As is true for most majors at Bates, all psychology seniors must complete a senior thesis. This archive lists the name, title and a brief summary (abstract) of the projects of select seniors who graduated in 2020.

Please check out our complete Senior Thesis Archive.

Note: indicates an empirical thesis project and indicates a community-based learning thesis project.

Click a name to view that student’s abstract, or scroll down to view all students.

Jayde M. Biggert
Allinson Brinkhaus
Cate Day
Sarah Elizabeth DiPillo
Emma Gosselin
Lauren Hernandez
Colleen Hoyt
Rebecca Hannah Kraft
Caroline MacClancy
Sophie M. Norton
Alexandria Chidera Onuoha
Auguste Perl
Gianna Pipitone
Alexandra L. Salazar
Megan Campbell Seymour
Hazel Simpson
Keqing Zhu

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Jayde M. Biggert       

‘Decolonize the Process’: Developing a Culturally-Informed Trauma-Intervention Program for Local Refugee Youth

Coping with pre-migratory experiences of trauma and acculturative stressors post-migration, resettled refugee youth exhibit negative mental health outcomes. Despite the high need for support, mental health service utilization among youth remains low, due to stigma and unfamiliarity with Western approaches to treatment. The present research explored best practices in the design and implementation of trauma-interventions for refugee youth, in order to better inform the development of a local program initiative. Semi-structured interviews with 12 local and national organizations providing refugee trauma and mental health services were carried out to investigate intervention design, staff training, and program strengths and challenges. Data analysis revealed that culture, comprehensive care, and community collaboration were interrelated themes important in the provision of effective care. Overall, the findings indicate that culturally-responsive trauma programs are crucial in fostering resilience and empowering the refugee community. Recommendations made based on these findings include: partnering with existing organizations for support and training resources, and involving community members in the provision of care in a safe and welcoming environment. Implications for service providers, mental health practitioners and future research into alternative, culturally-informed approaches to healing are discussed. The findings also advocate for more systemic, institutional change regarding immigration policies in the United States and worldwide. Keywords: refugee youth, trauma, mental health, culturally-responsive care, resilience

Allinson Brinkhaus       

Forms of Social Support in Injured College Athletes and Their Effects on Academics and Physical Self-Perception

Social support has been examined in general in the form of friends and family in terms of the recovery process (Green & Weinburg, 2001) but not in terms of specific people in the network such as coaches or professors. Injured athletes tend to see many negative psychological effects such as depression (Garcia et al., 2015), low physical self-esteem (Binte-Tahir, Inam, & Raana, 2015), and decreased academic performance (Green & Weinberg, 2001; Collins, 2017). An online survey sent to injured and non-injured Bates athletes asked questions about support from friends, family, coaches, teachers, and professors based on the Perceived Social Support questionnaire (PSS; Procidano & Heller, 1983), an updated version of the Physical Self-Perception Profile-Revised (PSPP-R; Lindwall, 2010; PSPP, Fox & Corbin, 1989), injury status, and academic performance. Social support is expected to reduce the negative impact of injury on academic performance and physical self-perception. Various forms of s ocial support were no different between injured and non-injured athletes. Both injured and non-injured athletes perceived friends and family to be equally supportive, then coaches, followed by professors as the least supportive. Injured and non-injured athletes’ physical self-perceptions did not differ. Specifically, all athletes have lower physical self-worth and bodily attractiveness compared to the other 3 categories of PSPP: sports competence, physical conditioning, and physical attractiveness. All athletes report the same academic effort. However, injured athletes perceive that they perform academically worse than non-injured athletes. Thus, changes to improve the academic resources available to injured athletes are required.

Cate Day       

Perception of Multiple Eyewitness Identifications

During criminal investigation cases, eyewitnesses commonly make multiple identifications. This happens for a multitude of reasons, including the police generating a new suspect after the eyewitness says the culprit is not present in the first identification procedure (lineup rejection). In the current study, the perceptions of eyewitnesses who saw multiple photospreads was studied. A confederate served as an eyewitness in one of three conditions: identifying the culprit in the first photospread (control), rejecting the first photospread and identifying the culprit in the second photospread (prior rejection), or rejecting the first photospread and identifying the culprit in the second photospread with an explanation (prior rejection + explanation). The participants were ‘randomly’ assigned to serve as investigators. After the procedure(s), the participant- investigators’ rated their perceptions of the confederate’s decision on an online survey. There was a significantly higher rating of perception of accuracy by participant-investigators in the control condition compare d to the prior rejection + explanation condition. Additionally, there was a significant relationship between the participant-investigators’ perceptions of accuracy in photospread #1 and photospread #2. Understanding the foundation of multiple identification procedures will lead to a better understanding of the perception of eyewitnesses identifications and add to the research of the investigator’s perceptions of eyewitnesses. Keywords: prior rejection, eyewitness, investigation, photospread

Sarah Elizabeth DiPillo       

Visual Perception & Examining Sources of Suppression in Continuous Flash Suppression

Stimuli can be presented to one’s visual field and yet be suppressed from vision and conscious awareness. By using a technique called breaking continuous flash suppression (bCFS) the current study will investigate if the flashing component in CFS solely contributes to visual suppression of a stimulus in one’s non dominant eye, or if motion or rotation of that mask has an affect on visual suppression. The two experiments in this study will examine three different masking conditions in bCFS; complete 360 rotation (100% rotation), intermixed (50% rotation), and random (0% rotation). If suppression in CFS is critically dependent on the flash rate of the mask, then the amount of suppression should not vary across conditions because the flash rate was held constant in each experiment. However, both experiments yield significant results s uggesting that the type of continuous flashing (0%, 50%, or 100% rotation) affects the perceptual experience and this in turn affects the relative amount of suppression of the target. Since the flashing rate was held constant across all conditions in each experiment, we now know that the flickering rate is not solely responsible for visual suppression inCFS.

Emma Gosselin       

Is the End of History Illusion Due in Part to Self-Enhancement?

Abstract The purpose of this study was to observe how people perceive evolvement in their personality. To study this, we looked at the relation between self-enhancement and the end of history illusion. In our study, we recruited 100 participants located in the United States and aged 20-39 years old from the Amazon Mechanical Turk website. The participants were assigned to either a predictor or reporter role, depending on their age, and were instructed to take either the predictor or reporter version of the survey. Each survey contained two parts and asked the participant to record the extent to which they believed 12 traits, either desirable or neutral, applied to themselves. The first part asked participants to respond to the traits as their current self and the second part asked participants to respond to the traits as their future or past self. We measured change in personality by finding three averages for each participant: one for all traits, one for desirable traits, and one for neutral traits. Following this, a series of t-tests found that there is an overall end of history illusion, with it being strong in desirable traits and not present in neutral traits. This is due to the fact that reporters reported more change than the predictors predicted on desirable traits, rather than neutral traits, indicating that the end if history illusion is due in part to self-enhancement. Keywords: personality, end of history illusion, self-enhancement

Lauren Hernandez       

Bates Students’ Eating Habits and Use of Net Nutrition and the Commons Menu

Past research demonstrates that physical appearance comparisons to peers may negatively promote an unhealthy relationship with food and increase the desire to ‘fix’ one’s body to meet societal beauty standards (Rodgers, McLean, & Paxton, 2015). This study investigated the ways in which social comparison, race, gender, and athletic identification relate to individuals’ use of the Commons Daily Menu, and Net Nutrition. There were 202 Bates College participants. The online survey was delivered through Qualtrics. Significant correlations were found between Social Comparison through Physical Appearance Scale and Athletic Identity Measurement Scale. Major themes and subthemes for qualitative data were created using Grounded Theory Methodology (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). Data from Part A of SCPAS indicate that Bates Students feel they have a low social ranking based on physical appearance comparisons to proximal targets. These students believe that Net Nutrition is more beneficial for Bates students. Future research can replicate this study once Net Nutrition becomes more widely used.

Colleen Hoyt       

The Extent to Which Initial Romantic Attraction Differs Between Genders

Abstract Initial romantic attraction indicates an immediate romantic interest in an individual during an encounter. The purpose of this research study was to investigate the personality factors surrounding initial romantic attraction, and the differences between what males and females find attractive in someone they have just met. These differences were measured through an online survey about initial romantic attraction, which included a series of eight written scenarios depicting a first date, as well as a series of qualitative questions. Each scenario contained one of two variations of three different variables: mindfulness, verbal description, and nonverbal expression. The questions assessed participants’ opinions about each scenario’s degree of attraction, in addition to their own viewpoints on romantic attraction. It was hypothesized that men would find someone more attractive if they were mindfully present, honest, and nonverbally inexpressive, and that women would find someone more attractive if they were mindfully present, flattering, and nonverbally expressive. The results indicated that overall, both men and women found people more attractive if they were mindfully present and nonverbally expressive. However, verbal description did not influence whether someone was perceived as attractive or not. Additionally, men found people significantly more attractive than women did overall. Keywords: initial romantic attraction, first impression, interpersonal attraction

Rebecca Hannah Kraft       

Acquiring a Method to Compile Personalized Music Playlists for Late Stage Dementia Patients

Dementia is a devastating illness that causes many behavioral and psychological deficits, as well as a decrease in cognitive function and autobiographical recall. Previous research indicates that music therapy interventions provide an effective approach in treating and decreasing the behavioral and psychological symptoms of Dementia, as well as enhancing mood and autobiographical recall. Music therapy interventions associated with individualized music preferences of the patient have been seen to produce more therapeutic effects than music that is not personally relevant to the patient. This paper examines a variety of music therapy interventions and their effects on Dementia patients. This paper then discusses a method for acquiring biographical information and information regarding the music preferences of patients with late-stage Dementia at Clover Manor Retirement Community to generate personalized, individual music playlists for each of them. These playlists are downloaded on to an iPod and distributed to patients at Clover Manor Retirement Community during music listening sessions for therapeutic purposes.

Caroline MacClancy       

Social Media Marketing: The Criteria for Success of Influencer Endorsements

This study investigates the factors that dictate the effectiveness of social media influencer endorsements. Analyses assessed the effects of credibility of the endorser, identification with the endorser, follower count of the endorser, and brand-endorser congruency on purchase intent and attitude towards the product. It was hypothesized that higher endorser credibility would lead to increased purchase intent and enhanced attitude towards the product, higher identification with the endorser would lead to increased purchase intent and enhanced attitude towards the product, a higher follower count would lead to an increase in purchase intent, and higher levels of brand-endorser congruency would lead to higher purchase intent. 156 participants ages 18-23 were recruited through convenience sampling and were administered an online survey. Each participant was shown one of four fabricated influencer profiles, and one fabricated product endorsement posted by the influencer. Participants wer e then administered a series of questions and scales assessing the study’s variables of interest. Results supported the hypothesis concerning identification: higher levels of identification with the endorser were positively correlated with more positive attitudes towards the product. The results of the remaining hypotheses were either insignificant or significantly the opposite of what was predicted. Qualitative analyses of supplementary questions, implications of the study, and ideas for future research are discussed. Keywords: social media, influencer, credibility, identification, congruency

Sophie M. Norton       

Other-Affirmation and its Effects on Implicit Self-Esteem

This study examined other-affirmation and its effect on implicit self-esteem depending on whether the participants were affirming a significant other;s most important value or least important value after receiving a threat. Participants completed the Relational-Self Interdependent-Construal (RISC) scale to assess their level of importance of relationships in their self-definition. Higher scores (high-RISC) indicate stronger connectedness to significant others within self-definition, whereas lower scores (low-RISC) indicate individual uniqueness within self-definition. The hypothesis suggests that after a threat, high-RISC individuals affirming a significant other;s values (affirmation condition) should demonstrate higher implicit self-esteem than high-RISC individuals in the control condition. However, low-RISC individuals; implicit self-esteem should not show a significant difference between the affirmation and control condition. The study included 140 Bates College undergraduate students (male = 54, female = 86) between the ages of 17-23. Regression analysis indicated a significant interaction between RISC and condition, showing that low-RISC individuals reported marginally lower implicit self-esteem in the affirmation condition than in the control condition. There was no significant difference between conditions for high-RISC individuals. Findings indicate partial support for the hypothesis, suggesting a need for future research on other-affirmation.

Alexandria Chidera Onuoha       

Attitudes and Acceptance Towards Black Queer Individuals Who Present as Masculine and Feminine Using Images.

The purpose of this study is to examine attitudes and acceptance towards queer individuals and their gender expressions. The study seeks to examine participants; religious commitment in order to see what drives attitudes towards black queer individuals who do not portray what is socially acceptable in gender roles. There are few studies that explore the intersection of race, gender, and sexuality as it relates to attitudes and acceptance and what influences attitudes and acceptance towards black queer individuals who subvert traditional gender norms of appearance and qualities. The present study consisted of 251 workers on TurkPrime. Participants were distributed equally into four groups, and each group received a different image of a black queer individual either conforming to gender norms or non-conforming to gender norms. We found that the more religious someone is the more negative attitudes they will hold towards LGB individuals. We also found that religious commitment was not a predictor of the general attitudes scale that was used in the study. Furthermore, we found that the images that were of the black gay man were rated more highly than the images of the black lesbian.

Auguste Perl       

The Effects of Information about Misogynistic Lyrics and Hook-Up Culture on the Perceptions of an Interpersonal Interaction within a College Party Setting

Sexual violence within party and hook-up cultures is a pervasive issue on all college campuses. Research has shown literature-based intervention methods are effective in influencing participants; perceptions of sexual violence. This study extends prior research by examining participants’ reactions to a scenario that described a potentially unsafe interaction between two college students at a party after having read one of two educational information texts. Bates Colleges students (N=100) were randomly assigned into the experimental condition, which highlighted the relationship between misogynistic lyrics and aggression, or the control condition, which consisted of a description of hook-up culture on college campuses. After the manipulation, participants read a hypothetical campus part y scenario while listening to a clip of a party song with misogynistic lyrics. Participants rated their reactions to the scenario, what they thought happened next, and the likelihood they;d intervene. Results revealed a significant decline in all participants; perceptions of hook up and party cultures after they completed the study. Also, participants in the experimental condition were more likely to rate the scenario as less consensual than participants in the control condition. Additionally, analyses indicated whether or not a participant had completed the 5-hour Green Dot training moderated their reactions to the scenario, including their likelihood to intervene. This study recommends that future sexual violence educational information interventions contextualize party and hook-up cultures. Songs with misogynistic lyrics are popular on college campuses, providing educational information interventions that contextualized party and hook-up cultures through music benefitted the study as a whole. Keywords: misogyny, music, sexual assault and harassment, college students, party culture, hook-up culture

Gianna Pipitone       

Support Structures of the Family Services Department: An analytical approach to improving staff support.

Organizational support is essential for social workers to cope with the extreme levels of stress they encounter on a daily basis. Working with vulnerable populations, social workers and others in the field experience high levels of work-related stress, leading to compassion fatigue, burnout, and staff turnover. Strong organizational support is necessary to combat work-related stress and avoid adverse consequences. The following analysis examines the support structures in the Family Services Department of Community Concepts, a non-profit organization currently serving residents in western and central Maine. The support structures are observed through organization artifacts and field notes taken in meetings with the director of Family Services. The research uses a grounded-theory approach to identify thematic relations within the department;s support structures. From the thematic relations, strengths were determined and used as the framework to recommend improvements. These recommen dations to better the support structures build upon the current strengths and are grounded in current literature findings. Following the completion of this project, a survey was designed to continue structural improvement and ensure sustainable practice. The survey assesses the influence of work-related stress on the staff;s professional life, their use of coping mechanisms, and the effectiveness of the current support structures. Keywords: social work, work-related stress, burnout, staff turnover, organizational support

Alexandra L. Salazar       

Spatial-Numerical Association of Response Codes in Relation to Language Proficiency

This experiment explores the Spatial Numerical Association of Response Codes (SNARC) in relation to language processing and proficiency. The purpose of this experiment is to see whether participants will have a SNARC effect when they are responding to stimuli in both a native (L1) and a non-native language (L2). This experiment also looks to see if there is variation in the SNARC effect across participants with different proficiencies in their L2. Opposite predictions are proposed depending on whether the SNARC effect occurs due to semantic processing of number words (smaller or no SNARC effect in less proficient participants with L2 words) or response latency depending on task difficulty (larger SNARC effect in less proficient participants with L2 words). Participants performed a magnitude judgment task on Arabic digits and number words in both their dominant (L1) and another language (L2) in which they were familiar with the numbers words for 1 through 10. Results are discussed i n terms of theories of SNARC as well as implications for second language learning.

Megan Campbell Seymour       

Are Revenge and Forgiveness Gendered Implicitly?

Abstract The purpose of this study is to examine perceptions of revenge and forgiveness to determine whether or not the concepts are implicitly gendered. Participants (N=172) recruited via Amazon Mechanical Turk took a Qualtrics survey asking demographic questions and explicit measures of sexism through use of the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI). To determine implicit associations between revenge and forgiveness and the binary genders, male and female, the participants took an Implicit Association Test (IAT) linked in the Qualtrics survey. Based on previous research on revenge and revenge regarding explicit differences between males and females, I expect to find a stronger tendency to associate male with revenge and female with forgiveness than the reverse, as shown by positive D scores, for the entire sample, including those who score high on benevolent and hostile sexism. A one sample t test indicated that D scores were significantly greater than zero, showing support for my hypothesis. Inconsistent with my hypothesis, hostile sexism and benevolent sexism both had significant negative correlations with D scores. A multiple linear regression analysis (R2 = .182) showed that benevolent sexism was a marginally significant predictor of D scores, holding other predictor variables constant, including gender, age, level of conservatism, and level of education, while hostile sexism wasn;t a significant predictor variable. My study fills in the gap in the previous literature on gender differences and revenge and forgiveness and is a possible indicator that gender stereotypes align with our gendered implicit associations of revenge and forgiveness.

Hazel Simpson       

The Relationship Between Nonsuicidal Self-Injury Internet Usage, Help Seeking, and NSSI Behaviors Among Young Adults

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a growing concern among young adults. NSSI-related content is also prevalent on the Internet; NSSI-related Internet usage may be related to help-seeking behaviors and NSSI severity. Participants (N = 279) completed measures of NSSI, help-seeking behavior, and Internet usage in an online survey. A stepwise multiple linear regression indicated that Internet usage significantly predicted NSSI severity (R2 = .10, R2adjusted = .08, F(1, 56) = 6.029, p = .017). T-tests furthur revealed that those who had seen images, advice, or tips had significantly higher NSSI severity than those who had not. 91.2% of all participants had seen NSSI-related Internet content; however, NSSI participants saw personal accounts, images, and tips significantly more frequency than non-NSSI participants. Help-seeking behaviors were not significantly related to Internet usage. These results suggest that NSSI-related Internet content is prevalent, easily accessible, and may negat ively influence individuals. Keywords: non-suicidal self-injury, the Internet, help seeking

Keqing Zhu       

Associations between Eating Disorder Symptoms and Borderline Personality Disorder

Borderline Personality Disorder has been known for its symptom heterogeneity. The different BPD symptom presentations not only decrease diagnostic reliability, but also make it extremely difficult to treat. Eating Disorders are a cluster of disorders that are highly comorbid with BPD diagnosis, and therefore may share some common psychopathologies with BPD. This study sought to find the relationship between BPD and ED symptomology, as well as BPD and ED;s relationships with psychological constructs such as mentalization and NSSI. A subset data from the Laboratory for Personality, Psychopathology and Psychotherapy Research at Pennsylvania State University was analyzed. We found that there were significant correlations between some of BPD and ED symptoms, indicating the difficulty of differential diagnosis in clinical practices. Participants with BPD-ED comorbid diagnoses experienced significantly worse psychosocial functioning and more severe symptoms compared to BPD- alone, ED-alone, and the Neither groups. In terms of psychopathology, BPD participants displayed some mentalization deficits, including difficulties in reflecting on their inner feelings and thoughts as regulating emotions, while ED participants did not show any decreased mentalization ability compared to non-ED controls. This finding validated the importance of Mentalization-based Therapy and informed future research on the usefulness of MBT in treating different mental disorders. BPD patients did not perform more non-suicidal self-harm behaviors than non-BPD participants, whereas ED participants were more likely to self-cut than non-ED individuals. Further studies should further examine the ED-alone, BPD-alone, ED-BPD comorbid, and healthy controls; NSSI motivations and the forms of self-harm chosen by different groups of people.