College of Social Sciences and Public Affairs Poster Presentations

Boise State University : Increasing Bicycle Use in the Treasure Valley

Ivan Kosorok et al. — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:00:00 PDT

The objective of our project is to aid in reducing Boise State’s carbon footprint by reducing the amount of cars on the road and their associated carbon emissions. To achieve this goal we are researching and developing strategies that could increase bicycle use on the Boise State campus and in the Treasure Valley. We are proposing the implementation of a few programs that will increase bicycle use including; a bike sharing program (bike library), reorganizing bike pathways, and increasing public education. The organization of our research is divided into five general topics: public opinion, funding issues, infrastructure issues, staffing for the bike library, and public outreach. This project is a capstone for the Environmental Studies seniors, in which students from various academic backgrounds have conglomerated to construct a real life proposal demonstrating teamwork towards a rewarding goal. The purpose of this project is process-oriented integration of student cooperation and a base of knowledge obtained through course work at Boise State.

Sexual Identity Exploration and Commitment in Heterosexual Young Adults

Katherine Pearce — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:00:00 PDT

Following research on general identity development that places individuals into one of four categories based on levels of exploration and commitment (Marcia, 1986), the purpose of this study was to examine reported exploration and commitment in heterosexual young adults’ narrative descriptions of how their sexual identity formed. Participants included 447 undergraduate college students (286 women, 161 men) with an average age of 19.7. Participants provided written responses regarding the formation of their sexual identity; responses were coded for levels of commitment (high and low), sexual exploration with other-sex partners (high and low), and sexual exploration with same-sex partners. Results indicated that 25 participants reported low commitment and low exploration, 173 participants reported high commitment and low exploration, 39 participants described low commitment and high exploration, and 210 participants reported high commitment and high exploration. Of those in the last category, 177 described only other-sex exploration, 17 described same-sex only exploration, and 17 described both other-sex and same-sex exploration. Groups did not differ by gender, age, or religiosity. When compared to quantitative measures of sexual identity exploration and commitment, similar patterns prevailed. The implications of these results suggest that heterosexual young adults do purposefully engage in sexual exploration, contrary to past findings. Additionally, young adults remain likely to indicate low levels of commitment to their sexual identities or sexual orientations, suggesting that sexual identity development continues during this developmental period.

Identity Construction in Online Personal Advertising Profiles

Tara Brenner et al. — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:00:00 PDT

Personal advertisements are generally viewed as a tool used to connect individuals for romantic and sexual purposes. Many of these websites allow users to create personal profiles where they can choose how they would like to represent themselves. Individuals can create their identities online based on their own personal perceptions of who they are or the way they wish others would perceive them. While a small body of research has explored the use of deception and self-presentation in online advertising, little research has examined online personal advertisements to better understand identity construction. This project seeks to perform content analyses of public-access online personal ads to explore the use of personal narratives by young adult online dating site users to create a representation of the self. The review of narratives on publicly accessible profiles will provide insight into the types of information users feel is important in a description of themselves with the explicit purpose of finding a romantic or sexual partner. Qualitative analyses will include examination of adjectives, activities, and physical characteristics of each participant as indicators of their desirable identity. It is expected that qualitative analyses of the users’ self narratives, whether real or fictional, will provide clarification regarding what traits individuals view as their most desirable characteristics. Comparisons will be made between male and female profile-holders, as well as between participants seeking short-term relationships and those seeking long-term relationships. The results from this study will help elucidate romantic identity construction among young adults who seek partners online.

Do Preferred Characteristics Mirror Personal Characteristics in Online Dating Website Profiles?

Emily VanNess et al. — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:00:00 PDT

Personal advertisements are a tool utilized by millions of individuals looking to connect with others for friendships, romantic relationships, and sexual relationships. In addition to information about themselves, many of these websites allow users to include a narrative or list of the characteristics of their preferred partner. The purpose of this project is to explore themes within the listed preferred partner characteristics that online dating website users provide. A content analysis will identify emergent themes in the narratives of preferred partner characteristics. Comparisons will be made between users of differing demographics. For example, past research has identified that heterosexual men are more likely to express interest in a physically attractive partner while heterosexual women are more likely to express interest in a partner with a good sense of humor (De Backer, Braekman & Fairinpour, 2008). It is anticipated that preferred characteristics will mirror personal characteristics as described by advertiser. This analysis will indicate that preferred partner characteristics differ based on the age, gender, sexual orientation, and desired relationship-type of the person who posted the profile. The results from the present study have implications regarding our understanding of the types of romantic and sexual partners individuals seek out and the underlying cultural values represented in these characteristics.

Self-Disclosure of Illicit Activities on MySpace, Facebook and YouTube: What Gets Posted and Why

Katie Hiatt et al. — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:00:00 PDT

The purpose of this study is to gain more information about young adults’ self-disclosure online. In particular, this study seeks to examine why young adults chose to post pictures or videos of themselves drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana, which are two activities that could be viewed as socially unacceptable by others, including parents and/ or potential employers. This study will include an analysis of an online questionnaire administered to students enrolled in an introductory psychology class at Boise State University. The questionnaire will be administered via a secure online website and include open-ended and closed-response questions about participants’ internet and general drug use, social networking profiles, and history of posting pictures or videos of themselves drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana. The results of this research will reveal what kinds of pictures and videos young adults’ post in which they are drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana, including the typical settings and number of individuals present, and activities being depicted. The research will also provide information regarding why young adults chose to post these pictures and videos and the responses they have received from others regarding these pictures. This research is important because of the extensive number of young adults who both use online social networking websites and who also post images of themselves that could potentially be detrimental to their professional or personal images at later dates. Understanding why young adults participate in these behaviors will help parents and educators better address these activities when attempting to alert young adults to the potential perils of engaging in this kind of online self-disclosure.

The Effects of Waiting Room Appearance on Patient Satisfaction

Alyssa Robling — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:00:00 PDT

This research looked at how certain physical attributes in a physician’s waiting area affected the patient’s opinion of that physician. The data was taken from 70 students on the Boise State campus. The students volunteered for this survey and were rewarded with extra credit for participating. Each of the nine questions asked for this research were part of a larger survey that was being given, compiled of 225 questions. The survey asked questions referring to how important certain physical attributes in a physician’swaiting area are to them and if the waiting area appearance affected their opinion of that physician. Correlations were used to show a relationship between each of the physical attributes measured and their influence those attributes have on the patient’sopinion of the physician. The physical attributes that were used for this study were waiting room color, r(68) = 0.33, ≤ .01; visual stimuli in the waiting area, r(66) = 0.33, p ≤ .01; and the comfort of the seating in the waiting area, r(68) = 0.25, p ≤ .05. This research also looked at the differences between gender on each of the physical attributes and t tests were used to calculate the data. The data show that for men and women there were no differences between the physical attributes, except for room color. The data show that waiting room color was more important to women than to men. The data also show that waiting area appearance does influence the patient’sopinion of that physician. There is a relationship between the affects of the physical attributes in the waiting area and the influence they have a patient’s opinion of their physician. This research suggests that patients are paying attention to waiting area appearance and this should not be ignored by the physician.

Effects of Caffeine on Learning Abilities of College Students

Savvas Diakonikolas — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:00:00 PDT

The present research examined the importance and value of caffeinated products on learning abilities of general psychology students at Boise State University. Individuals (N = 70) received a survey questioning their personal opinions on if caffeinated products can improve the students’ learning abilities, increasing the GPA and the mentality. The students ranged in age from 17 through 42 (M = 20.17, SD = 4.74), both males and females. The products which students use are general coffee drinks, soda drinks, energy drinks and energy shots. The results indicate that there is no significant difference between genders’ ability for improving their learning abilities using caffeine products according a t test. However, percentages of students believe according to the results that caffeine helps to improve their learning abilities and have better GPA (total 30.0%). Also, a significant difference between males’ (M = 0.42, SD = 0.78) and females’ (M = 0.88, SD = 0.89) perceptions regarding caffeinated products which extent their studying hours exist, t (64) = 0.04, p ≤ 0.05. This suggests that males use caffeine to extent their studying hours differently than females. In this study, the more caffeine use from students before studying, the higher the value, satisfaction, and intimacy to extend the studying time. This research supports that caffeine products extend the studying time. According to the data, both of the predicted hypotheses did not state in this study, however the most important parts of the study is the percentages using the frequency scale for some items that caffeine products help students to improve learning abilities and mentality before a quiz, a test or an exam. This research stresses the importance of the effects of caffeine on students’ learning abilities. This study continues the research which previous studies started for the understanding of the effects of caffeine on students and their learning abilities and behavior in the school. The importance of caffeine products on students’ learning abilities is discussed, and more research is highlighted.

The Relationship Between Student Textbook Preferences and Learning and Grade Orientations

Nathan Spann et al. — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:00:00 PDT

Introductory psychology is one of the most populated courses in psychology departments nationally. Given this important learning opportunity for so many students, it would be beneficial to understand how textbook use is related to student attitudes about learning and grades. A key question of interest was to understand how student preferences for textbooks are related to their learning orientation and grade orientation. Once enrolled in our study, students were provided a link to an online Qualtrics survey where the textbook preferences were provided. In addition, students completed the LOGO to measure orientation (Milton, Pollio, & Eison, 1982) as well as other demographic items. LOGO results were correlated with each of the 9 subscales yielded by the textbook preferences instrument. Our interest was in those subscales in which there were positive correlations for both learning oriented attitudes and grade oriented attitudes. By identifying this pattern of results, we can better understand those factors that most widely appeal to a greater number of students. For each of the following subscales, we provide the correlation coefficient for the learning oriented attitudes (LOA) score and the grade oriented attitudes (GOA) score, respectively: like the book due to applicability and convenience, 0.41, 0.28; like the book due to its accessibility, 0.22, 0.24; use book for study aids, 0.39, 0.28; use book because of instructor use, 0.24, 0.19; use book because it is easy to use, 0.44, 0.38. All correlations were significant at p ≤ .01. Based on the results of this research, a textbook which encompasses the five key factors from above is more likely to appeal to a greater number of students; developers of introductory psychology textbooks may want to hold these five subscales ideas as paramount as they think about how to reach the widest number of students.

The Importance of Studying Stigma in People with Epilepsy

Caitlin Farber — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:00:00 PDT

The present research examined the importance and value of both stigma against individuals with epilepsy and knowledge of the disorder. Participants (N = 70) received a survey questioning their personal opinions on stigma toward epilepsy. Of these participants, 69 individuals answered that they did not have epilepsy and one participant abstained from answering. These participants were psychology students enrolled in a general psychology class at Boise State University. The ages of the participants ranged from 17 to 42, and were self-selected using a program called Experimetrix. The goal of this study was to determine the frequency of negative stigma and assess college student opinions toward individuals with epilepsy. The majority of the people who participated in the study were well educated on the disorder (90%). The results indicated that there is a significant difference between not knowing an individual with epilepsy and presumed stigma. In addition, there was a significant difference between persons who know an individual with epilepsy and higher quality of life in persons who have been diagnosed. This difference suggests that knowing individuals with epilepsy contributes greatly towards positive attitudes of the disorder. The outcomes of the study stress the importance of gaining and continuing education on epilepsy as well as positively influencing the quality of life to those who have been diagnosed. This study also highlighted the importance of knowledge and interaction and shows that education and personal relationships with people with epilepsy play a large role in positive attitudes toward the disorder.

Ideas on the Definition of Binge Drinking and Its Prevalence Among Students

LaLania Woodstrom — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:00:00 PDT

Binge drinking is a widespread problem among many groups. The aim of this study was to look at differences among gender and Greek and athlete members versus non-members. Another aim was to see if those who drink more in one session define binge drinking in larger amounts, as well as consider themselves to be binge drinkers. Ninety-one students, from the general psychology classes, were surveyed and results showed that there were no significant differences among gender and Greek and athlete members versus non-members. Also found was those who drank more defined binge drinking in larger amounts and also were more likely to consider themselves to be binge drinkers, whereas those who drank less defined binge drinking in smaller amounts and were less likely to consider themselves binge drinkers. Though binge drinking is seen as a problem on many campuses, it does not appear to be a problem on the Boise State campus among any of the groups studied. This study showed that 71.7% of the students surveyed did not even meet the criteria for binge drinking. With this said, one aspect of this research brought up the question of a universal definition of binge drinking which may provide a better analysis of research done on binge drinking. Doing this may provide more comparable and reliable research for in the future. And this, in turn, may help researchers get a better grasp on the problem of binge drinking, especially among college campuses.