College of Behavioral & Social Sciences
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The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations..
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Item Separation Increases Passive Stress-Coping Behaviors During Forced Swim and Alters Hippocampal Dendritic Morphology in California Mice(2017) Hyer, Molly; Glasper, EricaIndividuals within monogamous species form bonds that may buffer against the negative effects of stress on physiology and behavior. In some species, involuntary termination of the mother-offspring bond results in increased symptoms of negative affect in the mother, suggesting that the parent-offspring bond may be equally as important as the pair bond. To our knowledge, the extent to which affect in paternal rodents is altered by involuntary termination of the father-offspring bond is currently unknown. Here, we investigated to what extent separation and paternal experience alters passive stress-coping behaviors and dendritic morphology in hippocampal subfields of California mice (Peromyscus californicus). Irrespective of paternal experience, separated mice displayed shorter latencies to the first bout of immobility, longer durations of immobility, and more bouts of immobility than control (non-separated) mice. This effect of separation was exacerbated by paternal experience in some measures of behavioral despair - separation from offspring further decreased the latency to immobility and increased bouts of immobility. In the dentate gyrus, separation reduced dendritic spine density regardless of paternal experience. Increased spine density was observed on CA1 basal, but not apical, dendrites following paternal experience. Regardless of offspring presence, fatherhood was associated with reduced apical dendritic spine density in area CA3 of the hippocampus. Separation enhanced complexity of both basal and apical dendrites in CA1, while fatherhood reduced dendritic complexity in this region. Our data suggest that forced dissolution of the pair bond induces passive stress-coping behaviors and contributes to region-specific alterations in hippocampal structure in California mouse males.Item The Affective Consequences of Conforming to Gender Stereotypes(2016) Venaglia, Rachel; Lemay, Edward P.; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)It was of primary interest to examine the affective consequences of conformity to gender stereotypes, and to assess if feelings of social approval and authenticity mediate the relationship between conformity and affect. Therefore, we utilized an Electronic Momentary Assessment methodology to capture University of Maryland students’ engagement in gender stereotypical behavior, and their emotional and social experiences during their daily social interactions. Counter to expectations, we found that regardless of one’s own gender, enacting gender prescriptions enhanced feelings of authenticity and feelings of social approval, and enacting proscriptions reduced feelings of authenticity and feelings of social approval. Enacting prescriptions predicted more positive affect and enacting proscriptions predicted a more negative affective experience. Feelings of authenticity and feelings of social approval independently predicted feelings of more positive affect. Overall, our findings suggest that irrespective of gender, engaging in desirable stereotypes has a number of social, personal, and emotional benefits.Item Affective Pathways of Work-Family Enrichment Among Dual-earner Couples(2009) Dunn, Marianne Grace; O'Brien, Karen M; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The current study examined the extent to which resources generated at work influence family functioning among dual-earner couples while accounting for interdependence of observations among couples. Path analytic findings based in the Actor Partner Interdependence Model (APIM; Cook & Kenny, 2005) and Work-Family Enrichment Theory (Greenhaus & Powell, 2006) supported the presence of a mediated model. The relationship between resources generated at work to positive family performance was mediated by positive affect at work. A number of intrapersonal effects, including one mediated effect emerged between work, positive affect at work, and family variables. One interpersonal effect was detected: female family-supportive organization perceptions predicted male dyadic adjustment. The results and implications for theory, policy, practice, and research are discussed.Item Affect and Cognition as Antecedents of Intergroup Attitudes: The Role of Applicability and Judged Usability(2009) Leary, Scott; Stangor, Charles; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)When making intergroup evaluations we experience cognitive and affective responses. Given that the content of the cognitions or affective reactions are applicable and judged usable, each has the potential to influence one's attitudes towards that group. In a Pilot Study participants reported significantly more disgust than fear when thinking about gay men, and significantly more fear than disgust when thinking about African-Americans. Studies 1 and 2 provided initial support that these specific emotional responses to social groups are moderated by the extent to which that information is judged as usable. Data from Study 3 did not fully support my hypotheses, as personal relevance did not moderate the extent to which affect was related to social distance. Implications and limitations are discussed.Item Impact of Residential Substance Abuse Treatment on Affect and Personality-Related Variables Across Inner-city Substance Abusers(2007-06-27) Aklin, Will M.; Lejuez, Carl W; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Substance abuse treatment outcome studies have shown positive effects for a large number of drug users with regard to reduction in substance use and criminal activity, as well as improvement of general well-being. However, high rates of relapse following treatment have compelled researchers to elucidate the individual difference factors that change among those who receive substance abuse treatment. Affect- (depressive and anxiety symptoms) and disinhibition-related variables (impulsivity, risk taking) may be of particular relevance. These factors are related to the development and maintenance of substance use and distinguish between substance users with and without Axis I and II disorders that may interfere with treatment success, such as depression, anxiety disorders, or antisocial personality disorder. Consequently, these factors may be considered important treatment targets. However, there currently is a dearth of research focused on understanding whether these variables are affected by standard substance use treatments, and more specifically, which variables may change throughout the course of substance use treatment. Given that many of these variables are considered to be enduring aspects of an individual's personality, the extent to which they are malleable by treatment is an important consideration. Moreover, to enhance the generalizability of these findings, it is important to understand the extent to which changes occur in more standard substance use treatments as opposed to more elaborate and targeted treatments that rarely are disseminated in real world treatment settings. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to examine the effect of a residential substance use treatment program on particular affect- (e.g., depressive and anxiety symptoms, stress reactivity) and disinhibition-related variables (e.g., risk taking). A sample of 81 inner-city substance abusers were assessed on self-reported and behavioral measures of the above affect- and disinhibition-related variables that have previously found to be implicated in substance use over a 30-day course of treatment. A residential treatment program provides an optimal setting for evaluating changes as behavioral confounds (i.e., substance use) can be controlled, and the natural changes during abstinence can be measured with both reliability and validity. A significant pre-post treatment decrease was found on scores of risk taking, as indexed by the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART); levels of depressive symptomatology and stress reactivity also evidenced a significant pre-post decrease. These data are discussed with respect to implications for understanding the factors that underlie mechanisms of change during treatment, thereby informing substance abuse prevention and treatment programs.Item "Easier Said than Done": Promises as False Proxies in Goal Pursuit(2006-12-11) Orehek, Edward; Kruglanski, Arie W; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study investigated goal activation following a promise to complete the goal. Because promising is a statement of commitment to a goal, it is generally assumed to increase goal activation. However, when individuals have the motivation to infer progress on the goal, and when information is accessible which would facilitate such an inference from the act of promising, goal activation should decrease following the promise. We hypothesized and found that when promises are made after competing goals have been activated and when positive affect is experienced following the promise, goal activation is lower than when a promise is not made. Only when competing goals were not activated and positive affect was experienced did promising lead to greater goal activation than not promising. These results add to current work on feedback processes in goal pursuit, and demonstrate the paradoxical effects of promising to complete a goal.