2011 - 2012 Connecticut College Psychology Journal
Volume 24
Impressions of Intelligence and Personality Traits Due to Internet Slang in Male and Female Facebook Profiles
Meghan C. McLean, Elizabeth Boyland, Phebe Pierson, and Amy M. Falk
Facebook
is used daily for people of all ages to form impressions of others. The use of
abbreviations and slang is widely prevalent in computer mediated communication.
Gender stereotypes and phonetic abbreviations may influence how a person is
perceived. It was predicted that participants would perceive Facebook profiles with
internet slang usage as less intelligent than profiles without slang. It was also hypothesized that male profiles would
produce higher ratings of intelligence than their identical female counterparts.
A total of 89 Connecticut College students participated in the study and
completed a social desirability scale as well as a Facebook profile evaluation
consisting of 15 personality traits. Participants viewed one of four Facebook
profiles: male/slang, male/no slang, female/slang, female/no slang. Social
desirability did not affect the ratings of the profiles. Facebook profiles with
slang were perceived as significantly less intelligent than those without slang
and all but two of the other personality traits were significantly affected by
slang usage. While gender did not significantly affect ratings of traits
overall, male profiles were perceived as significantly less friendly and less
polite than female profiles. Because social networking sites and the use of
text messages are increasing in popularity, this research has implications for
impression formation. People are constantly tempted to use phonetic
abbreviations in these communication programs and some computer abbreviations
have even been integrated into speech outside the internet world. This study is
a step toward understanding how people’s perceptions of each other are created
through social networking sites.
The Effects of Direction Type on Wayfinding Strategies, Anxiety Levels, and Confidence of Men and Women
Charlotte Davis and Brigida Palatino
The purpose of this study was to investigate how wayfinding strategies, anxiety levels, and confidence levels differ between men and women when asked to navigate a 2-D campus map of Connecticut College. The sample consisted of 26 women and 24 men. Participants were randomly given either cardinal-based directions or landmark-based directions and had to indicate the given route on the provided map. Both conditions received the Lawton’s Wayfinding Strategy Scale, the Lawton’s Spatial Anxiety Scale, and questions inquiring about confidence levels. The hypothesis that men would prefer cardinal-based directions and women would prefer landmark-based directions was supported. The hypothesis that women would report higher levels of anxiety than men was also supported. However, the hypothesis that men would report higher levels of confidence than women was not supported. The implications of this study support previous research that indicates gender differences in wayfinding strategies and anxiety.
Always Greener on the Other Side: Within-Gender and Between-Gender Upward Social Comparisons
Sarah Lamer
The present study was designed to investigate affective response to between and within-gender upward social comparisons, as well as to study how social comparison behavior relates to mindfulness, self-esteem, social comparison orientation, and perceptions of attractiveness and beauty. Seventy heterosexual college-aged students (50 women and 20 men) participated in the study. The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, an explicit measure of mood response, was used following an upward comparison priming task. The Mindful Attention Awareness Scale, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, the Iowa-Netherlands Comparison Orientation Scale, and a survey designed for this study were also used. Results were inconclusive regarding affective response to making social comparisons. Results did show, however, a significant difference in positive affect between men who rated men and men who rated women. Results also revealed positive correlations between self-esteem and mindfulness, perceived attainability of beauty, and perceived overall physical attractiveness. Additional findings indicate that women recognized sociability as a factor in their attractiveness significantly more often than men did and women perceived the likelihood of a person wanting to date them as significantly lower than men did. Results support stereotypes that connect femininity with appearance. Results also support that mindfulness has potential for uses in therapy, especially for body image concerns.
Stigmatizing Suicide and Its Possible Effects on Adolescent Suicide Survivors
Caroline Abbott
When I was 14 years old, my best
friend died by suicide. It turned my life, and my friends’ lives, completely
upside down. Five years later, we found ourselves in a similar position when
two more friends died by suicide within two weeks of each other. We encountered
stigmatizing comments made by others, stigmatizing thoughts we ourselves had,
guilt, anger, and many unanswerable questions. These additional factors, characteristic
of the bereavement of suicide, made the grieving process even more difficult.
The stigma surrounding suicide can further complicate the bereavement process
of suicide survivors and make an already painful experience more confusing and
difficult. This paper seeks to enhance our understanding of the stigma
surrounding suicide and how it can impact peer survivors. Although not formal
research, this paper reviews the relevant professional literature and presents
an investigation of how members of my friendship network experienced the stigmatization
of suicide and coped with the death of their friends.
Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the United States and accounts for 1.4% of all American deaths (National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, 2008). Adolescents and young adults are at a heightened risk for suicidality with suicide consistently being the second or third leading cause of death among adolescents ages 13 to 18 years old (Bondora & Goodwin, 2005). Adolescent suicide is a common topic in the academic literature and research because it is a persistent problem; suicide rates in the adolescent population have been increasing faster than in any other age group (Johnson, Krug, & Potter, 2000). However, there has been little research on adolescent peer survivors of suicide despite the evidence that “an adolescent suicide may trigger a cluster of subsequent suicides among peers” (Bondora & Goodwin, 2005, p. 6).
Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the United States and accounts for 1.4% of all American deaths (National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, 2008). Adolescents and young adults are at a heightened risk for suicidality with suicide consistently being the second or third leading cause of death among adolescents ages 13 to 18 years old (Bondora & Goodwin, 2005). Adolescent suicide is a common topic in the academic literature and research because it is a persistent problem; suicide rates in the adolescent population have been increasing faster than in any other age group (Johnson, Krug, & Potter, 2000). However, there has been little research on adolescent peer survivors of suicide despite the evidence that “an adolescent suicide may trigger a cluster of subsequent suicides among peers” (Bondora & Goodwin, 2005, p. 6).
The Benefit of Celebrity Endorsement
Allison Nagler, David Ma, and Isabella Rosales
This study investigated undergraduate college students’ attitudes toward advertisements with and without celebrity endorsers. Furthermore, this research sought to discover whether male or female celebrities were more effective as endorsers of products. Seventy-two participants were split into three groups; each shown advertisements featuring a male celebrity, a female celebrity, or no celebrity. Participants who received the advertisement without a celebrity then filled out a survey inquiring about their attitudes toward both the product and the advertisement. Participants who received either the female endorsed or male endorsed advertisement additionally filled out a survey inquiring about their attitudes toward the celebrity. The results indicated that there were neither significant differences between male and female participants’ attitudes toward the male and female celebrities nor significant differences between the scores of the male and female celebrity endorsers. However, participants did report more positive attitude scores toward the advertisements with a celebrity than the advertisement without a celebrity. Consistent with popular notions of advertising strategy, it can be concluded that it is sensible and effective for advertisers to employ celebrities when advertising their products.
The Validity of Antidepressants: A Critical Look at Antidepressants and the
Placebo-Effect
Daniel D. Coppersmith
Antidepressants
have become the most prescribed drugs in the world, a $19 billon-dollar a year
industry. Before one accepts the wide-spread use of these drugs, one must look
critically at the placebo-effect. The placebo effect is when the individual
experiences symptom improvement by just believing that he/she is being treated.
Various meta-analysises and studies have shown that the placebo-effect is
present in mildly and moderately depressed patients, but not severely depressed
pateints. Future research needs to be dedicated to the replacement of antidepressants
with placebos in patients experiencing less severe forms of depression and the
results could have a massive effect on reducing the number of prescriptions of
antidepressants.