5063 research outputs found
Sort by
Investigating the responses of gay Gen Z and Gen Y men to homosexual imagery in advertising
Get PDFThe LGBTQ+ market is growing and expanding, especially now that younger generations who have a higher percentage of individuals who identify as LGBTQ+, are entering the market. While there exists a growing body of literature regarding gay representation in advertising, little research has explored how younger cohorts of gay men—particularly those in Generations Z and Y—respond to gay representation in conservative environments (in particular. regions where the majority public opinion and/or legislation rejects the normalization of LGBTQ+ identities). To address this question, this study aimed to explore the responses of gay Gen Z and Gen Y men towards their own representation in advertising. This research considers this demographic’s reactions to gay male representation in advertising, and their internalizations of these reactions, and does so within a population with a high concentration of Gen Z and Gen Y individuals residing in a regionally conservative political culture
Perceptions of stress: a gendered comparison of undergraduates in STEM
Get PDFStudents enrolled in undergraduate universities face numerous stressors every day. Outside of stress from their academic studies (i.e., homework, studying for exams, writing papers), they also encounter daily life stressors relating to self-sufficiency, career choices, families, housing, and many other areas. While every student deals with stress coming from multiple areas of their life, women tend to place more stress on themselves than men due to social pressure to perform well and the feeling of societal expectation to have a high stress load from which to derive personal value. Within the field of Science, Technology and Math (STEM), —a field dominated by men until relatively recently—the same findings of women reporting higher stress levels holds true. Since there is relatively limited research on these broader perceptions of stress between men and women and the worth one derives from perceived stress loads, this study aimed to look at gender differences in such perceptions among STEM students. Survey data were gathered from 151 STEM undergraduate students. This study examined proposed differences in perceptions of stress using four subscales from viewing stress as a badge of honor: stress as achievement, relaxation remorse, stress-related social comparison, and stress-related impression management. Based on previous research finding women to report higher perceived stress levels, we hypothesized that women in STEM will report higher perceptions of stress as compared to men in STEM; and they will also report higher levels of stress as a badge of honor than men. Our findings indicated that women indeed perceived more stress than men in STEM as well as less “stress-is-enhancing mindsets. However, we found that men reported slightly but not significantly higher levels of stress as achievement, relaxation remorse, stress-related social comparison, and stress-related impression management than women
Integrating social and environmental impacts of green transportation infrastructure : a framework for effective decision-making
Get PDFGreen Infrastructure (GI) gains recognition as a viable alternative to traditional infrastructure due to its economic, environmental, and social benefits. However, quantifying and monetizing GI\u27s social and environmental impacts pose challenges, leading to their neglect in comparative evaluations. To heighten GI\u27s appeal, this study introduces a novel framework that incorporates social and environmental impacts and public opinion using the Analytical Hierarchy Process and Monte Carlo simulation. The framework offers a comprehensive approach to evaluate GI\u27s impact. Findings from a Philadelphia project demonstrate that projects with more GI elements are cost-effective when considering public opinion and long-term benefits. The research emphasizes the importance of incorporating GI\u27s threefold benefits into evaluation frameworks, aiding decision-makers in making informed choices by accounting for social, environmental, and economic impact
The effects of TikTok\u27s COVID-19 content on anxiety in young adults
Get PDFThe COVID-19 pandemic spiked generalized anxiety worldwide. The onset of the pandemic also coincided with TikTok’s rise to popularity in the social media landscape, especially among young adults and children. As a result, COVID-19-related content rose to prevalence on the platform as it became a common outlet for users to share their thoughts and opinions on the pandemic while also feeding a growing audience in need of information and diversion. Given the connection between COVID-19 and anxiety, along with temporal ties between TikTok’s rise to popularity and the COVID-19 pandemic, this study set out to determine whether young adults would experience heightened states of anxiety after exposure to COVID-19-related videos. This was evaluated by exposing an experimental group to a compilation of top COVID-19-related TikToks while a control group was exposed to a compilation of the top non-COVID-19-related TikToks. All participants were then asked to evaluate their anxiety levels on a modified version of the PANAS-X scale. The data gathered from this experiment indicated that COVID-19 content on TikTok does not evoke heightened anxiety in all young adults, but does evoke heightened anxiety in young adults that have received higher levels of vaccination against COVID-19. These findings indicate that demographic information and pre-existing beliefs, such as stances on vaccination, are a determining factor in how young adults respond to TikTok’s COVID-19 content
To Read or to Listen: The Effect of Text-to-Speech Software and Accents on Comprehension of Digital Media
Get PDFText-to-speech software is a popular tool for consuming information for school, work, and recreation. This study examined two aspects of text-to-speech information exposure: the effect of audio/text modality and type of accent. In Experiment one, participants received material presented in a text-only, audio-only, or dual format. Those who received the material as text-only had significantly higher scores on a comprehension test and higher score predictions than those in the audio-only condition. In Experiment two, participants were presented with audio material in a text-to-speech-generated U.S. English, Mandarin Chinese, or Italian accent. Results revealed that accent did not significantly impact retention or performance predictions. These findings call into question the use of text-to-speech software as an “easier” way to retain information
Integrating human psychology into car-following models for accurate response prediction: a realistic approach
Get PDFCar-following models traditionally focus on vehicle kinematics or dynamics parameters without considering human psychology. However, recent research has attempted to incorporate psychology into car-following models. Despite these efforts, there are limitations in understanding the psychological triggers that influence individual drivers\u27 responses. To address this gap, we propose a new car-following model based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), which incorporates a human element by utilizing concepts of psychology. To gather the data pertaining to human input a questionnaire was carefully developed utilizing the Theory of Planned Behavior. Data collection and analysis were done through a survey using google forms. The data was used to measure the value of human driving behavior and cluster it into three behavioral profiles namely, defensive, neutral, and offensive. On the other hand, kinematic data was taken from the NGSIM dataset. The measured behavior and relevant kinematic data were then utilized in the new car-following model, which outperformed the baseline model in performance indexes. Therefore, our research presents a new mathematical model that incorporates both kinematics and psychological factors, based on real-world data, and yields better more accurate responses compared to the baseline models
Sense of community as a mediator between study abroad experiences and perceived well-being
Get PDFThis study examined the nature and extent of the relationship between studying abroad, sense of community, and well-being. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire, the Sense of Community Index, and the Perceived Wellness Scale via an online survey emailed to juniors and seniors (n = 267) at a university in southern California. The results of the study suggested: 1) sense of community and well-being are significantly related (r = .35, p \u3c .001), 2) those who study abroad (n = 149) differ significantly from those who do not study abroad (n = 118) on sense of community (p \u3c .001, d = .52) and well-being (p = .03, d = .27), and 3) sense of community is a mediator of the relationship between study abroad experience and well-being. These findings have important implications for any institute which seeks to promote well-being
Assessing the utility of high-throughput phenotyping for ecological applications
Get PDFA phenotype describes the expressed traits of an organism. These traits can provide insight into interactions between an organism and its environment, making them a key focus of ecological research. But the process of phenotyping traits can be tedious to collect for large-scale experiments. High-throughput phenotyping software has the ability to speed up the phenotyping process by allowing multiple traits to be phenotyped at once. However, the utility of this relatively new and continually developing computational tool is still being assessed, especially beyond applications focused on agricultural crops and grasses. I investigated the accuracy and efficiency of the open-access high-throughput phenotyping software PlantCV for measuring phenotypic traits in a large common garden experiment designed to investigate the ability of rare vs. common Helianthus spp. (sunflower) species to acclimate to a change in light availability. Specifically, I compared PlantCV output to hand measurements of plant height, leaf number, and ground cover. I hypothesized that the accuracy of PlantCV would decline as plants grew larger and with more complex architecture. Assessing the utility of high-throughput phenotyping software for ecological research could help to provide ecologists with a tool that could maximize their research efficiency
Validation of the Mindfulness Skill Scale
Get PDFRecent research has shown that people can effectively cope with work stress using mindfulness. Mindfulness has been shown to decrease perceived stress levels (Carmody & Baer, 2008; Jensen et al., 2012; Rich et al., 2021; Schulte-Frankenfeld & Trautwein, 2022), anxiety (Gál et al., 2021, Farb et al., 2010), and depression (Bostock et al., 2019; Farb et al., 2010). The purpose of this study is to replicate and extend the work of Stremic (2020), who created the Mindfulness Skill Scale (MSS). Stremic (2020) argued that mindfulness should be best measured as a skill that can be learned, so she developed the MSS to measure mindfulness skill. Currently, much of the literature defines and operationalizes mindfulness as a state (Brown et al., 2007) or trait (Michel et al., 2021). I propose to examine changes in mindfulness after a mindfulness meditation intervention. I predict that mindfulness when measured as a skill will change but when measured as a state or trait will not change. Additionally, I propose to examine whether mindfulness skill following a mindfulness intervention correlates more strongly with a variety of outcomes than state or trait mindfulness
Investigating perceived social class on the likelihood of employment during virtual interviews
Get PDFPerceptions of social class impact multiple domains in an organization. In recent years, the interview process has changed, which has increased the usage of virtual job recruitment and selection. If individuals perceive an applicant as part of a particular social class, it is possible for the perception to be associated with how qualified they perceive the applicant to be. The present study examined the influence of a perceived social class during a virtual interview on the likelihood of employment. Specifically, I hypothesized that people who perceive an applicant as having a high social class will perceive them as more qualified than an applicant perceived as low social class. Data was collected using a vignette methodology with two experimental social class manipulations via Qualtrics. A convenience sample was recruited via social media (Facebook and Instagram), and a total of 77 responses were analyzed. Using independent samples t-tests, results indicate that there was not an association between perceived social class and likelihood of employment. While results showed no statistical significance regarding perceived social class and hireability, the findings from this study can be used to deepen the understanding of virtual interviews and biases in the recruitment process