Psychology

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Abusive Supervision and Organizational Deviance: A Mediated Moderation Model
(University of Waterloo, 2011-08-02T18:15:59Z) Lian, Huiwen
In the current dissertation I investigated how abusive supervision promoted subordinate organizational deviance, by integrating and extending past work on mixed relationships (relationships characterized by both conflict and support) and self-determination theory. Past work on mixed relationships has suggested that positive and negative characteristics can co-exist within the same supervisor-subordinate relationship. Based on this, I argued that abusive supervisory behaviors would occur within high quality supervisor-subordinate relationships (i.e., high leader-member exchange, or LMX). Moreover, as mistreatment within a high quality relationship is likely to violate expectations and thus be experienced more intensely, I hypothesized that the effects of abusive supervision were more pronounced within a high quality supervisor-subordinate context. Beyond testing this interaction, I also examined the underlying psychological mechanisms through which abusive supervision and its interaction with LMX affected subordinate organizational deviance. Applying self-determination theory, I hypothesized that subordinate basic need satisfaction mediated the effects of abusive supervision and its interaction with LMX on subordinate organizational deviance. These hypotheses were tested in three multi-wave studies. In Study 1, data from 268 full-time employees were collected across two waves. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that abusive supervision and LMX were two independent constructs. In addition, hierarchical regression analysis demonstrated that LMX moderated the relation between abusive supervision and subordinate organizational deviance, such that the relationship was exacerbated when LMX was high rather than low. To replicate these findings and investigate the mediating role of needs, I conducted a follow up study. Data from 256 full-time employees were collected across three waves. Using Edwards and Lambert’s approach to test mediated moderation models, I demonstrated that: 1) LMX moderated the relation between abusive supervision and subordinate basic need satisfaction, such that high LMX exacerbated the negative relation; and 2) basic need satisfaction mediated the moderating effect of LMX on the abusive supervision and organizational deviance relation, such that the mediating effects of basic need satisfaction was stronger when LMX was high rather than low. One limitation of Study 2 was that commonly investigated mediators of the relation between abusive supervision and organizational deviance were not controlled. To address this issue, I conducted a constructive replication of Study 2, including two alternative mediating mechanisms: justice perceptions and organizational social exchange. In Study 3, data from 260 full-time employees were collected across three waves. The results replicated Study 2 and demonstrated that when alternative mediators were included, basic need satisfaction remained the only significant mediating mechanism. The results from these three studies were discussed in terms of their theoretical implications to the abusive supervision and mixed supervisor-subordinate relationship literature. As well, the practical implications of the mediated moderation model tested in the current dissertation were discussed.
Acceptability of Female Smoking and Smokeless Tobacco Use in Bangladesh and India
(University of Waterloo, 2014-11-10) Sansone, Genevieve
Background: Smokeless tobacco has a long history in Bangladesh and India, where it has become normalized as a socially acceptable behaviour, but the same level of social acceptance does not apply to smoking, especially among females. As a result, there is a large gender gap in smoking rates but the gender difference in smokeless tobacco use is much narrower or even in the opposite direction. Explanations for the higher prevalence and social acceptability of female smokeless tobacco use in this region range from cultural factors to tobacco industry practices and tobacco control policies. Objectives: This study aims to examine acceptability of female smoking and smokeless tobacco use in Bangladesh and India, and to identify factors that might distinguish female tobacco use from male tobacco use and influence behavior such as quitting, including different types of social norms (descriptive and injunctive), beliefs about tobacco, and awareness of tobacco control policies. Methods: Data are from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Policy Evaluation Project in India and Bangladesh, longitudinal cohort surveys of tobacco users and non users conducted using face-to-face interviews. This dissertation uses data from Wave 1 of the TCP India Project (2010-2011; N=10,585) and Waves 2-3 of the ITC Bangladesh Project (2010, N=4,379; and 2011-2012, N=4,225). Respondents were categorized as either smokers (of cigarettes and/or bidis), smokeless tobacco users, mixed users (currently smoke and use smokeless tobacco), or non users of tobacco. The primary measures of interest for this study were behaviours relevant to quitting (quit intentions and quit attempts), perceived social acceptability of tobacco use in general and of female tobacco use in particular, awareness of selected tobacco control policies, and sociodemographics. Results: While rates of female tobacco use were low in each country, females were much more likely to use smokeless tobacco than to smoke, compared to males. In both countries, smokeless tobacco was perceived to be more acceptable than smoking, especially for females. Social acceptability measures were predicted by a few of the measures of awareness of tobacco control policies, including warning labels and smoke-free laws. The majority of respondents were aware that any form of tobacco use is harmful and is not an acceptable behaviour overall, indicating a negative injunctive norm; however, people who use either smoked or smokeless tobacco were more likely to say that their own product is socially acceptable, a sign of justification effects. This effect was strongest for female smokers – only 75-83% said it is not acceptable for females to smoke, compared to 93-97% of male smokers. The influence of descriptive norms on behaviour was seen from the finding that tobacco users were more likely to have friends and parents who shared the same habit. However, most tobacco users also said close others disapproved of their habit, creating a negative subjective norm that may be stronger for females. Very few tobacco users expressed a desire to quit, and a minority had made a quit attempt by Wave 3 in Bangladesh. Social acceptability predicted quit intentions only for smokers in Bangladesh: smokers who perceived greater society disapproval of smoking were more likely to intend to quit. Conclusions: Most research on smoking has focused on men and specifically on the harms of cigarettes; less attention has been paid to other tobacco products or the factors explaining their use, specifically for female tobacco users. It is important to study patterns of tobacco use among females in countries such as Bangladesh and India in order to reduce health risks and improve cessation rates for women who currently use smokeless tobacco, while at the same time preventing more women in these countries from taking up smoking. A better understanding of the ways that social norms influence tobacco use behaviour and quitting can have a valuable impact on designing and implementing more effective tobacco control strategies and health interventions in these countries and other LMICS.
Active Navigation in Virtual Environments Benefits Spatial Memory in Older Adults
(MDPI, 2019-03) Meade, Melissa E.; Meade, John G.; Sauzeon, Hélène; Fernandes, Myra A.
We investigated age differences in memory for spatial routes that were either actively or passively encoded. A series of virtual environments were created and presented to 20 younger (Mean age = 19.71) and 20 older (Mean age = 74.55) adults, through a cardboard viewer. During encoding, participants explored routes presented within city, park, and mall virtual environments, and were later asked to re-trace their travelled routes. Critically, participants encoded half the virtual environments by passively viewing a guided tour along a pre-selected route, and half through active exploration with volitional control of their movements by using a button press on the viewer. During retrieval, participants were placed in the same starting location and asked to retrace the previously traveled route. We calculated the percentage overlap in the paths travelled at encoding and retrieval, as an indicator of spatial memory accuracy, and examined various measures indexing individual differences in their cognitive approach and visuo-spatial processing abilities. Results showed that active navigation, compared to passive viewing during encoding, resulted in a higher accuracy in spatial memory, with the magnitude of this memory enhancement being significantly larger in older than in younger adults. Regression analyses showed that age and score on the Hooper Visual Organizational test predicted spatial memory accuracy, following the passive and active encoding of routes. The model predicting accuracy following active encoding additionally included the distance of stops from an intersection as a significant predictor, illuminating a cognitive approach that specifically contributes to memory benefits in following active navigation. Results suggest that age-related deficits in spatial memory can be reduced by active encoding.
Actor-Partner Effects and the Differential Roles of Depression and Anxiety in Intimate Relationships: A Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Analysis.
(University of Waterloo, 2008-09-01T18:33:21Z) Karimiha, Gelareh
Past studies examining the role of psychopathology in intimate relationships have largely focused on the construct of depression, both as a cause and consequence of relationship distress. In contrast, far less attention has been given to anxiety, despite the fact that anxiety is related to several factors influencing relationship functioning, including problem solving skills, thoughts of threat and uncertainty, sexual dysfunction, excessive self-focus and alcohol abuse. Moreover, the high rates of comorbidity between anxiety and depression make it unclear whether the findings from past studies examining the interpersonal toll of depression are specific to depression or are nonspecific markers of any type of psychopathology. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the differential roles of depression and anxiety in intimate relationship satisfaction, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Further, using the actor-partner interdependence model (APIM), we examined both the effects of one’s own anxiety and depression and also of one’s partner’s anxiety and depression on one’s own relationship satisfaction. Our cross-sectional sample consisted of 70 couples, of which 48 couples also participated at follow-up. All couples completed measures of relationship satisfaction and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Cross-sectionally, results revealed that a person’s own symptoms of depression were the only predictors of relationship satisfaction. Conversely, depressive symptoms did not predict change in relationship satisfaction over time. Instead, a person’s own levels of anxiety at time 1 were a stronger predictor of this change. Among wives, change in relationship satisfaction was also predicted by their husbands’ levels of anxiety at time 1. These results highlight the importance of studying the constructs of depression and anxiety simultaneously, and point to intriguing gender differences. The potential mechanisms behind these effects are discussed.
Adapting to Change: The Role of Priors, Surprise and Brain Damage on Mental Model Updating
(University of Waterloo, 2017-04-24) Filipowicz, Alexandre
To make sense of the world, humans build mental models that guide actions and expectations. These mental models need to be receptive to change and updated when they no longer accurately predict observations from an environment. Although ubiquitous in our everyday lives, research is still uncovering the factors that guide mental model building and updating. A significant challenge arises from the need to characterize how mental models can be both robust to noisy, stochastic fluctuations, while also being flexible to environmental changes. The current thesis explores this trade-off by examining some of the main components involved in updating. Chapter 2 proposes a novel task to measure the influence of prior mental models on the way new information is integrated. Chapter 3 tests the role of unexpected, ‘surprising’ events on our ability to detect changes in the environment. Chapter 4 measures the strategies used to explore new mental models, after a change has been detected, and how specific forms of brain damage influence these strategies. The results from this thesis provide novel insights into the behavioural and neural mechanisms that underlie mental model updating. The last chapter situates these results in existing literature, and suggests directions for future research.
Adaptive and Maladaptive Maximizing: Identifying the Correlates, Processes, and Outcomes of Maximizing in Decision-Making
(University of Waterloo, 2018-01-04) Hughes, Jeffrey
Research on the affective outcomes of maximizing has been mixed, with some research indicating that people who seek the “best” option across decisions report lower happiness and life satisfaction, and greater depression and regret. However, other research has suggested the opposite, finding that maximizing is associated with higher life satisfaction, happiness, optimism, and self-efficacy. Part of the reason for these discrepant results is that researchers have often disagreed on how to define maximization, and as such previous measures of the construct have grouped together subscales that differ in their relationships with affective experiences. Drawing from motivation research, I distinguish between the goals (i.e., “high standards” or wanting the best), strategies (e.g., alternative search), and possible outcomes (e.g., decision difficulty) associated with maximizing. This distinction is used to argue that maximizing may be meaningfully divided into separate types: a more adaptive type of maximizing not associated with affective costs, and a more maladaptive type associated with greater affective costs. I also argue that the motivational orientations of promotion focus and assessment mode can reliably distinguish between these types. Six studies provide evidence for these distinct types, to gain insight into when maximizers do or do not experience affective costs when making decisions. In Study 1, I show that subscales of maximizing are differentially associated with various general motivational factors. Study 2 presents research to show that promotion focus and assessment are both associated with the goal of wanting the best, yet assessment (not promotion) is related to the use of alternative search strategies. In Study 3, I use latent class analysis to cluster participants into distinct groups based on maximizing subscales, and show that these predict affective costs on a discrete decision task. In Study 4, I pit high standards and alternative search against each other to demonstrate that it is the strategy used, not the high standards goal, that mediates the relationship between assessment and frustration on a discrete decision task. In Study 5, I provide evidence that one reason why alternative search shows connections with affective costs may be particularly due to the reconsideration of previously dismissed options. Finally, Study 6 extends this research outside the domain of consumer decisions, demonstrating that these relationships hold in the context of participants’ own important life decisions. After presenting these studies, I discuss the implications of this research for the maximizing and decision-making literatures, and for the literature on motivation and self-regulation.
Adaptive Memory: Investigating the Survival Processing of Faces
(University of Waterloo, 2016-04-01) Todorovic, Daniel
It has been consistently found that words exhibit a mnemonic benefit when processed according to their relevance to a survival scenario (Nairne, Thompson, & Pandeirada, 2007). However, when Savine, Scullin, and Roediger (2011) tested this survival processing effect for faces, they were unable to obtain the effect. If memory evolved to aid survival, then memory for threatening individuals should be enhanced. This study examined whether the survival processing effect would be obtained for faces if they were processed according to a threat-focused scenario, modified from that of Savine et al. (2011), rather than a standard survival scenario. This hypothesis was tested in a between-subjects design, utilizing male and female faces, and two different threat scenarios along with a control scenario. A marginally significant survival processing effect for faces was obtained.
Addressing Basic Psychological Needs Fulfillment, Autonomous Motivation, and Working Alliance in Psychotherapy
(University of Waterloo, 2015-08-25) Keleher, Beth
According to many sources (e.g., Horvath & Symonds, 1991; Martin, Garske, & Davis, 2000; Safran & Muran, 2006; Wampold et al., 1997; Zuroff & Blatt, 2006), common factors found in all psychological treatments are more powerful predictors of treatment efficacy than treatment techniques espoused by any one individual therapy method. In order to address our understanding of how diverse forms of psychotherapy lead to positive outcomes, several authors have investigated the possible contribution of self-determination theory (SDT) variables to therapeutic change (e.g., Zuroff et al, 2007; Zuroff, Koestner, Moskowitz, McBride, & Bagby, 2012). In particular, the SDT constructs of autonomous and controlled motivation, autonomy support, and basic psychological needs have been proposed as factors that could influence psychotherapy outcome (Ryan & Deci, 2008; Deci & Ryan, 2008). Few research studies have examined the relationship between basic psychological needs, working alliance, and therapy persistence. Therefore, the goal of the interview study was to determine whether client ratings of the fulfillment of their basic needs during psychotherapy predicted early termination of therapy. While results in Study 1 were not significant, the trend indicated that a better-powered examination of the variables might result in significant findings. Accordingly, results from Study 2 indicated that those clients who unilaterally end therapy early without the agreement of their therapist tended to have significantly lower ratings of basic psychological needs fulfillment within psychotherapy than their planned-ender counterparts. Furthermore, while previous research has provided a window into the clinical value of autonomous motivation and autonomy support in psychotherapy, little is known about the state-related intricacies of motivation and working alliance in psychotherapy as they vary from day-to-day and week-to-week. In order to address this area of inquiry, and in lieu of the resources to conduct a psychotherapy treatment study, we developed an intervention with an analogue population: problem procrastinators. Results revealed that participants in both the individual and group conditions experienced a significant increase in autonomous and controlled motivation for academics overall over the course of the intervention. However, this increase in motivation was not dependent on assigned condition. Furthermore, controlled motivation for daily proximal tasks increased significantly over the course of the intervention, while autonomous motivation for proximal tasks demonstrated a similar, although not significant, trend. Again, these findings did not differ by phase of study (baseline or intervention) or condition assignment. Future research should examine these variables in a psychotherapy-receiving treatment population, prospectively.
Adolescent Social Functioning: The Role of Parental Reflective Functioning and Adolescent Mentalizing in Predicting Adolescent Prosocial Behaviour and Peer Problems
(University of Waterloo, 2022-08-22) Aitken, Charlotte
Adolescence is a critical developmental period in which social relationships become especially influential, with social functioning producing a number of important downstream effects for adolescent’s psychological and socio-emotional well-being. Yet, our understanding of the individual and familial factors that are associated with positive adolescent social functioning is not comprehensive and this age group remains consistently understudied compared to early childhood years, despite the fact that parents continue to be influential for youth outcomes. One factor that may support adolescent social success is the reflective functioning skills (the ability to reason about the mental sates of oneself and others) possessed by the parent. Further, the adolescent’s own reflective functioning skills may have important influences on adolescent social functioning, and may mediate the hypothesized association between parental reflective functioning and adolescent social functioning. In this study of 87 parent-youth pairs (youth ages 12-15), we examine the associations between parental reflective functioning, youth mentalizing, and youth social functioning using a variety of self-report and task-based measures. Regressions and mediation analyses revealed that parental and youth reflective functioning both uniquely contribute to youth social functioning; however, patterns of association differ depending on the social behaviour examined (namely prosocial behaviours versus peer problems) and whether the parent or the youth is the reporter of youth social functioning. Unlike their parental reflective functioning skills, parents’ general reflective functioning skills were not associated with youth social functioning, suggesting that there may be unique elements of mental state reasoning related to the parenting relationship that are more influential for youths’ development. Implications for theory and practice are also discussed.
Advice Giving Helps Advisors Reason More Wisely about Life Challenges and Interpersonal Conflicts
(University of Waterloo, 2018-08-02) Santos, Henri Carlo
Does advice giving impact the advisor? While many studies have examined why it is helpful to receive advice, much less is known about what advisors gain when they give advice. Drawing on theories from adult development and social cognition, I propose that the act of advice giving can help advisors reason more wisely about a problem (by recognizing multiple perspectives, acknowledging a changing and uncertain world, having intellectual humility, seeking compromise, and using an outsider’s vantage point). To test this hypothesis, I utilized a multi-method approach. In Study 1, I examined 20 years of longitudinal data from over 3,000 U.S. Americans and found that advice-giving tendencies predicted wise attitudes, such as the appreciation of different perspectives, openness to change, and intellectual humility. I then experimentally manipulated advice giving in Studies 2, 3, and 4, assessing how wisely people reasoned about interpersonal conflicts. In Study 2, reflections on situations in which people gave advice produced wiser reasoning compared to reflections on situations in which people dealt with a social issue on their own. In Studies 3 and 4, giving advice about a standardized scenario resulted in wiser reasoning compared to imagining the same scenario happening to them personally. Moreover, in Study 4 advice giving about one scenario also led to downstream effects for wiser reasoning in a subsequent, unrelated scenario. These studies shed light on the social and cognitive processes involved in advice giving. They also show how advice giving can be a way to cultivate greater wisdom in people’s lives.
Affective Identity Predicts Entrepreneurial Intent with Two Forms of Self-Entrepreneur Congruence
(University of Waterloo, 2012-08-30T15:24:22Z) Chan, Vivian Wing-Sheung
Vocational psychologists have theorized that the congruence between self and occupations is the key to find fulfilling careers for individuals (Vondracek & Porfeli, 2011). However, the typical use of vocational interests to capture information about the self has been limited because it does not disentangle identity and work preferences in people’s responses in vocational assessments. People cannot be fully informed of careers most fitting to them if the vocational assessment does not capture distinct information about their identity. In this study, we strive to disentangle identity from preferences by including affective identity, which is sentiments that people hold towards themselves, as a predictor for career intent. Focusing on the context of entrepreneurship as a career, we examine how the congruence of affective identity and affective ratings of entrepreneurs provide additional information in predicting entrepreneurial intent beyond work preferences congruence. We invited undergraduate students from a Canadian University to complete an online-survey for an extra credit in their psychology course. We examined the impact of different congruence form of intent by including linear and polynomial terms of self and entrepreneur ratings when conducting a hierarchical linear regression. In general, we found support for the validity of our developed measure and demonstrated that contemporary congruence forms based on factors of affective identity brings new information in career choice perception. Affective identity accounts for unique predictability of self perception beyond vocational preference, which suggests the potential use of affective identity for career search feedback.
Age-related changes in the neural and cognitive processes relating to memory retrieval under conditions of full and divided attention.
(University of Waterloo, 2006) Skinner, Erin I.
We examined the neural and cognitive processes engaged during auditory verbal recognition performance under full attention (FA) and divided attention (DA) conditions in younger and older adults. Recognition was disrupted by a word (DA-word), but not digit-based (DA-digit) distracting task, performed concurrently with retrieval. In Study 1, a multivariate functional magnetic resonance imaging analysis technique, Partial Least Squares (PLS) was used to identify distributed patterns of brain activity most related to the different conditions and behaviours. We found that similar retrieval networks were recruited during the FA and DA-digit, but not DA-word, condition in both age groups, mirroring behavioural performance. There was, however, an age-related change in the brain regions that predicted successful memory performance. In addition, we found that a neural network relating to hippocampal activity predicted memory success during the FA and DA-digit, but not DA-word, condition in younger, but not older, adults. In study 2, we used a Remember-Know paradigm to examine how manipulations of DA affect recollective and familiarity-based retrieval processes. Younger and older adults showed an increase in false Remember responses during both DA conditions and decreased accuracy in Know responses only during the word-based DA condition. In addition, aging was associated with decreased accuracy in Remember, but not Know, responses, in both DA conditions. In a follow-up experiment, we showed that these results cannot be accounted for by differences in difficulty level of the chosen distracting tasks. Results suggest that recollective processes rely on attentional resources during retrieval. Together these studies show that declines in available attentional resources, common with advancing age, affect both the neural networks used during retrieval, and the qualitative nature of the memories that are retrieved. Results also suggest that familiarity processes rely on the reactivation of content-specific representations, mediated by a neural network relating to hippocampal activity in younger, but not older, adults.
Agreeableness and Close Relationships: Is it Trust That Really Matters?
(University of Waterloo, 2007-06-28T15:45:58Z) Perunovic, Mihailo
Three correlational studies and 2 experiments examined the influence of agreeable people’s trust on their close relationships. Studies 1-3 employed correlational methods to examine the association between agreeableness and interpersonal trust (felt security; Study 1) and the applicability of the dependence regulation model (Murray, Holmes, & Griffin, 2000) to the romantic relationships of agreeable people (Studies 2 & 3). Studies 4 and 5 employed experimental methods that manipulated felt security (trust) to examine how relationship threats differentially affect agreeable versus antagonistic people (those low in agreeableness). Results indicated that not only does felt security consistently mediate the association between agreeableness and important relationship quality variables, but that this is a causal association. That is, these studies provide evidence that agreeable people have better relationships than antagonistic people because they are chronically more trusting, and hence, less prone to seeing signs of rejection where none exists.
The Alliance as a Prerequisite to Emotional Processing in Psychotherapy
(University of Waterloo, 2021-08-23) Daljeet, Sarena
The quality of the therapeutic alliance has been shown to predict treatment outcomes across approaches to psychotherapy. However, the underlying mechanism by which the alliance leads to improvement remains to be clarified. In the emotion-focused therapy framework, it is theorized that a strong alliance facilitates emotional processing, which in turn leads to outcome. The hypothesis that a strong alliance creates the conditions for emotional processing has not been tested. Additionally, while research on emotion-focused therapy has shown that emotional processing predicts outcome over and above the alliance, this finding has not been evaluated within cognitive-behavioural therapy. The primary goals of this study were to 1) test the hypothesis that high levels of emotional processing primarily occur in the context of a strong alliance and 2) examine whether emotional processing predicts outcome over and above the alliance in cognitive-behavioural therapy. Observer-rated measures were used to assess emotional processing and the alliance in working phase psychotherapy sessions from adults who completed cognitive-behavioural therapy at a graduate training clinic. Interquartile ranges and results from one-way ANOVA (n = 31) showed higher means and lower variability in the alliance at high levels of emotional processing, suggesting a threshold. A Pearson correlation yielded a remarkably high association between emotional processing and treatment gains (r = .597). Additionally, hierarchical regression analyses (n = 19) indicated that working phase peak emotional processing predicted treatment gains over and above working phase alliance. The implications of these results for psychotherapy research and practice are discussed.
An Examination of Whether and How a Peer's Display of Self-Compassion Can Affect College Students' Personal Self-Compassion: A Test of Social Cognitive Theory
(University of Waterloo, 2024-08-12) Grove, Monica
Self-compassion is a kind, caring, and non-judgemental way of relating to personal suffering (Gilbert, 2014; Neff, 2003a), and is a robust predictor of wellbeing (e.g., MacBeth & Gumley, 2012; Zessin et al., 2015). Current interventions for cultivating self-compassion are effective but demanding, meaning there is merit in investigating more accessible approaches to learning self-compassion. The present studies used social cognitive theory, which argues that behaviours can be learned through observing them in others (Bandura, 1965; 1986), as a framework to investigate a novel approach to facilitating learning and performance of self-compassion. Based on this theory, we first hypothesized that observing a peer who describes distress and self-compassionate coping would lead to greater subsequent learning and performance of self-compassion than observing a peer who describes distress without self-compassionate coping. Second, we hypothesized that the subsequent benefit to learning and performance of self-compassion would be greater after observing a peer who describes distress and self-compassionate coping with rewarding outcomes, compared to observing a peer who describes distress and self-compassionate coping without outcomes. Our third hypothesis was that as predicted by social cognitive theory, observing rewarding outcomes of self-compassion would have an indirect effect on the observer’s subsequent performance of self-compassion, via increasing the observer’s positive outcome expectancies for self-compassion and motivation to be self-compassionate. To test these hypotheses, we conducted two studies, each with a sample of undergraduate women low in trait self-compassion recruited through a Canadian university’s psychology participant pool and through posters on the university campus. Study 1 had a sample of n = 370; Study 2 currently has a sample of n = 191 and recruitment is ongoing. Both studies used the same design, with Study 2 amended slightly to improve the precision and reliability of our measures, with the goal of clarifying the findings of Study 1. Each study was a two-part online study. In the first part of the study, participants were randomly assigned to listen to one of three audio clips in which they heard an ostensible peer describe either: distress with self-compassionate coping and rewarding outcomes; distress with self-compassionate coping and no specified outcomes; or distress only (as a control condition). Participants completed measures of outcome expectancies for self-compassion and motivation to be self-compassionate immediately after hearing the audio clip; 2-4 days later they completed measures of learning and performance of self-compassion. ANCOVAs revealed that contrary to our first two hypotheses, there were no effects of experimental condition on subsequent learning or performance of self-compassion in either study. Testing for the hypothesized indirect effect of observing rewarding outcomes of self-compassion on performance of self-compassion revealed that our third hypothesis was also not supported in either study. That said, the serial mediation model used to test this hypothesis revealed that in both studies, outcome expectancies for self-compassion immediately after the manipulation significantly predicted motivation to be self-compassionate at the same time point and performance of self-compassion 2-4 days later. Overall, findings of two studies indicate that observing self-compassion displayed by an unknown peer in the form of the brief audio clips used in this study did not lead to observational learning of self-compassion. However, the fact that outcome expectancies for self-compassion emerged as a significant predictor of motivation to be self-compassionate and subsequent performance of self-compassionate coping offers partial support for the applicability of social cognitive theory to self-compassion. Future research should explore whether self-compassion can be learned observationally with a more engaging demonstration of self-compassion using both experimental and naturalistic designs. Continuing to explore the role of outcome expectancies for self-compassion in predicting self-compassion motivation and performance would also be informative.
An Exploration of Attraction Stereotypes and Self-Reported Attraction Priorities across Diverse Groups
(University of Waterloo, 2024-08-30) Quinn, Krista Allison
Psychologists have identified several characteristics that impact judgments of attraction, including physical appearance, personality, earning potential, and social status. Prior research has focused on evaluating self-report judgments of which factors people prioritize when selecting partners, but less work has investigated the attraction stereotypes that people hold, which we define as beliefs about specific groups’ priorities when evaluating a partner. Furthermore, past literature has focused on gender differences, yet lacks diversity and is influenced by a cisnormative, heteronormative bias. The present work ventures to examine how people’s perceptions of others’ partner priorities are affected by targets’ unique intersectional identities. University (N=214) and online (N=436) samples — featuring straight, bisexual, and gay men and women — provided stereotype ratings of ten traits for judging attractiveness for six gender-by-sexuality groups, as well as self-report ratings of these traits’ importance when choosing their own partners. We describe attraction stereotypes across gender-by-sexuality groups, examine how these patterns are moderated by type of rating (stereotype vs. self-report), and evaluate how discrepancies between these types of ratings differ according to perceiver identity.
Anxiety and attention to threat: The psychometric properties of attentional bias scores
(University of Waterloo, 2015-04-01) Waechter, Stephanie
Attentional biases to threat are thought to play a central role in the development and maintenance of anxiety disorders. Various measures have been developed to index these biases; unfortunately, the psychometric properties of many common measures of attentional bias have not been thoroughly evaluated, and the reliability of those that have been evaluated is poor. Three studies assessed the reliability and convergent validity of dot probe and emotional cueing bias scores. Study 1 used a dot probe task and an emotional cueing task that were designed to be as similar as possible to each other (e.g., in terms of display and timing parameters) in an attempt to maximize convergent validity. One hundred fifty-eight participants, selected for high and low levels of trait anxiety, completed the two tasks. The results of Study 1 showed no significant attentional biases to threat, and the psychometric properties of the bias scores were poor. Study 2 investigated the psychometric properties of measures of early attention to threat using another dot probe task and another emotional cueing task. One hundred twelve participants, again selected for high and low levels of trait anxiety, completed the study. The results of Study 2 again showed no significant attentional biases in the high trait anxiety group, and the psychometric properties of the bias scores were poor. To increase the likelihood of producing large and potentially reliable attentional biases, Study 3 replicated the methodology from two classic studies in the literature and also included a state anxiety manipulation. One hundred sixty participants completed an anxious or calm mood induction, which consisted of listening to music while thinking of an anxiety-provoking or calming event in their lives, followed by dot probe and emotional cueing tasks. Reliability estimates for bias scores were low, ranging from 0 to .44. The convergent validity estimates were also low. The anxiety induction did not substantially improve reliability or convergent validity of the bias scores. Overall, the results of these studies improve our understanding of factors that affect the reliability of attentional bias scores. These results also provide some of the first estimates of the reliability and convergent validity of scores from the emotional cueing task. Implications for research and for clinical assessment and intervention are discussed.
Approach Motivation Gives Rise to Meaning in Life
(University of Waterloo, 2018-09-18) Elnakouri, Abdo
Coherence, purpose, and significance have emerged as the three contributors to meaning in life. Current theories have primarily emphasized coherence as key to meaning, neglecting purpose and significance. A theoretical perspective is posited which argues that approach motivation integrates all three contributors and gives rise to meaning through feelings of self-regulatory success. The present thesis therefore tested whether approach motivation uniquely contributes to meaning over and above the previously emphasized coherence, which acts to maintain meaning by preventing inhibition. Studies 1a, 2a, and 3a found that measures of approach motivation better predicted meaning compared to inhibition. Study 1b found that variants of the dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4) gene associated with increased approach motivation predicted meaning and that this relationship was mediated by approach motivation, but not inhibition. In Study 1c, a between-subjects manipulation of approach motivation led to increased meaning relative to a control condition. In Studies 2 and 3, within-subject manipulations of approach motivation and significant values led to increased meaning. Elevations in state approach motivation, but not changes in state inhibition, consistently mediated within-subjects effects on increased meaning. The potential relationship between happiness and meaning are discussed.
The appropriateness of using a counter app in experimental studies assessing unwanted intrusive thoughts
(Elsevier, 2020-07) Wahl, Karina; Lieb, Roselind; Kollárik, Martin; Purdon, Christine
The reliable and valid assessment of unwanted intrusive thoughts (UITs) is crucial. The main aim of the current research was to investigate if individuals who used a counter app (a program on a mobile device that is used to count the frequency of an event by pressing the volume-up button) to assess UITs retrospectively overreported the number of UITs. The secondary aim was to establish preliminary psychometric qualities of the counter app method. A UIT was activated in N = 87 students. They were randomly allocated to one of three experimental conditions: counter app, thought monitoring, or free thinking. Retrospective descriptors of the UIT, including its frequency, were taken. The second study (N = 118) mainly aimed to replicate the results of the first study. In both studies, the retrospective frequency ratings of the UITs were 2–3 times higher in individuals who had used the counter app compared to those in the control conditions. Preliminary indicators of convergent validity and test–retest reliability were good; criterion, discriminant, and predictive validity were unsatisfactory. To conclude, using event marking such as a counter app can result in an overestimation of UITs. Alternative methods of assessment of UITs are discussed.
Are screens to blame? Children’s digital media use and emotional problems during the COVID-19 pandemic
(University of Waterloo, 2022-08-03) Zhang, Jasmine (Yuxin)
This study examined the relationship between digital media (“screen use”) and mental health in children during the COVID-19 pandemic. A multinational sample of caregivers (n = 549) provided bi-monthly reports on their families and two children aged 5–18 (n = 1098) between May and November 2020. Measures included children’s screen time, mental health symptoms (depression, anxiety, anger), and lifestyle factors, as well as family-wide COVID-19 disruptions and parental screen time. A longitudinal, multilevel sibling comparison design was employed to disentangle child-specific versus family-wide associations, in addition to the direction of effects. Specifically, associations were assessed via multilevel cross-lagged panel models, in which siblings (Level 1) were nested within families (Level 2). Three-level growth curve models were also fit to examine child-specific and family-wide predictors of children’s screen time. The directional associations between mental health symptoms and screen time were inconsistent within families. Between families, sibling pairs with higher depressive and anxiety symptoms in July showed more screen use two months later. Additionally, higher screen time in July predicted more anxiety in September. Growth models revealed that mental health challenges had little predictive effect on screen time in the context of other lifestyle factors, but parental screen use was a salient predictor. These results collectively demonstrate that family-wide contextual effects cast important influences on screen use, emotional well-being, and their associations. Moreover, the findings emphasize the need for a whole-family approach to studying and managing children’s screen use.

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