Psychology
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Item SELF-PROTECTIVE EPISODIC SIMULATIONS MOTIVATE NEGATIVE SOCIAL BEHAVIORS IN LONELY PEOPLE(2024) Davis, Alexander; Lemay, Edward P.; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Loneliness can be an enduring condition, with the stability of loneliness comparable to that of a personality trait. The Evolutionary Theory of Loneliness (ETL) posits that loneliness is a self-perpetuating condition; lonely people prioritize self-protection over connecting with others. To self-protect, lonely people engage in increased hostility and avoidance and decreased prosocial behaviors. Engaging in these behaviors perpetuates their loneliness by eroding their social networks. I hypothesize that self-protective episodic simulations of rejection may be an underlying mechanism that drives negative social behaviors. To assess the effects of episodic simulations on the stability of loneliness, I conducted a longitudinal assessment of participants' unmanipulated episodic simulations of social interactions and ratings of loneliness. Participants were 207 undergraduate students at the University of Maryland who completed up to four sequential weekly assessments. Multilevel modeling was used to assess within subjects change in social behaviors, social perceptions, and episodic simulations. I found evidence to support episodic simulations of rejection predicted next week's prosocial behaviors, social avoidance, and hostility. Prosocial behaviors and hostility, in turn, predicted loneliness. I did not find evidence to support the hypothesis that loneliness predicts the following week's hostility. The results highlight the potential influence episodic simulations of rejection have on social behaviors and loneliness. Contrary to ETL, I did not find any support for the hypothesis that loneliness predicts future hostility.Item PREDICTING PSYCHOLOGICAL ADJUSTMENT IN GRIEF: CROSS-NATIONAL DIFFERENCES AMONG KOREANS AND AMERICANS(2023) Yang, NaYeon; O'Brien, Karen M.; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Grieving the death of a significant individual is a universal experience. However, the rituals, beliefs, and meanings surrounding death are shaped by one’s cultural values. Recent scholars stressed the importance of recognizing cultural differences in bereavement, as Western-centric perspectives on grief in the bereavement literature could adversely affect clients with different cultural backgrounds (Rosenblatt, 2008). Prior research demonstrated that the constructs contributing to healthy grieving may differ across cultures. Specifically, continuing bonds, meaning-making, and social support have been identified as three constructs associated with bereaved individuals’ psychological adjustment in several cultures (e.g., Gillies et al., 2015; Kim et al., 2008; Scholtes & Browne, 2015; Yang & Lee, 2020). Thus, the purpose of the present study was to examine the similarities and differences in the relations among psychological distress, salient grief-related variables (i.e., internalized/externalized continuing bonds, meaning-making, and implicit/explicit social support), and psychological adjustment among Koreans and Americans during their grieving process. The data were collected in the United States and South Korea. The results indicated that psychological distress and one subscale of meaning-making (i.e., emptiness and meaninglessness) were associated with psychological adjustment for both US and Korean bereaved individuals. For US bereaved individuals, externalized continuing bonds and one subscale of meaning-making (i.e., being present) were positively associated with psychological adjustment, whereas one subscale of meaning-making (i.e., sense of peace) was negatively associated with psychological adjustment. For Korean individuals, implicit social support was positively associated with psychological adjustment. Overall, the results indicated that there may be both universal and culturally unique aspects of grieving. Clinical implications and future research considerations are discussed.Item The emergence of symbolic norms(2023) Pan, Xinyue; Gelfand, Michele J.; Nau, Dana S.; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Human groups are experts in developing and maintaining social norms. Many social norms have clear practical functions, such as regulating competition or facilitating coordination. Some other norms, however, have arbitrary functions and limited direct material consequences for the self or the group, but are nevertheless enforced. I define such norms as symbolic norms. Symbolic norms are prevalent across human societies. Given the discrepancy between the social importance and the functional opacity of these norms, it is important to understand how a seemingly neutral behavior can emerge as a symbolic norm and be adopted by the population. In this dissertation, I argue that a neutral behavior is more likely to evolve as a symbolic norm when it shows statistical correlation with a practical behavior on the population level. I call this the norm spillover effect. The norm spillover effect predicts that if, on the population level, followers of a practically beneficial norm happen to conduct a certain neutral behavior more often than practical norm violators, the social norm will spill over from the practical domain to the neutral domain. Thus, people will adopt and enforce that neutral behavior, and a symbolic norm will emerge. This dissertation uses agent-based models and an empirical experiment to test the norm spillover effect across two levels of analyses. First, agent-based models are used to test the evolutionary force behind the norm spillover effect on the population level. I argue that the statistical correlation between a practical and a neutral behavior creates an ecology that fosters symbolic norm following and enforcement. Second, an empirical experiment is conducted to examine the psychology of the norm spillover effect on the individual level. I argue that the perceived correlation between a practical and a neutral behavior increases the perceived direct function of and the pressure to conform to the symbolic norm.Item Can A Relationship Optimism and Perfectionism Intervention Increase Romantic Relationship Well-being?(2023) Xiao, Zizhong; Lemay, Jr., Edward P; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)A key predictor for romantic relationship quality is relationship optimism (also known as positive relationship expectations). However, relationship expectations can negatively affect relationship well-being when they become unrealistic and rigid, also known as dyadic perfectionism. The current research tests the effectiveness of a novel intervention that aims to improve relationship optimism and decrease dyadic perfectionism among couples. The four components of the intervention were based on previously validated social-psychological interventions that target relevant traits such as personal optimism and growth mindset. There were three intervention conditions. The first condition paired relationship optimism and dyadic perfectionism components together. The second condition only had the relationship optimism component. The third was the control condition. Results showed that despite a significant effect of the intervention on lowering immediate dyadic perfectionism, the intervention failed to have enduring effects on relationship optimism or dyadic perfectionism. Additionally, this intervention did not improve relationship quality on other indicators. Implications, broader impacts, and future directions based on the current results are discussed.Item Affective Reactions to Uncertainty as Driven by Past Experiences, Personality, and Perceived Valence(2022) Ellenberg, Molly Deborah; Kruglanski, Arie; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The assumption that uncertainty is inherently threatening which underlies decades of research belies the fact that people rarely react negatively to uncertain situations about which they do not care, and that some are excited by uncertainty. I propose that affective reactions to uncertainty are driven not by uncertainty itself, but by people’s expectations of positive and negative outcomes to personally relevant uncertain situations. I find that positive past experiences predict higher optimism and higher resilience, both of which predict higher tolerance of uncertainty and more positive perceptions of uncertain events. I also find that negative past experiences predict higher pessimism and lower resilience, both of which predict higher intolerance of uncertainty and more negative perceptions of uncertain events. The second study suggests that optimistic people are more likely to approach, rather than avoid, uncertainty. The third study finds that mindfulness training, which emphasizes non-attachment to outcomes, results in more neutral reactions to uncertainty. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.Item Addressing Follower Motivation Within the Kelley Typology of Followership Using Significance Quest Theory(2022) Forgo, Emily Elizabeth; Hanges, Paul J; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This thesis sought to build upon the Kelley typology of followership by examining the motivational factors that affect follower behavior in follower-leader interactions that the original theory did not explore. The motivational mechanism I argued accounted for differences in follower behavior was Significance Quest theory. This thesis examined whether the interaction between the activation of an individual’s significance quest and the closeness to a network perceived as valuable to them would influence follower behavior. Additional factors, such as narratives valued by the network and regulatory focus orientation, are also explored. Partial support was found for two hypotheses. Implications and future directions of these findings are discussed.Item The Way to Go: Considering Goals and Planned Behavior(2022) Factor, Adam; Kruglanski, Arie; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The Theory of Planned Behavior offers a parsimonious and useful basis by which attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control predict behavioral intentions and behavior. Often employed in fields across the social sciences, this model is highly influential for its relatively strong predictions and simple parsimony. On the other hand, there remain many limitations to the theory and directions for future improvement. Based on emerging theoretical work arguing for a new integrative TPB framework, three studies tested the impact of goal context on the TPB’s predictions. The first study examined two hypothetical scenarios in which goals relevant to a particular behavior were manipulated, finding that goals did impact the relationship between attitudes and behavioral intentions in one vignette but not the other. A second study found evidence that goal activation (in the form of an upcoming deadline) affected some of the TPB’s predictions, and that accounting for goal activation improved the overall utility of the model. Finally, a third study assessed the TPB variables for participant-generated behaviors. There was some evidence that commitment to goals and conflict between them helps predict behavior over time and may affect the relationship between intentions and behavior.Item When Threats Strike: Establishment of a Linguistic Tool for Tracking Threats Over Time(2021) Choi, Jinny; Gelfand, Michele J.; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The ability to detect fluctuations and upticks in levels of societal threats has important implications for understanding a variety of social and psychological group processes. In this study, I develop and validate a comprehensive linguistic dictionary, which identifies the common terminology used to describe collective threats in the English lexicon. These threat-relevant terms are tracked across a large corpus of newspaper articles and social media postings over time, generating indices that enable real-time and historical assessments. As a comprehensive measure of collective threats over time, this study tests how threats correspond to key cultural, political, and economical societal shifts. Additionally, this project seeks to capture how content that deploys more threat terms can be instrumental in capturing more public attention.Item The role of gossip in the evolution of cooperation(2021) Pan, Xinyue; Gelfand, Michele J.; Nau, Dana S.; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The prevalence of cooperation in human societies is astonishing. Scholars from many disciplines have been sought to understand why it evolves. Some studies have indicated that gossip may play an important role in the evolution of cooperation. However, there has yet to be a systematic attempt to test this hypothesis directly. In this thesis, I developed an evolutionary game theoretic model and examined the role of gossip in the evolution of cooperation as well as the mechanism of the evolution of gossipers. I found that gossip increases reputation accessibility and makes the utilization of reputation information effective and necessary. The utilization of reputation information not only leads to more cooperation but also motivates individuals to manage their reputation by cooperating more with gossipers. As a result, gossipers gain an advantage over non-gossipers, and this leads to the evolution of gossipers. I also examined the factors that moderate these results.Item Desire for Unmitigated Communion as a Predictor of Partner Relationship Quality and Life Satisfaction(2021) Ryan, Joshua Everett; Lemay, Edward; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The current research conceptualizes and examines a previously unexplored desire in interpersonal relationships: the desire for unmitigated communion from relationship partners. Unmitigated communion refers to the tendency to exhibit concern for others to the exclusion of one’s own needs (Helgeson & Fritz, 1998). While prior research has associated unmitigated communion with interpersonal relationship outcomes, little work has been done in examining whether people desire unmitigated communion from close relationship partners, and what effects these desires may have on others. In the current research, I posit that people sometimes desire their partner’s unmitigated communion, and investigate various potential antecedents and consequences of this desire. Throughout 4 studies, I developed a Desire for Unmitigated Communion scale and investigated its psychometric properties, including internal consistency and latent factor structure (Studies 1 and 3), test-retest reliability (Study 2), and incremental validity (Study 4). Results suggested items assessing people’s desire for a partner’s sacrifice, worry, and dependence reflected a single latent construct, which I refer to as the desire for unmitigated communion. The scale exhibited questionable test-retest reliability in Study 2, and predicted a partner’s relationship satisfaction and feelings of harmonious passion in Study 4. I also assessed predictors and antecedents for this desire in Studies 3 and 4. Results from Study 3 revealed that psychological entitlement, attachment anxiety, and beliefs that sacrifice and devotion are healthy independently predicted increased desire for unmitigated communion. Results from Study 4, a cross-sectional dyadic study, further revealed that the desire for unmitigated communion helped to explain the relationship between a variety of factors (psychological entitlement, attachment anxiety, attachment avoidance, devotion beliefs) and a partner’s relationship commitment. Results also revealed that participant’s desire for unmitigated communion predicted reduced relationship satisfaction and harmonious passion for their close relationship partners, primarily when partners were low in actual unmitigated communion, relative to when they were high in unmitigated communion. Implications of these results are discussed.