Hello Psychology Community!
Please join me in congratulating our Psychology majors whose posters were accepted for the Eastern Psychological (EPA) Conference in March. Here are the poster titles and presenters. Pictures taken at the event will be posted to all Psychology Department social media pages, so keep a look out for them!
On Friday, March 2nd:
POSTER 30
ALL TRUMPED OUT: STUDENTS’ LEVELS OF DEPRESSION, STRESS, AND ANXIETY IN POLITICS
LUCIANO MASTRANGELI, RACHAEL STEELMAN, CORY OTT, ZAK BOOK, JULIA HAMLETT, D. RYAN SCHURTZ (STEVENSON UNIVERSITY)
This research examined how people from different political parties respond emotionally given controversial quotes from the current United States president. The researchers predicted after exposure to quotes from President Donald Trump, participants would have a significant increase in stress, anxiety and depression compared to pretest levels. Results indicated Independents and Republicans were more impacted than Democrats. This may indicate that they were more sensitive to the president’s words than members of other parties.
POSTER 19
PARENTAL SUPPORT, ACADEMIC EXPECTATIONS, AND DEMANDS AT HOME IN FIRST-GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENTS
BRITTANY SIMMS, JEFFREY ELLIOTT (STEVENSON UNIVERSITY)
Differences between first-generation and non-first-generation college students in terms of their perceptions of parental academic expectations, emotional support; and demands to help at home were investigated in a correlational study with 62 participants. The results showed parents of first-generation students were perceived to be less concerned about academic performance, less able to provide assistance, less willing to help make college decisions, less concerned about grades, and gave less good advice about college.
POSTER 65
MEDIA REPRESENTATION AND THE EFFECT ON SELF-ESTEEM AND CULTURAL IDENTITY
GIOVANNA BAISIE-ARTHUR (STEVENSON UNIVERSITY)
This study investigated the effects of viewing television shows on racial identity and self-esteem. Participants watched either a scene from Friends or the skit from the Moonlight music video in a 2 (music video) X 2 (participant racial identity) factorial design. The results of the study indicated that watching a video with an all-black cast may increase feelings that minority groups are oppressed in white participants and the opposite was true for black participants.
POSTER 48
A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF THE MINISTRY EXPERIENCE OF CHINESE AMERICAN CHURCH LEADERS
MARIA WONG, SAVANNAH SOMMERS, SARAH GORANSON, ALLISON BRUNS, SARAH MAZUR, ASHLEY ROSNER, ALEX MUELLER, ANAKAY ALEXANDER (STEVENSON UNIVERSITY)
This report examined the unique challenges that Chinese American church leaders faced in their ministry. Using qualitative methods, we found that the ministry experience of these leaders varied depending on the type of church that they were in. While cultural differences were downplayed in multiethnic churches, leaders of Chinese immigrant churches often encountered conflicts related to acculturation. Together, our results add to the scant literature and have important implications for Chinese American church leaders.
POSTER 30
LIGHT MANIPULATION EFFECTS SOCIAL BEHAVIORS AND PROTEIN CONCENTRATION IN CRAYFISH.
MICHELLE DENNIS (STEVENSON UNIVERSITY), USAMA ALI (STEVENSON UNIVERSITY), BRYAN PHAM (STEVENSON UNIVERSITY), CAITLYN KENNEDY (STEVENSON UNIVERSITY), INGRID TULLOCH (STEVENSON UNIVERSITY)
The current study examined whether varying wavelengths of light would significantly alter exploration and aggressive social behaviors in invasive crayfish species (Orconectes virils and Orconectes rusticus). Groups of crayfish were exposed to blue (495 nm), red (760 nm), or white light (control) for twenty-four hours. Frequency and duration of exploration increased with red 75 light compared to the other wavelengths of light but not aggression suggesting environmental light affects behavioral ecology of invasive crayfish.
POSTER 7
THE DESIRED CONTENT OF LOVE LETTERS
RACHAEL STEELMAN, RYAN SCHURTZ, WAYNE BECKER, MARIA MARZI (STEVENSON UNIVERSITY)
Little research has investigated written romantic communication between partners. This research investigated what people desire and do not desire in love letters from their romantic partners. The researchers investigated potential gender and age differences in desired content but found no significant results. Overall, survey respondents strongly desired expressions of longing and depth of love but did not desire any expressions of insecurity in the relationship.
POSTER 8
AN ANALYSIS OF WHAT LOVERS WRITE IN THEIR LOVE LETTERS
MELISSA CATALANO, RYAN SCHURTZ, RACHAEL STEELMAN, MELISSA RAMOS, ASHLEY ROSNER (STEVENSON UNIVERSITY)
Letters written by university students to romantic partners (love letters) and non-romantic friends (control letters) were examined using Linguistic Inquiry Word Count to explore potential gender differences in word use and tone. Preliminary results of pronoun usage indicate that romantic letters focus more on the recipient than the writer. When positive emotions were examined, men appeared to exhibit an equally positive tone regardless of audience, where women’s positive emotions were higher when writing to lovers.
On Saturday, March 3rd:
POSTER 53
SELF-CARE AND STRESS IN COLLEGE STUDENTS
BRYSON BARKSDALE, JEFFREY ELLIOTT (STEVENSON UNIVERSITY)
The relation between self-care and stress in 92 college students was examined using the Self-Care Inventory (Saakvitne & Pearlman, 1996) and Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen, Kamarck, & Mermelstein, 1983). A negative correlation was obtained between self-care behaviors and stress. African Americans reported higher psychological, emotional and spiritual self-care than European Americans, possibly because of an overrepresentation of participation in supportive student organizations. Future research should investigate the impact of student organizations on self-care.
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