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  Adolescent Body Dissatisfaction and Emotional Distress

  Marina Potter

  Based on data from a nationally representative survey of adolescents in the U.S., this study examines the association between body dissatisfaction and emotional distress, mediated by family, peer, and school relationships. In a sample of 5,110 adolescent girls, I use least squares regression to estimate the models. I find satisfaction with family relationships, self-esteem, time with friends, peer victimization, and feelings about school to be associated with emotional distress. In addition, body dissatisfaction remains the strongest predictor of emotional distress, even when all other variables are held constant.

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  Marital Satisfaction, Error-observation, and the Brain: Harmful or Beneficial Effects of Spouse Observation?

  Chelsea E. Romney, Michael Larson, Jonathan Sandberg, Patrick R. Steffen, and Scott Baldwin

  Introduction

  Rewarding marital relationships are associated with many positive outcomes in one’s physical and mental health, including improved cardiovascular functioning, decreased depression risk, higher self-reported levels of happiness, and overall lower rates of mortality. The purpose of this study was to observe the differences in performance monitoring between males and females (while being observed by their spouses) using error-related brain activity (ERN). ERN is a response-locked, negative deflecting event-related potential (ERP) that occurs 50-100 milliseconds following an error. Heightened (i.e., more negative) ERN amplitude is associated with stressful or anxiety-provoking situations. Conversely, dampened ERN amplitude (i.e., less negative ERN) may be associated with positive emotions, such as increased life satisfaction or belief in God. Knowledge about the effects a spouse has on their partner when observing them in a task will shed light on the effects of stress in everyday life and how a spouse can influence these experiences.

  Methods

  A total of 66 heterosexual married couples (132 individuals) participated in the study. These participants were 18-to 55-years old, right-handed, and native English speakers. Then, using a 128-electrode sensor electroencephalogram (EEG) net, their event-related potentials (ERPs) were measured. Event related potentials are changes in the brain's electrical waveforms due to responses toward stimuli. Behavioral data was recorded during performance on a computerized reaction time task. Each participant completed three conditions in random order: 1) observed by their spouse; 2) observed by an unfamiliar observer; 3) no observer. The observer was told to track the number of errors the participant was making.

  Results

  When being observed by their spouse, females experienced greater ERN amplitudes (i.e., more negative) than males F(2, 176) = 5.12, p = 0.007, h² = 0.06. There was increased brain activity to the spouse observer than the confederate observer.

  Discussion

  In conclusion, females experienced higher reactivity to their errors than males under observation from their spouse. Research shows a relationship between negative ERN amplitude and anxiety. Our results have implications for spousal interactions and the role anxiety plays, especially for the female spouse, when it comes to feeling supported or threatened during stressful situations (i.e., the computerized task).

  An additional interpretation may have to do with gender-related support systems. Current literature suggests that both males and females seek females for social support. Perhaps males are showing dampened reactivity while being observed by their wives because they feel supported by her as a female, rather than as a spouse.

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  Tell Me About Your Relationship Status

  Monica Stebbing and Ian Marsee

  In a case study of five we used Skyped interview sessions to analyze micro facial expressions and code participants responses which asked questions about their relationship status and their thoughts on marriage. What we found is a correlation between perceived relationship quality and participants views on marriage.

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  The Effects of Loss Aversion and Investment Type on the Sunk Cost Fallacy

  Veronika Tait and Harold Miller JR

  The sunk-cost fallacy (SCF) occurs when an individual makes an investment with a low probability of a payoff because an earlier investment has already been made. It is considered an error because a rational decision maker should not factor in now-irretrievable investments, as they do not affect current-outcome likelihoods. Previous research has measured the tendency to commit the SCF by using hypothetical scenarios in which participants must choose to make a future investment or not after making an initial investment. Loss aversion, the preference for uncertain over certain losses, may be related to SCF. In this study, participants were asked to complete a time, effort, and money questionnaire in which they could decide whether or not to continue investing in each hypothetical scenario. They also completed an endowment-effect task. A mixed design ANOVA indicated no significant difference in SCF occurrences across initial investment amount. There was a significant main effect of initial investment type, indicating SCF ccurrences were greatest when the initial investment type was money, less for time, and least for effort. Lastly, loss aversion was not positively related to SCF.

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  Attachment & Hope of Institutionalized and Reunified Children in Ghana

  Bryan A. Teuscher and Jini Roby

  Purpose: There are over two million children living in institutional care worldwide. Research consistently shows that living in institutions negatively affects children’s social attachments. The impact of orphanage care on perceived hope has received little attention. Increased hope is related to decreased feelings of depression, anxiety, and loneliness and increased academic achievement, adaptive coping styles, and even improved athletic performance. This study examined how hope for the future may be impacted by perceived social attachments.

  Methods: The sample consisted of 148 children aged 8-18 living in 13 orphanages in Ghana. The independent variable of attachment was made up of fourteen hypothetical situations in which the respondent was asked who they would like to join them for each scenario. The Children’s Hope Scale used six items on a six point Likert scale to assess the belief in one’s ability to pursue desired goals (agency) and use strategies to achieve them (pathway).

  Results: The mean score on the Children’s Hope Scale was 16.52 out of 36 with a standard deviation of 6.6. Ordinary least squares regression was used with the combined hope score as dependent variable and the combined social attachment score as independent variable, with gender, age, and number of siblings living in the orphanage serving as control variables. A significant relationship was found (b=.271; p

  Implications: When compared with average scores of hope in other child samples (27.03) the children living in orphanages showed nearly an eleven point lower average score on hope. Additionally, there is evidence to support the relation between increased social attachment figures and increased hope. Since orphanage care is so drastically related to poor attachment relationships it is likely that staying in orphanages also has a significant impact on a child’s level of hope for the future. The evidence of this study combined with previous research about orphanage care suggests that family based care is superior to institutional care.

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  The Segregating Effects of the Social Construction of Academic Quality

  Maika M. Tuala

  Brown v. Board concluded 60 years ago that “separate but equal” schools are “inherently unequal”. Yet, schools are more separate and unequal today than four decades ago. Take the district that I have been studying, for example. The north side has mostly affluent white students attending B+ schools while the south has 80 percent poor minorities in D+ Schools

  
  Ironically, school segregation practices are none existent, and today, poor minority parents have more opportunities to choose schools for their children rather than attending low performing zoned schools. In fact, this district offers ideal opportunities for school choice. The parents in my study can send their kids to any school they choose. Researchers show that parents list academic quality as the most important criterion when choosing schools. However, no research has asked how poor White and minority parents construct academic quality. In my thesis, I ask precisely this question, and my findings shed light on why this segregating line exists when theoretically it should not.

  
  To explore this question I randomly selected and interviewed 92 parents from the 11 schools in the southern region of the district. Two findings emerged. First, a majority of these parents insisted their children attended good schools, and they reject school grades as an indicator of academic quality. Why? Parents say, “Those grades speak more of the demographics of the school than the actual teachers”. They acknowledge that many parents, in the southern region, lack time and resources to supplement education. Second, they construct academic quality through three social interactions with enthusiastic teachers, passionate administrator, and happy children. These factors were consistently offered as evidence of a “good school”, despite low test scores.

  
  My work has two major implications. First, school choice theories assume parents will choose higher quality schools to maximize their children’s academic potential. However, not all parents think that school test scores and grades are accurate indicators of school quality. Rather, the parents in my study emphasize positive social interactions as superior evidence of school quality. Because school choice policies ignore how school quality is socially constructed differently by parents from different socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds, school choice will continue to reinforce a line which segregates poor minorities from affluent Whites. Second, the finding that academic quality is socially constructed suggests that further reproduction of inequality and segregation will continue to exist. Unless policies address these issues directly, separate will still be “unequal”.

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  Healthy Attachment and Commitment Levels in Early Marriage

  Bethany M. Wood and Cory E. McFarland

  Data from the CREATE study were analyzed to observe how healthy, strong attachment affects commitment levels in newly married couples. Results indicate that there is a positive and statistically significant association between attachment and commitment. The other control variables did not have a statistically significant effect on the dependent variable: commitment. The R2 for each of the models suggests that attachment explains a substantial portion of the variation in commitment.

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  A Tall Tale: How Stories Can Change U.S. Public Opinion

  Matthew B. Young

  “In this age, in this country, public sentiment is everything.” Just as in Abraham Lincoln’s day, today our nation’s course is influenced by public opinion. Thus, understanding which frame best elicits a change in public opinion will provide agencies with a more effective model to change voters’ opinions.

  A frame is the presentation of an idea or fact, meant to encourage a specific interpretation. In this study, the issue of foreign aid will be framed as stories and facts. A story frame will portray information about a community or individual affected by U.S. foreign aid using the “Universal Story Structure.” A fact frame will consist of big data, numbers and figures presented in five bullet points.

  Previous studies have shown that correcting wrong perceptions about aid practices can improve support for aid. My project goes a step further and answers the next logical question; which frame of aid will have the strongest effect. A study carried out by Dr. Paul Zak reveals that narratives following the “Universal Story Structure” change behavior by changing brain chemistry (Zak 2012). My main finding is that participants with negative opinions of foreign aid are 6 times more likely to support foreign aid after reading a positive story frame.

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  Measuring Maladaptive Perfectionism

  JoAnna Burton, Amber Veazey, Melissa Tingey, and Kat Green

  Perfectionism is a personality trait in which individuals set high standards for themselves that are in line with an ideal image of how they should look, act, and perform. Perfectionism can be both adaptive and maladaptive. Identifying maladaptive perfectionism may aid individuals in consciously overcoming the negative side effects associated with maladaptive perfectionism and help individuals practice an adaptive perfectionism. We hypothesized that our measure, the Maladaptive or Adaptive Personality Scale (MAPS) would reliably and validly indicate and measure the presence of maladaptive perfectionism. Our measure used ten 4-point Likert scale questions measuring behavioral and emotional manifestations of perfectionism. MAPS was administered to a convenience sample of 165 to mostly students at Brigham Young University. Results showed that MAPs had a high internal consistency (? = .80), and a relatively moderate content validity ratio (most items ? .44). Principal component analysis showed most items loaded onto one factor (behavioral manifestations of perfectionism). The measure was highly reliable but may need further research to reassure validity. Overall, MAPS is worth pursuing and may be beneficial in detecting behavioral manifestations of maladaptive perfectionism.

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  Perceptual Influences for Potential Hoarders

  Sam Hardy, Marie Ricks, Brian Appel, and Alex Dresden

  Hoarding is defined as "(1) the acquisition of, and failure to, discard a large number of possessions that appear to be ... of limited value, (2) living spaces sufficiently cluttered so as to preclude activities for which these spaces were designed, (3) significant ... impairment in functioning caused by the hoarding, and (4) reluctance ... to return borrowed items." The average age of onset for hoarders is 11-15 years of age, with most hoarders reporting symptoms before age 20. Our research sought to find correlations regarding public perceptions of hoarding, including demographic, personal, and socioeconomic factors. Using a 55-question online survey and taking advantage of social networking and byu.sona-systems.com and after doing a smaller pilot study, we gathered pertinent information regarding hoarding perceptions and hoarding self-identification from 1265 participants. These research results confirm that the perceptual influences for potential hoarders were positively correlated with age, gender, education, and income. In addition, those that knew hoarders and those who identified themselves as hoarders were positively correlated with knowledge of treatment options, potential pursuit of those treatments, and belief that treatment could be successful as they aged. Thus, we can promote early life education programs regarding hoarding, especially if targeted to appropriate audiences, as an influential factor in reducing hoarding behaviors.

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  Sexual Desire Discrepancy: A Dyadic Longitudinal Study

  Anthony A. Hughes and James Harper

  Using questionnaires, self-report, and partner report of spouse, this five year longitudinal investigation examined the growth trajectory of the sexual desire discrepancy (SDD) of married partners within midlife, with insecure attachment at time 1 as a predictor. Findings showed that insecure attachment was a significant predictor of wives intercept but not for husbands. Insecure attachment wasn't a significant predictor of either partner's slope. As husbands SDD score changed, their growth across time had an inverse change. Husband slope and intercept had an inverse correlation. Wives intercept and husband intercept correlated or changed together. Wife slope and husband intercept had an inverse correlation. Wife slope and wife intercept had an inverse relationship. The findings also showed a positive attachment correlation for husbands and wives. Treatment implications can be drawn from this investigation.

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  Imagining a Controversy: The Taft-Katsura Memorandum in Korean History Comic Books

  Joseph Seeley and Kirk Larsen

  For generations of North and South Koreans, the 1905 Taft-Katsura Memorandum or "secret treaty" has been emblematic of the U.S. decision to support the Japanese annexation of Korea around the turn of the twentieth century. Although scholars of early Korean-US relations consistently point out that Taft never called the Memorandum anything more than his "personal opinion," these academic objections have had little impact on how the Memorandum has been remembered by generations of Koreans. By distilling complex historical nuance into concise, visually appealing vignettes, comic book histories of the Taft-Katsura Memorandum in both North and South Korea seem to exert far more influence on how the event is remembered and understood than do scholarly articles, illustrating the tension between actuality and popular memory.

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  Children, Spouses, and Attitudes: Impact on Women's Work Status

  Mengxi Li Seeley and James B. McDonald

  Women face unique challenges in their balancing of career and family. Some questions women consider include children and childcare, spouses' earning potential and relationship stability, and their own attitudes on family relationships and gender roles. This study uses probit and probit with instrumental variables to examine the effects of these considerations on women's fulltime work status, the dependent variable. Under the assumption of traditional social views regarding men as breadwinners and women as nurturers, increased childcare pressures and spousal potential to provide are expected to decrease the incentive for women to work fulltime. The results of this study are mostly consistent with this theory. One especially interesting finding was that the most influential factor consistently statistically significant in both models used was women's attitudes regarding mother-child relationships.

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  The Best Way to Select State Court Judges

  Curtis Thomas and Sven Wilson

  Due to the spending increase in campaigns for state court judges and to the controversial positions taken by state court judges on high-profile issues, research has increased into the methods state use to select their judges. This poster highlights research into the best method for selecting state court judges. By comparing the different methods for selecting state court judges currently in use according to goals considered to be relevant to this issue, I conclude that the best method for selecting state court judges is a combination of appointment for a state's highest court judges and non-partisan elections for a state's lower court judges, enhanced by a federal solution requiring recusal in cases involving large campaign donors.

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  Does Killing Drug Cartel Leaders Increase Violence in Mexico?

  Alex Wilson and Jay Goodliffe

  Soon after Felipe Calderon became president of Mexico, he drastically changed the country's policy concerning drug cartels and drug trade. The policy moved from destroying production of drugs, such as burning poppy and marijuana fields, to an attack on the organization of the Drug Cartels. Opponents of this action, argue that the policy has been ineffective in reducing drug flow, but has only increased violence. One argument made for the increasing violence is that the killing of drug cartel leaders leads to fractionalization and competition within the cartel. This fractionalization then leads to violence as different members of the cartel fight for power. By examining time series data and determining if there are any breaks when a drug cartel leader is captured or killed, I find that the data changes significantly. However, I do not find that it increases like the hypothesis claims. To confirm this finding I test the data of captured or killed cartel leaders in a random effects panel model. I find that the killing or capturing of cartel leaders actually leads to a statistically significant decrease in the number of executions.

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  An Alternative to Hedonism: Eudaimonic Well-Being

  Brigham Breton, Nathan Billings-Smith, Jason Lefrandt, and Patrick R. Steffen

  Research has repeatedly shown that individuals who rate highly on eudaimonic personality measures have a more positive perception of their well-being (physical and psychological) than individuals who rate highly on hedonic personality measures. We hypothesized that individuals who rate highly only the eudaimonic questions in the survey will have lower blood pressure and heart rate in response to stress, and also will return to normal stress levels more quickly than hedonic individuals. These results valid a number of other research studies that have demonstrated that eudaimonic thought is consistently related to better health outcomes. Similarly, individuals who rated highly on eudaimonic measures were generally more psychologically healthy than their more hedonic counterparts.

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  Are Microfinance Institutions Immune to Science?: A Randomized Controlled Trial

  Matthew R. Brigham, William T. Matthias, Chase Petrey, and Daniel Nielson

  Microfinance institutions (MFIs) allow the poor access to capital in order to overcome the poverty trap and lift themselves into prosperity. With the success of Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank, MFIs have become a popular solution to poverty alleviation in the developing world. However, their objective impact on poverty remains uncertain. Researchers have performed studies and experiments with mixed results. Despite its popularity, microfinance may not be as effective as people believe. Do MFIs value scientific information on their effectiveness? If so, the poor may be more likely to benefit from effective programs as MFIs make changes responsive to such research. If not, MFIs may resist improving their programs at the expense of the poor. We ran a randomized controlled trial on MFIs around the world to determine whether or not MFIs are willing to improve given positive or negative research about the effectiveness of microfinance. Results support our hypothesis that MFIs that receive positive information are more likely to request partnership for an impact evaluation, and MFIs that receive negative information are less likely to do so. This knowledge could help academics and donors know how MFIs respond to new information.

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  General Motivation Domains & Behavioral Specificity Across Motivations

  Justin B. Christensen, David C. Dollahite, and Sam A. Hardy

  The present study used Self-Determination Theory to explore adolescents' motivations to engage in prosocial behaviors (donating and volunteering) and abstain from health-risk behaviors (marijuana use and sexual intercourse). Pearson's r correlations evidenced general motivation schemes (prosocial and abstinence), suggesting that general prosocial motivation will prompt many prosocial behaviors while a general abstinence motivation will discourage many health risk behaviors. Multiple regression analysis, however, indicated that motivation is also behavior specific, meaning that specific behaviors are prompted by specific motivation. These findings help to broaden our understanding of adolescents by revealing two levels of motivation; behavioral and domain.

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  The Fox News Effect: Does Polarized News-Media Fill Traditional News Roles?

  Richard Davis and Braden W. Johnson

  Since the formation of the Cable News Network (CNN) in 1980, cable news channels have grown in scope and influence. Traditional news providers are often critical of the bias and "spin" that are frequently associated with such cable news channels but few have looked for the unique benefits that polarized news can have on its consumers. This study seeks to prove whether or not polarized news has beneficial effects on its consumers. Using a 2010 media survey conducted by the Pew Media Center, I group the respondents into categories representing those who view polarized media (n=780) and those who do not (n=760). I then test each group against the mean (n=3,007) in three different measures and compare the results. I find that consumers of polarized media are more likely to have a working knowledge of current events, read the newspaper daily, and register to vote.

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  Public Perception of Hoarding

  Alex Dresden, Stephanie Svanevik, Kristen Hoopes, and Brian Appel

  Hoarding is defined as (1) the acquisition of, and failure to, discard a large number of possessions that appear to be of limited value, (2) living spaces sufficiently cluttered so as to preclude activities for which these spaces were designed, (3) significant impairment in functioning caused by the hoarding, and (4) reluctance to return borrowed items. The average age of onset for hoarders is 11-15 years of age, with most hoarders reporting symptoms before age 20. Our research sought to find correlations regarding public perceptions of hoarding, including demographic, personal, and socioeconomic factors. Using a 55-question online survey and taking advantage of social networking and byu.sona-systems.com, we gathered pertinent information regarding hoarding perceptions and hoarding self-identification from 769 participants. The research results indicate that public perceptions of hoarding and personal identification as a hoarder were both positively correlated with age, gender, education, and income. In addition, those that knew hoarders and those who identified themselves as hoarders were positively correlated with knowledge of treatment options, potential pursuit of those treatments, and belief that treatment could be successful as they aged. Thus, we propose early life education programs regarding hoarding, especially if targeted to appropriate audiences, as an influential factor in reducing hoarding behaviors.

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  Does Attachment to Parents Mediate the Relationship between Marital Conflict and Child Self-Regulation

  Lisa T. Hansen, James M. Harper, and Jeremy Yorgason

  This longitudinal study considers the effect of parent-child attachment on the self-regulation of children. Four hundred and forty-eight families from the Northwestern U.S. were surveyed as part of Brigham Young University's Flourishing Families Project. Each family studied included a child between the ages of 11 and 13. Couple conflict and the child's attachment to parents were assessed at time 1 and the child's self-regulation was assessed each year thereafter for three years. Higher couple conflict predicted lower attachment to father and to mother at time 1 with a greater negative effect for fathers. Higher scores on attachment to father predicted greater initial levels of child self-regulation (at time 2) but not slopes of child self-regulation. Model results suggest that father attachment mediates the link between couple conflict and initial levels of self-regulation. This model accounted for 40% of the variation in child self-regulation measured at one year.

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  Wanted "Dead or Alive": The Effects of Charismatic Leadership on Terrorist Organizations

  Cameron S. Harris, Kirk Hawkins, and Daniel Milton

  Charismatic leadership profoundly moves terrorist organizations to more violence and longer organizational life-spans.

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  Sexual Satisfaction and Differentiation

  Anthony A. Hughes and James Harper

  Using questionnaires, self report, and partner report of spouse, this investigation examined the relationship between differentiation of self and sexual satisfaction of each partner for a sample size of 681. The data was collected from a large northwestern city and was part of the Flourishing Families Project. Actor and partner effects were both examined. Findings showed that both husbands and wives were impacted by both actor and partner effects of differentiation of self. The latent variable of differentiation of self measured the lack of differentiation, while the latent variable of sexual satisfaction measured the lack of sexual satisfaction within the relationship. Wife sexual satisfaction was predicted by the increase or decrease in husband and wife differentiation of self. Husband sexual satisfaction was also predicted by the increase or decrease of husband and wife differentiation of self. Overall, as the variables (differentiation of self) increased, the variables (sexual satisfaction) also increased.

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  Television Media Consumption: Measuring Attitudinal Levels Towards Capital Punishment

  Bryson D. Jones and Stephen J. Bahr

  This study argues that the frequency of consumption and type of television media that one views is indicative of attitudinal formation on sensitive Political Science issues such as executing convicted murderers. In this setting, I investigate whether Americans who watch more television, and those who watch prime-time dramas or comedies or national or world news programs are more likely to support the death penalty. I hypothesize that such viewing habits increases ones likelihood for supporting punitive punishment like the death penalty because of the type of media messages they are exposed to such as violence, criminal dramas, law enforcement, and victimization. I test these hypotheses utilizing data from the 1993 General Social Survey (GSS). Controlling for a range of demographic factors and other known predictors of death penalty attitudes, my results demonstrate that Americans who more frequently view prime-time dramas or comedies and national or world news programs are more likely to support capital punishment for convicted murderers.

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  The Life of a Bill in the Utah Legislature: Following House Bill 49- Firearms Revisions

  Scott Robbins

  There have been some recent cases of firearm owners legally carrying their firearms, who have faced criminal prosecution and fines, though they broke no law. House Bill 49 was was introduced by Rep. Paul Ray in order to protect firearm-carrying citizens from receiving fines and criminal charges from two conflicting laws.The bill mainly clarifies the open carry and disorderly conduct aspects of existing Utah law. Because HB49 was incremental and fit with the majority opinion of Utah, it was able to get through to the senate where it was stalled from an amendment. Since the legislative session ended before the amendment could be fixed, HB49 died in the 2012 legislative session.