Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Empower your Dreams 2013

Empower Your Dreams Contest 2013

This March, Brigham Young University-Hawaii hosted its eighth annual Empower Your Dreams Contest. This contest not only showcased the dreams of students throughout the university, it also showcased many of the student’s academic accomplishments, including nine studies conducted by senior psychology students. Because this was a school-wide contest, contestants were given the opportunity to network with students and staff from numerous programs throughout the university, including the biology and business departments. Patricia S. Coronel, a recent psychology graduate from BYUH commented on the atmosphere of the event, stating, “There was so much passion and knowledge in the event. You can see in different rooms how students present their research with so much energy and desire to make a difference.”
            Patricia’s presentation, “Effects of Film on Self-esteem and Affect among Single Undergraduate Students,” was particularly fascinating. She suggested three main goals for her study:

1.       To determine if single undergraduate students will feel negative after watching a romantic-comedy film.
2.      To determine if in-a-relationship undergraduate students will feel positive after watching a romantic-comedy film.
3.      To determine if female single undergraduate students will experience a larger decrease in their self-esteem compared to male single undergraduate students after watching a romantic-comedy film.

The results indicated, however, that single students felt positive after watching the romantic-comedy, students that were in a relationship felt negative after watching the film, and female students reported a lower self-esteem after watching the film than male students. Patricia explains that these results suggest that other factors such as affect infusion, beliefs about relationships, and media depictions of the ideal woman, together, influence people's feelings and self-image.

All nine studies entered by the psychology department are listed below, along with a brief abstract of the study:

Effects of Film on Self-esteem and Affect among Single Undergraduate Students
Patricia Bernice S. Coronel

Previous studies have found that media produces desired emotional response and impacts self-esteem. The present study examined the differential effects of film on self-esteem and effect of undergraduate students who are single and in a relationship. 80 female and 80 male undergraduate students answered the Rosenberg’s Self-esteem and PANAS Scales before and after watching the romantic-comedy film. Results showed that single undergraduate students felt positive after watching a romantic-comedy film.  On the other hand, in-a-relationship students felt negative after watching a romantic-comedy film. Additionally, female single undergraduate students reported to have lower self-esteem compared to male single undergraduate students. These results suggest that other factors such as affect infusion, beliefs about relationships and media depictions of the ideal woman together influence people’s feelings and self-image.

______________________________________________________________________________

Relationship of Personality Profiles Among Married Couples and Single Dating Styles
Jessica R. Cowan

Previous research has suggested that couples that share the traits of agreeableness, openness, and conscientiousness report higher marital satisfaction. To determine whether or not there is a greater proportion of married couples with shared personality profiles than couples with opposing personality profiles, 60 married couples took The Big Five personality trait inventory. The majority of couples scored similarly on openness and agreeableness, while the majority scored opposite on conscientiousness. There was no statistical significance regarding extraversion and neuroticism. My results may suggest that couples that share the traits of agreeableness and openness choose to get married because they feel a high level of relationship satisfaction.
______________________________________________________________________________

Differences in Self-Esteem and Self-Efficacy
 Between First and Non-first Generation College Students
Laura De La Fuente-Rodriguez

The purpose of this study was to determine whether first-generation college students would rate lower on a self-esteem and self-efficacy scale compared to non-first generation college students.  Data was strictly collected of the two groups to see the difference in the dependent variable which are self-esteem and self-efficacy. In order to evaluate this properly, a self-esteem scale and self-efficacy inventory was administered as a survey along with demographic questions. One hundred and twenty-five undergraduate students were recruited, aging 18 to 30, from Brigham Young University-Hawaii and Carroll County Community College. T-tests were run for first generation and non-first generation from the data collected on their self-esteem and self-efficacy scales showing that there is a difference between first and non-first generation college students. The t-tests showed significance and supported the hypothesis of first generation college students having lower self-esteem and self-efficacy compared to their non-first generation peers. Therefore, it can be discussed that first generation students have different factors, such as their background, that may lead them to have lower self-esteem and academic efficacy. 
______________________________________________________________________________

Effects of Relationship Status on Self-Esteem and Depressive Symptoms
Depending on Gender
Jihye Kim

In an extension of research demonstrating differential psychological benefits of various relationship statuses, the present study examined differences in self-esteem and depressive symptoms among relationship statuses depending on gender. Female (N=180) and male (N=144) undergraduates were categorized into one of three different relationship statuses: single, in a short-term relationship (minimum half of a year), or in a long-term relationship (married). Each participant completed the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Results showed that married men and women experience less depressive symptoms than single women (p = .001). In addition, people in a relationship had higher self-esteem than single people, although this difference was not statistically significant. These findings suggest that gender and relationship status together are pertinent factors in the number of depressive symptoms one may experience.
______________________________________________________________________________

Differences in Body Image, Self-Esteem, and Eating Behaviors
Between Asians and Polynesians 
Woojeong Lee

The majority of studies about body image have drawn from adults in America exclusively. The purpose of this research is to better understand body image, self-esteem, and eating behaviors among female Polynesian and Asian undergraduate students. One hundred female Polynesian students and one hundred female Asian students took an online survey. The result showed that female Asian students negatively evaluate their body shape, whereas female Polynesian students have positively body image, t(192) = 2.80, p =0.005, d = 0.40.
However, there were not significant differences in self-esteem and eating behaviors. The finding suggests that people do have different perception when evaluating their body shapes, but negative body shapes does not always lead to low self-esteem and bad eating behaviors.
______________________________________________________________________________ 

Vocabulary Size of Young Adults as a Function of College Enrollment
Emily Murphy

Vocabulary is a key component in reading comprehension which adds to a person’s academic achievement. Vocabulary begins to develop after a child is born and then continues to increase based on social and educational experiences, but gaps in vocabulary size start early on, even before a child enters grade school, the complete implications of those gaps is still unknown. However, in the meantime, millions of dollars are being spent on leveling the playing field so that all students have the same opportunity to achieve academically; to better understand the reach of vocabulary size, the present study experimentally examined the effects of vocabulary size on cumulative college GPA. 89 Brigham Young University Hawaii undergraduates completed the Paul Nations (2007) vocabulary size test and reported their cumulative GPA. Vocabulary size predicted cumulative college GPA, =, t(88) =, p < .05 one-tailed, and explained a significant proportion of variance in GPA, R2 = .023, F(1,88) = 3.05, p <.05. An additional simple linear regression was run, indicating that cumulative high school GPA is a strong predictor of cumulative college GPA. Results from this study have indicated that vocabulary size is a strong component of an individual’s ability to achieve academically and efforts to increase vocabulary should be undertaken at every level of development.
______________________________________________________________________________

Effects of Filler Words on Perceived Speech Quality
David Richardson

When delivering a public speech, filler words seem to have a universally negative reputation. This study examines whether audience members notice filler words and if they affect their overall perception of the speaker. 133 undergraduate students were randomly assigned to view a one minute and thirty second speech with filler words or an identical speech without filler words. Both videos were viewed by participants via video. Each participant rated the speaker on 15 characteristics and then estimated how many filler words the speaker used. In addition, participants compared him to the average speaker by estimating if the speaker used more or less filler words than average. Participants judged the speaker using filler words to be more comfortable and humble than the same speaker without filler words. Participants also recognized that the speaker used filler words, and judged the speaker as using more filler words than the “average speaker”.
______________________________________________________________________________

Differences in Self-effacement Among Asian,
Polynesian and Caucasian Undergraduate Students
Kelsey S. Yu

Previous research has shown a cultural difference in the use of two self-regulations strategies:  self-enhancement and self-effacement. Asians are more interdependent, and use self-effacement more than Caucasians. The current study examined whether this cultural difference applied to school performance, and examined differences in self-effacement among Asian, Caucasian and Polynesian students. 120 participates reported their ethnicity and cumulative GPA. Participants also rated how well they thought their GPA was on a Likert scale from 1-15, and responded to open-ended questions about their academic performance. Responses to the open questions were categorized as self-effacement statements and self-enhancement statements by counting the number of the words which represent both perspectives. Polynesian participants reported the lowest cumulative GPA scores and the lowest self-ratings of their GPA. However, Asian participants used a comparable number of self-effacement words in describing their academic performance as Polynesian participants, with Caucasians self-effacing the least.  These finding suggest that Asian students use the self-effacement strategy when discussing their academic performance even though they perform well.
______________________________________________________________________________

A Cross-Cultural Study on Territorial Behavior of University Students in Residence Rooms
Min Zhang

In past research on territorial behavior, ethnicity has rarely been investigated. In the present study, I examined differences in territorial behavior among Caucasian, Asian and Polynesian students in double occupancy rooms. Two elements of territoriality, firmness of boundaries and personalization/claiming, were compared. Whether differences interacted with ethnic similarity or dissimilarity with ones roommate was also examined. Results showed a difference in firmness of boundaries among ethnic groups, F(2, 113)=5.03, p < 0.008, η² = .08. Polynesian students showed less firmness of boundaries (M = 4.24), than Asian students (M = 5.22), (p = .004).  There were also differences among groups in personalization and claiming, F(2, 114)=3.67, p<0.03, η²= .06.  Polynesian students showed more personalization and claiming (M = 5.33), than Asian students (M = 4.67), (p = .03). No difference was observed in territorial behavior of regarding ethnic similarity or dissimilarity. These results suggest ethnicity is an important variable to consider when conducting research on territorial behavior.