble revealed that the elements were not randomly arranged and that warble has at least a 5th-order Markovian structure. Perceptual experiments provided convergent evidence that budgerigars are able to master a novel sequence between 4 and 7 elements in length. Through gradual training with chunking (about 5 elements), birds are able to master sequences up to 50 elements. The ability of budgerigars to detect inserted targets taken in a long, running background of natural warble sequences appears to be species-specific and related to the acoustic structure of warble sounds.
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    Sexuality Education, Sexual Communication, Rape Myth Acceptance, and Sexual Assault Experience among Deaf and Hard of Hearing College Students
    (2009) Francavillo, Gwendolyn Suzanne Roberts; Sawyer, Robin G; Public and Community Health; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Deaf and Hard of Hearing college students are at an increased risk of sexual assault in comparison to their hearing peers. Previous studies demonstrate that although sexual assault rates among college students are high, among the Deaf community, these rates are nearly double. Data suggest that between 50% and 83% of Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals will experience sexual assault in their lifetime, with Deaf and Hard of Hearing women more likely to experience sexual assault than Deaf and Hard of Hearing men. There exists only a small amount of published research regarding Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals and sexuality, and an even smaller amount of research has been conducted with Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals on the subject of sexual assault. The high sexual assault rates among Deaf and Hard of Hearing students may be partially attributed to their limited sexuality education and knowledge, most often as a result of communication, language, and cultural barriers. The purpose of this study was to 1) examine a possible relationship between levels of sexuality education, sexual communication, rape myth acceptance, and sexual assault experience, along with demographic variables, among Deaf and Hard of Hearing college students; and 2) examine differences between students previously educated in schools for the Deaf versus mainstream schools, with regard to their levels of sexuality education, sexual communication, rape myth acceptance, and sexual assault experience. The instrument was developed incorporating the Sexual Communication Survey (SCS), Rape Myth Acceptance Scale (RMAS), Sexual Experiences Survey (SES), sexuality education and sexual activity components. Two sets of hypotheses were examined via linear regression to ascertain significant relationships among the variables, with Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) constructs being used as the theoretical foundation of the study. Seven analyses were found to be statistically significant, with sexual communication, gender, and consensual sexual activity predictor variables explaining the outcome variable, sexual assault experience, at high percentages. The findings from this research have provided a greater baseline of data for future studies to investigate the factors influencing sexual assault among Deaf and Hard of Hearing college students.
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    User Acceptance of Community Emergency Alert Technology: Motivations and Barriers
    (2009) Wu, Fei; Preece, Jennifer J; Qu, Yan; Library & Information Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The purpose of the study is to investigate the factors that motivate the acceptance of emergency alert technologies that are designated for the community's emergency preparedness and response. By investigating the acceptance case of UMD Alerts at the University of Maryland, I explore three related questions through a three-phase, mixed-methods research design: First, what are the key factors that influence the acceptance and use of emergency alert technology? Second, how are different motivational factors related to the intention to use emergency alert technology? Third, what mechanisms may be integrated into system design and implementation to motivate user acceptance? I identify key motivational factors by reviewing the literature and conducting in-depth interviews. Then, I conduct a survey to examine the relationships between the motivational factors and the intention or behavior of acceptance. Finally, I test the motivational effects of the "subjective norm" - one of the predominant factors derived from the interview study and the survey - in a field experiment. Integrating the findings from these three phases, this research shows that user acceptance of emergency alert technology is affected by a variety of factors that the general technology acceptance model (TAM) fails to take into account. In brief, users may be more motivated to accept such technologies if 1) the meaningful use of the technology can be observed in everyday life; 2) the technology system behavior can be easily controlled; and 3) the diffusion of the technology is promoted through the users' social networks and is compatible with the culture of the user community. This dissertation work demonstrates a "deepening" effort in applying TAM to response technology acceptance and establishes a foundation for challenging new lines of research that more closely examine the motivations and barriers to technology acceptance in sociotechnical contexts.
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    Adaptive echolocation and flight behaviors in free-flying bats, Eptesicus fuscus
    (2008-10-22) Chiu, Chen; Moss, Cynthia F; Neuroscience and Cognitive Science; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Echolocating bats emit ultrasonic sonar pulses and listen to returning echoes, which are reflected from targets or obstacles, to probe their surroundings. Their biological sonar system is well-developed and highly adaptive to the dynamic acoustic environment. Bats are also agile flyers and they can modify their flight behavior in order to capture insects efficiently. Adaptable echolocation and flight behaviors evolved in bats in response to environmental demands. This study employed changes in the external ear of bats and in the acoustic environment to examine how the big brown bat, Eptesicus fuscus, modifies its echolocation call design and flight patterns to cope with these new experimental conditions. Study one investigated the influences of changes in sound localization cues on prey capture behavior. The tragus, which is part of the external ear, is believed to contribute to sound localization in the vertical plane. Deflecting the tragus affected prey capture performance of the bat, but it adapted to this manipulation by adjusting its flight behavior. The tragus-deflected bat tended to attack the prey item from above and show lower tangential velocity and larger bearing from the side, compared with its flight pattern in the tragus intact conditions. The bat did not change its echolocation call design in the tragus-deflected condition. Study two paired two bats together and allowed them to perform a prey capture task in a large flight room. Echolocating bats showed two adaptive strategies in their echolocation behavior when flying with another conspecific. The bat either stopped vocalizing or increased its difference in call design from the other bat. In addition, one bat tended to follow another bat when flying together and antagonistic behavior was found in male-male and female-male pairs. The pursuit strategy the bat uses to track another bat is different from the strategy it uses to capture flying insects. This thesis confirms that the big brown bat's echolocation and flight behaviors are highly adaptable and describes several strategies the bat employs to cope with changes in sound localization cues and conspecific interference.
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    Ethnic Identity and Relationship Satisfaction among African American Heterosexual Couples
    (2008-08-11) Smith, Jocelyn Renee; La Taillade, Jaslean J; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    In an attempt to better understand factors contributing to relationship satisfaction among African American heterosexual couples, this study explored the impact of communication behavior and partner acceptance on relationship satisfaction among African American heterosexual couples. Additionally, the moderating role of ethnic identity on African American relationship processes and couple satisfaction was also explored. Results indicated that communication behaviors and partner acceptance were significantly related to relationship satisfaction among African American couples. Additionally, crossover effects were found such that the communication behaviors and partner acceptance of one partner significantly impacted the relationship satisfaction of their spouse. However, these results varied by gender. Finally, analyses exploring the moderation effect of ethnic identity found that female ethnic identity moderated the relationship between female acceptance of partner positive behavior and male relationship satisfaction. Research and clinical implications of these findings for African American heterosexual relationships are discussed.