PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2005, Arts and Sciences : Psychology

This study explored the similarity between two types of adolescent peer aggression, discrimination and bullying. Family conflict and family violence were hypothesized to underlie both types of aggressive behavior with both a direct effect and an indirect effect, mediated by selected personality variables. Social desirability, social dominance, interpersonal dominance, empathy, depression, global self-worth, and self-esteem based upon self-awareness of behavior were hypothesized as mediators. Two types of discrimination, toward African Americans and the obese; and two types of bullying, general and bullying in which here is a power difference between perpetrator and victim were outcome variables. Data were collected from preadolescent and adolescent children enrolled in urban, suburban, and rural parochial schools. R2 values from a LISREL path analysis ranged rom .175 to .447; path diagrams for discrimination and bullying were similar to one another supporting the hypothesis that the two are closely related forms of aggression in adolescents. Family violence was directly and strongly related to the four outcome variables. Family conflict was not directly related to outcome variables, but was consistently linked to them through the mediation of some personality variables, including social desirability, social dominance, empathy, global self-worth and behavior self-esteem. Study results indicated that exposure to family violence increases the risk of subsequent peer-aggressive behaviors while the effects of family conflict are perhaps more insidious as they are developmentally incorporated into personality. Results from the two bulling scales indicate that an explicit power difference between perpetrator and victim is different than general bullying behavior.

Committee: Daniel Langmeyer (Advisor) Subjects:

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 1964, Psychology

Committee: John E. Exner Jr. (Advisor) Subjects: Psychology

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 1963, Psychology

Committee: John T. Greene (Advisor) Subjects: Psychology

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2022, Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services: Counselor Education

The goal of counselor training programs is to equip graduates to work with a wide variety of clients with diverse backgrounds, cultures, and identities. Multicultural competence is a required part of the 2016 CACREP (Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs) Standards, but disability lacks equitable inclusion in multicultural course materials and resources. After a merger in 2017 with CORE (Council on Rehabilitation Education), CACREP is now responsible for accrediting rehabilitation counseling programs previously under CORE. New standards are scheduled to be released in 2024, and a task force was established to review the current standards and make recommendations on how to incorporate disability. This study sought to identify if disability competence is a facet of multicultural counseling as is currently being taught or if it is a separate competence. Through a web-based survey sent to all clinical mental health counseling programs currently accredited by CACREP, faculty and students were asked to complete a disability competence measure (CCDS), multicultural competence measure (CCCI-R), and a social desirability measure (MCSDS). Analysis done of student and faculty responses identified a statistically significant positive correlation between multicultural competence and disability competence. Additionally, disability experience and disability identity are identified as predictors of disability competence in students while only disability experience is a predictor for faculty.

Committee: Amanda La Guardia Ph.D. (Committee Member); Jennifer Wright-Berryman Ph.D. M.S.W. (Committee Member); Michael Brubaker Ph.D. (Committee Member); Tamekia Bell Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Counseling Education

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1976, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1964, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Psychology

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2016, Journalism (Communication)

In this thesis, impression management is investigated in the context of a mixed model dating or an online matchmaking followed by face-to-face interactions. Employing the bogus pipeline technique, in a controlled laboratory experiment designed to compare reports about oneself, participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: either believing that one's information will later be verified by a second party (bogus pipeline condition) or not being made to believe that (control condition). All participants were asked to complete an online dating profile questionnaire where their personal information, such as height and weight was required. Comparing data between the two conditions, a statistically significant difference in reported Body Mass Index (BMI) was found between the groups. That finding suggests that the bogus pipeline procedure employed evoked comparatively significantly more veridical information from participants in that condition, with respect to the control condition. Such results illustrate the potential effects of online daters' anticipation of meeting offline in providing more empirically validated information to online dating websites. A hypothesis of perceived future expectancy disconfirmation, which would lead others to be dissatisfied if one creates expectations that will not be met, together with the desire to be honest as well as to be accepted in a romantic relationship predicts and explains the findings.

Committee: Wagner Carson (Committee Chair); Sweeney Michael (Committee Member); Daniels Tom (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication

Master of Arts in Psychology, Cleveland State University, 2014, College of Sciences and Health Professions

Over 40 years of research into the patient-physician interaction during medical interviews has yielded inconsistent results in explaining the differences in health reporting. While there have been numerous reasons for investigation, patient-centered care aspects of physician communication style and patient preference have been cited as the most significant in explaining treatment adherence by patients and patient outcome satisfaction. Emotional arousal during the medical interview has been suggested to be a major factor in these outcomes, which indicates that aspects of social desirability and other impression management scales may provide a new foundation for studying the medical interview. One hundred thirty-nine participants were recruited to complete an online survey in person that consisted of: watching a one minute video of a physician introducing the study, completing an abbreviated health history questionnaire, as well as a series of socially-themed surveys. Results indicated that self-monitoring did not play a role in health reporting. Future directions, such as the need for a more immersive environment, are discussed.

Committee: Stephen Slane Ph.D. (Advisor); Lisa Gaynier MA, CDP (Committee Member); Conor McLennan Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Health Care; Psychology; Social Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Wright State University, 2009, Human Factors and Industrial/Organizational Psychology PhD

Research has found that the use of social desirability scales to measure faking is problematic. The current study employed a job desirability scale consisting of job-specific bogus biographical items as an alternative faking measure in an applied setting. Using a 2 (applicants versus incumbents) x 2 (sales versus managers) design, participants (N = 958), participants completed a set of personality, social desirability, and job desirability measures. Results indicated that applicants outscored incumbents on personality measures. However, the effect size for conscientiousness was larger for the manager job whereas the effect size for extraversion was larger for the sales job, indicating a job-specific pattern of faking. Furthermore, applicants faked most on bogus items that were specific to the job they were applying for (sales vs. manager). Applicants who faked on the job desirability scale also systematically increased their chances of being hired over non-fakers. Job desirability scores displayed weak to moderate correlations with personality, social desirability, and job experience, although these varied somewhat by job type. The results have various implications for: non-cognitive test usage in selection settings, assumptions regarding incumbent test scores, the unique challenge of faking by sales applicants, and the further understanding of job-specific faking.

Committee: Corey E. Miller PhD (Committee Chair); Debra Steele-Johnson PhD (Committee Member); David LaHuis PhD (Committee Member); Martin Gooden PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychological Tests; Psychology

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2001, Arts and Sciences : Psychology

Gender is an aspect of personality that people consistently and systematically attribute to animal name stimuli (Allemang, 1994; Lash & Polyson, 1987, 1988). Thus, the present study was conducted in an attempt to design new masculinity (M) and femininity (F) scales employing animal names as stimuli. Participants were 80 male and 80 female undergraduate students at the University of Cincinnati. Half of the participants (n=80) assigned Animal Gender Ratings to the 34 animal stimuli after being cued to focus on gender. The other 80 participants were cued to consider the human-like characteristics of the same stimuli. All participants were asked to assign a rating to each animal reflecting the similarity of animal to self. In addition, all participants completed the Bem Sex-role Inventory (Bem, 1974; BSRI), as a criterion measure of M and F, and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability scale (Crowne & Marlowe, 1960), to assess the role of a social desirability set. Results from gender assignments to animal names were consistent with previous work. Gender assignments behaved in a bipolar manner. Animal/self similarity ratings differentiated successfully between men and women participants. Two eight item scales for M and F respectively were developed from the assignment of self similarity ratings. Validity for these scales was inferred from: 1) the relation of these scales to the BSRI M and F scales, 2) the high Alpha coefficients obtained, and 3) the interaction reflecting the differential effects of cueing and sex on the scales. The scales also demonstrated less social desirability response bias than the BSRI. Thus, it was concluded that scales based on animal stimuli can be useful in the assessment of gender with minimal social desirability and reflect a broader concept of gender.

Committee: Donald Schumsky (Advisor) Subjects: Psychology, Personality

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2012, Business: Business Administration

The social desirability bias is the tendency of respondents to adjust their responses or behavior in such a way as to present themselves in socially acceptable terms. The systematic bias introduced by the social desirability bias threatens the legitimacy of empirical research by confounding a phenomenon of interest with impression management behavior, thus obscuring research results and potentially triggering false conclusions. When the social desirability bias is a concern (e.g., when asking socially sensitive, embarrassing, or private questions), researchers commonly use techniques such as indirect questioning to avoid this bias. By asking respondents how most or the typical person would respond (i.e, referring to a third party target) the respondent transcends from an egocentric focus on his or her own unflattering attitudes or behavior onto that of an ambiguous target. Given the target's indistinctness respondents project their own feelings, attitudes, behaviors, or beliefs when responding while remaining psychologically distanced from the true, yet socially undesirable response. According to construal level theory this process of “transcendence” is possible because individuals are able to form abstract mental construals (Trope and Liberman 2010). This mental construal process is essential to recalling the past, empathizing with others, and visualizing future events. We propose that when presented with an indirect question, respondents increase their mental construal to project a response onto the third party target. As mental construals increase, individuals refocus from detailed, incidental features to central, fundamental characteristics (Trope and Liberman 2010). Consequently, we propose that indirect questioning prompts respondents to deemphasize the contextual demand to engage in impression management behavior by increasing construal levels. This research serves three primary purposes. First, we propose construal level theory as a theoretical explanation (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Frank Kardes PhD (Committee Chair); Rebecca Naylor PhD (Committee Member); David Curry PhD (Committee Member); James Kellaris PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Marketing

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2006, Physical Activity and Educational Services

The present study utilized descriptive, correlational quantitative survey research to investigate the self-perceived multicultural counseling competence of 364 licensed counselors using the Multicultural Counseling Inventory (MCI; Sodowsky et al., 1994). The study aimed to explore (a) to what extent licensed counselors perceived themselves to be multiculturally competent; (b) how selected demographic factors, controlling for social desirability, contributed to self-perceived competence; (c) to what extent licensed counselors presented themselves in a multiculturally socially desirable manner with regard to multicultural competence; and (d) differences on multicultural competence and social desirability based on the race of the counselor. Respondents viewed themselves as multiculturally competent both in general (MCI Total score, M = 3.28, SD = .31) and specifically. Respondents viewed themselves as most competent in multicultural skills (M = 3.67, SD = .37) and least competent in multicultural awareness (M = 2.88, SD = .55). Univariate regression analyses were conducted to determine independent variables contributing significant variance in scores. Race, years of counseling experience, number of multicultural graduate courses taken, and number of multicultural trainings/workshops attended contributed significant variance to at least one of the MCI scales. Social desirability significantly contributed to the variance in scores on all five MCI scales. The majority of the sample presented themselves in a neutral fashion on the multicultural social desirability measure when compared to the samples' mean (M = 18.81, SD = 3.13). Non-White counselors endorsed a slightly higher mean social desirability score (M = 20.14, SD = 3.22) than counselors White counselors (M = 18.69, SD = 3.07). Non-White counselors had statistically significantly higher MCI Total (non-White, M = 3.41, SD = .46; White, M = 3.27, SD = .28), Awareness (non-White, M = 3.26, SD = .60; White, M = 2.84, S (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Darcy Haag Granello (Advisor) Subjects:

PHD, Kent State University, 2009, College of Education, Health, and Human Services / Department of Educational Foundations and Special Services

Four different data collection methods (face to face interviews, telephone interviews, mail surveys, and Web-based surveys) compared Social Desirability Bias (SDB). This study used Multiple Comparison tests and a randomized post-test only control-group design. No SDB differences were found among methods. For SDB no gender (2-factor), ethnicity (2-factor), nor was a gender and ethnicity (3-factor) interaction found. This study was more rigorous than other studies because 13 known extraneous influences were controlled for and two more were avoided. Effect sizes ranged from .002 to .029. Implications are: SDB need not trouble researchers when comparing the 4 methods and SDB may be decreasing over time. Suggestions for future research include (1) studies between non-published and published studies; (2) meta analytic method comparisons over well-established constructs; (3) meta analytic studies on SDB over time; (4) measurement invariance of the 4 methods on SDB; and other suggestions.

Committee: Rafa Kasim (Committee Co-Chair); Shawn Fitzgerald (Committee Co-Chair); Milton Harvey (Committee Member) Subjects: Social Research

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2005, Psychology

The present study examined whether ecological momentary assessment (EMA) diary format and social desirability impacted reports of dietary temptations, lapses, coping, and abstinence violation effects (AVEs) by participants in a behavioral weight loss program (BWLP). Participants were 54 sedentary, obese adults in a six-month BWLP who completed 1-week dietary temptation and lapse diaries using open- or closed-formatted electronic diaries. Participants also completed the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MCSDS). Participants with closed diaries reported more coping responses than those with open diaries. A social desirability by diary format interaction for AVEs indicated that during lapses, participants using open diaries reported similar numbers of negative AVEs regardless of social desirability. However, participants using closed diaries reported more negative AVEs when lower in social desirability, and reported fewer negative AVEs when higher in social desirability. Findings suggest that diary format and social desirability appear to impact EMA reports of dietary temptations and lapses.

Committee: Robert Carels (Advisor) Subjects:

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, 2007, Counseling Psychology

Much of the previous literature on the assessment of multicultural counseling competence has examined counselors' abilities when working with individual clients; this study expanded prior research by investigating trainees' multicultural case conceptualization ability (MCCA; Ladany, Inman, Constantine, & Hofheinz, 1997) with couples. Additional methodological limitations present in the assessment of multicultural case conceptualization ability were addressed by looking at variables that might detract from competence (i.e., color-blind racial attitudes), examining the stimulus value of the race of the client in the vignette, and exploring the effects of a multidimensional measure of social desirability. The current study also investigated two different assessment methods, self-report and observer-report, of multicultural counseling competence and ascertained how each method is related to multicultural training and clinical experience. The present study represents an exploration of trainees' self-reported multicultural counseling competence, color-blind racial attitudes, social desirability, and multicultural case conceptualization ability when working with couples. Participants completed online a demographic questionnaire, a multicultural case conceptualization ability task (cf. Constantine & Ladany, 2000), the Multicultural Counseling Knowledge and Awareness Scale (MCKAS; Ponterotto et al., 2002), the Color-Blind Racial Attitudes Scale (CoBRAS; Neville et al., 2000), and the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (BIDR; Paulhus, 1991). Major findings of the study were: 1) socially desirable responding had no significant relation with the MCCA task, the MCKAS, and two of the three subscale of the CoBRAS; 2) self-reported multicultural knowledge was not related to an observable measure of multicultural counseling competence; 3) multicultural didactic training (other than coursework) accounted for a significant amount of variance in multicultural case conceptualiza (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Loreto Prieto (Advisor) Subjects: Psychology, General