http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/topic/45/psychology Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Fri, 24 Apr 2026 18:22:15 -0400 Fri, 24 Apr 2026 18:22:15 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1956/change-blindness-the-influence-of-positive-mood-on-change-detection-in-visual-scenes By Emily Wang - Change blindness is the finding that people often fail to notice substantial changes between different views of a visual scene. The current study investigated the effect of mood states on people’s ability to detect changes, by comparing participants’ performance on a motion picture change blindness task, after a positive or neutral mood induction. The results found that participants in the positive mood condition had no advantage over the neutral mood condition in the number of unusual changes they detected. This null finding was found for both intentional and incidental encoding.... Tue, 07 Jun 2022 08:37 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1956/change-blindness-the-influence-of-positive-mood-on-change-detection-in-visual-scenes http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1954/guns-and-suicidal-thoughts-in-adolescence-an-understudied-relationship By Max Gonzalez Saez-Diez - The prevalent school of thought states that suicidal ideation and suicide planning are not associated with living in households with firearms. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) in the years 1994 and 1995, I use multiple logistic regression models to estimate the effect of the availability of guns on the odds of adolescents in those households experiencing suicidal thoughts. By matching across several key demographic and psychosocial variables, I approximate a randomized treatment assignment. I find evidence that contradicts the prevalent... Fri, 06 May 2022 10:23 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1954/guns-and-suicidal-thoughts-in-adolescence-an-understudied-relationship http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1952/pathological-withdrawal-syndrome-a-new-kind-of-depression By Katelynn V. Healy - Marion Godman makes the argument that Pathological Withdrawal Syndrome (PWS) makes the case for psychiatric disorders as a natural kind. Godman argues that we can classify kinds according to their shared ‘grounding’, but we need not know what the grounding is to know that the natural is a natural kind. However, I argue that Godman erroneously classifies PWS as its own natural kind when it is in fact a variant of depression, which is its own natural kind. Cooper highlights culture-bound syndromes, which can explain the discrepancy between the different diagnosis rates for psychiatric... Fri, 15 Apr 2022 02:38 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1952/pathological-withdrawal-syndrome-a-new-kind-of-depression http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1945/the-relationship-between-stress-coping-strategies-and-problem-solving-skills-among-college-students By Brittany Draper - The study investigated stress, coping strategies, and problem-solving skills among college students. A total of 202 university students completed this study. The purpose of this study was to address gaps in the existing literature regarding stress, coping strategies, and problem-solving skills in college students. To date, no research in this topic area had been conducted with this sample of college students in this region of the United States. This study helped to advance the field of psychology because new knowledge was contributed about the relationship between college students' stress, coping... Fri, 11 Mar 2022 02:30 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1945/the-relationship-between-stress-coping-strategies-and-problem-solving-skills-among-college-students http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1935/do-textbooks-shape-attitudes-toward-war-narrative-images-and-implicit-social-cognition By Noemi Andrusello - To explore the relationship between history education and attitudes to war, narrative primes about World War II were read by 20 undergraduate students at California State University, Fresno. Afterwards, in the course of experimental interviews, participants responded to news of a hypothetical terrorist attack and shared policy solutions and opinions about war. Analysis revealed that interview responses were patterned by narrative. While readers of an ‘enemy’ narrative conveyed feelings of loss, aggressive policies, and war support, readers of ‘ally’ and ‘imperialist... Wed, 19 Jan 2022 01:29 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1935/do-textbooks-shape-attitudes-toward-war-narrative-images-and-implicit-social-cognition http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1925/emotion-and-politics-how-strengths-of-mind-relate-to-political-attitudes-in-the-united-states By Vincent C. Patierno - Political polarization has been an increasingly salient point of discussion since the 2016 presidential campaign, the election of Donald Trump, and into today. Beyond emphasizing partisan and issue-based divides, scholars have identified emotion-based roots of polarization. With more cognitive and emotional aspects of social behavior being considered in empirical frameworks, contributions from psychology have become of paramount importance. The present study employs measures of variables that emphasize self-awareness and openness to opposing viewpoints, like intellectual humility. Research to... Wed, 01 Dec 2021 02:36 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1925/emotion-and-politics-how-strengths-of-mind-relate-to-political-attitudes-in-the-united-states http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1897/gender-theory-vs-pragmatism-a-point-of-diversion-between-judith-butlers-gender-performativity-and-the-psychosocial-limitations-of-gender-construction By Melissa Padron - The question of what it means to be a gendered individual has been left unanswered in light of its variants. The feminist movement proceeding the Industrial Revolution propelled philosophical and literary works, such as Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex, challenging the traditional perception of man and woman and concomitantly advancing the foundation for gender theory. Judith Butler’s Gender Performativity theory proved to be one of the most salient works of the rather unexplored realm of philosophy. This paper confronts Butler’s theory of gender as an individual act and analyzes... Fri, 16 Apr 2021 10:50 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1897/gender-theory-vs-pragmatism-a-point-of-diversion-between-judith-butlers-gender-performativity-and-the-psychosocial-limitations-of-gender-construction http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1884/linguistic-affect-positive-and-negative-emotion-words-are-contagious-predict-likability-and-moderate-positive-and-negative-affect By Ryan M. Knuppenburg - Positive affect (PA) is active, enthusiastic, and happy engagement in pleasurable activities and negative affect (NA) includes aversiveness, anger, and fear (Watson et al., 1988). Two studies examined linguistic affect presented as emotion words used to describe experiences with PA and NA. The first study explored linguistic affect priming and altruistic decision-making, PA and NA valence word-choice, likability, and affect. 132 undergraduates were randomly assigned to read a narrative with positive or negative linguistic affect priming. Altruism was assessed and no difference in altruistic decisions... Fri, 05 Mar 2021 11:14 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1884/linguistic-affect-positive-and-negative-emotion-words-are-contagious-predict-likability-and-moderate-positive-and-negative-affect http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1874/cross-cultural-differences-in-memory-beliefs-and-mental-schemas By Zachary Hendricks - Although it is self-evident that one’s memories are often fleeting, a large amount of empirical research has been done within the field of cognitive psychology supporting the notion that one of the mind’s most extensive faults is its faculty for memory. Our memory system is, in a sense, defined through its shortcomings. It cannot store an unlimited amount of information, and because of this limitation, evolved to remember only what it deems relevant to the moment. Two questions necessarily follow this fact: what exactly makes something worth remembering, and how much of that thing... Wed, 10 Feb 2021 02:55 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1874/cross-cultural-differences-in-memory-beliefs-and-mental-schemas http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1871/understanding-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-in-children-a-comprehensive-review By Kailey M. Pate - Post-traumatic stress disorder in children under six years old has been formally recognized since 2013 (Veteran’s Affairs, 2019), yet the body of research is still lacking for this age group. An important step towards helping these youngest sufferers of post-traumatic stress disorder is to determine whether symptomology assessments, social supports, and treatments that exist for older children can apply to those who are younger than six suffering from the disorder. This comprehensive literature review compiles the research on post-traumatic stress disorders in children from six to seventeen... Thu, 04 Feb 2021 08:56 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1871/understanding-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-in-children-a-comprehensive-review http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1865/mental-illness-stigma-in-criminal-justice-an-examination-of-stigma-on-juror-decision-making By Jordan Termeer - Negative stereotypes associated with mental illnesses can lead to discrimination towards those with these illnesses through a process of stigmatization (Link & Phelan, 2001). This current study explored the stigmatization of offenders with mental illnesses through a mock-juror scenario. The influence of the media on this stigma was also examined. Undergraduate students (N = 266) were randomly assigned to one of three depictions of mental illnesses within the media (positive, negative, control) and one of three mental illness conditions for a defendant in a trial (schizophrenia, depression,... Wed, 20 Jan 2021 10:29 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1865/mental-illness-stigma-in-criminal-justice-an-examination-of-stigma-on-juror-decision-making http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1863/impacts-of-positive-or-negative-feedback-on-state-authenticity-state-flow-self-efficacy-and-meaningfulness By Ryan M. Knuppenburg - Authenticity, flow, and meaning are three important factors of an individual’s ability to achieve sustained long-term happiness (Seligman, 2002; Seligman, 2011). State-authenticity, state-flow, and participant self-reports regarding the achievement of flow and opinions about whether participation in the study was meaningful were assessed in the context of a simple drawing task. One hundred undergraduate participants were randomly assigned to receive either positive or negative feedback following this drawing activity that was designed to be personal in nature. The State-Authenticity Scale... Mon, 18 Jan 2021 11:30 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1863/impacts-of-positive-or-negative-feedback-on-state-authenticity-state-flow-self-efficacy-and-meaningfulness http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1854/the-foreign-language-effect-and-disembodied-cognition-the-complexity-of-emotional-boundaries-and-linguistic-factors By Estefani C. Reyes - Cognitive psychology research informs on the complexities of human functioning and behavior and thereby, simultaneously, extends our agency to harness its potential malleability. Our various cognitive processes (e.g., decision-making, emotion, language) furthermore point to complex, interrelated relationships that coalesce into human intricacies. Indeed, the subfield of bilingual cognition points to a special premise of “disembodied” cognition such as in Keysar, Hayakawa, and An’s (2012) proposed foreign language effect (FLe) eliciting emotional and cognitive distance. The purpose... Thu, 31 Dec 2020 12:26 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1854/the-foreign-language-effect-and-disembodied-cognition-the-complexity-of-emotional-boundaries-and-linguistic-factors http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1844/pain-and-power-bdsm-as-spiritual-expression By Alicia Charles D'Avalon - Western society is becoming increasingly secular as religion disappears from the public sphere. This developing identification has created a void as people move away from the traditional, established symbols and maps of meaning. People are still finding and inventing systems to fulfil their existential questioning, increasingly in areas that are traditionally seen as secular. Popular culture and contemporary subcultures are being utilized not just as art, entertainment and community but as religious expression. A prime example of this ‘secular religioning’ can be found in the practice... Sat, 28 Nov 2020 09:27 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1844/pain-and-power-bdsm-as-spiritual-expression http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1840/one-person-two-names-a-study-of-naming-practices-in-hong-kong-and-the-use-of-english-and-chinese-names By Wibke Eickmann - The practice of using an English name is widespread among native Chinese speakers. Especially in Hong Kong many use an English name in their everyday life. Using qualitative interviews, this study examines the thoughts and feelings about this practice among students who grew up in Hong Kong after the 1997 handover. Due to the high importance of English in education and commerce, English names have become symbolic capital and an expression of Hong Kongese identity. A good English name should be recognizable but at the same time not too common. The two names are used in distinct social settings:... Wed, 18 Nov 2020 09:39 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1840/one-person-two-names-a-study-of-naming-practices-in-hong-kong-and-the-use-of-english-and-chinese-names http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1839/a-quantitative-evaluation-of-shame-resilience-theory By Cade L. Arnink - Shame is an adaptive emotion. Yet, it is associated with poor mental and behavioral health as well as lower wellbeing and negative relational strategies. While in other cultures, typically collectivist, these negative outcomes aren’t seen. The shame resilience theory proposes a method to avoid the negative outcomes seen in our culture. However, there is no research validating the effectiveness of the theory. We hypothesized that shame resilience would have a positive correlation with wellbeing and that collectivist would also have a positive correlation with collectivism. The current study... Tue, 17 Nov 2020 09:18 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1839/a-quantitative-evaluation-of-shame-resilience-theory http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1830/are-isochronic-tones-effective-the-impact-of-isochronic-tones-on-brainwave-entrainment-and-stress By David Moniz-Lewis - Isochronic tones are a hypothesized auditory brainwave entrainment technique in which a single tone is played at regular beat intervals. Brainwave entrainment, also referred to as neural synchronization, is a phenomenon by which external stimuli influence neural oscillations related to specific cognitive states (Siever, 2012). Though Isochronic tones are commercially marketed as effective in brainwave entrainment, there is limited empirical investigation to date to substantiate this claim; this is particularly true of alpha cortical entrainment via isochronic tones. The current study examined... Mon, 02 Nov 2020 11:03 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1830/are-isochronic-tones-effective-the-impact-of-isochronic-tones-on-brainwave-entrainment-and-stress http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1818/understanding-obsessive-compulsive-disorder-in-teenagers-with-high-functioning-autism By Pamela Lim - Research has shown that autism spectrum disorder (ASD) shares similar genetic roots with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). All three conditions share some common features, one of the most observed being that of impulsivity. This paper examines the neurobiology of OCD, and how the similarities in disruptions of the brain structures between OCD and ASD increases the risk of developing the comorbidity of OCD in teenagers with high-functioning ASD. Through looking at a case study of a teenager with ASD, this paper also explores the prognosis of... Mon, 19 Oct 2020 08:19 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1818/understanding-obsessive-compulsive-disorder-in-teenagers-with-high-functioning-autism http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1808/affective-gender-communication-an-interdisciplinary-analysis-of-toddler-behavior By Suzannah R. Gifford - Conversations about the gender expression of young children are often characterized by confusion, as parents, educators, and even child psychologists have a hard time determining where exactly children’s strong gendered beliefs and behaviors come from. Children as young as two have been observed exhibiting behaviors and expressing beliefs that align with the gender binary, yet there are usually no obvious moments when these messages have been translated to them. In an attempt to illuminate these hidden instances of gendering, I take an interdisciplinary approach to this paper that brings... Fri, 02 Oct 2020 03:20 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1808/affective-gender-communication-an-interdisciplinary-analysis-of-toddler-behavior http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1800/intergenerational-intimate-partner-violence-pathways-of-genetic-and-environmental-interactions By Clare Choi - Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious public health issue that results in social, psychological, emotional, and physical consequences. Although interventions may be continuously designed to combat this problem, IPV must first be understood in an intergenerational perspective before effective programs can be put into place. Intimate partner violence is historically viewed as a social and private phenomenon, tinged with shame and stigma. Existing literature on this issue predominantly focuses on the social environment, leaning towards theories that put blame on the social environment the... Tue, 22 Sep 2020 05:31 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1800/intergenerational-intimate-partner-violence-pathways-of-genetic-and-environmental-interactions http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1798/the-weight-of-emotions-on-decision-making-a-comparative-analysis By Jadzia M. Wray - When making decisions, a person must rationally analyze their options and understand potential outcomes. Emotions, the way that we feel in a particular moment, are also involved in how we respond to others. But how much do emotions really weigh upon our ability to form decisions? There is a possibility that emotional factors can be considered from a rational or emotional perspective in decision-making. Therefore, a person's decision-making process has the potential to produce different outcomes. In the current study, 57 participants (ages 18 to 23) completed a survey where they were required to... Wed, 16 Sep 2020 10:34 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1798/the-weight-of-emotions-on-decision-making-a-comparative-analysis http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1792/a-historical-perspective-on-the-cultural-connotations-surrounding-eating-disorders By Meera Shanbhag - Over 30 million people in the US are plagued by eating disorders (EDs), with at least one ED-related death occurring every 62 minutes.[1] These serious illnesses, which have the greatest mortality rate of any psychological disorder, are characterized by abnormal eating patterns. Of all EDs, the two most well-known are anorexia nervosa, which consists of severe restriction in calories to achieve weight loss, and bulimia nervosa, in which purging follows periodic episodes of binge eating. While the diagnosis of the first eating disorder, “anorexia nervosa,” was not coined until 1873... Tue, 08 Sep 2020 09:36 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1792/a-historical-perspective-on-the-cultural-connotations-surrounding-eating-disorders http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1777/why-are-south-asian-immigrant-women-vulnerable-to-domestic-violence By Humza Husain - South Asian women in particular are not only vulnerable to domestic violence, but exceptionally vulnerable to underreporting of domestic violence. The problem compounds itself by making it difficult not only to quantify the issue, but also harder to understand its roots. This paper studies this phenomenon by analyzing the potential causes for both domestic violence as well as underreporting, through understanding what systemic, legislative, and cultural issues specifically plague South Asian women in the United States. Stark cultural differences between eastern and western values and culture,... Fri, 20 Dec 2019 09:25 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1777/why-are-south-asian-immigrant-women-vulnerable-to-domestic-violence http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1776/the-psychology-of-romance-the-impact-of-personality-traits-on-romantic-relationships By Amanda Glynn - Research shows conflicting results when relaying how personality traits play into successful and satisfying romantic relationships. The focus has been on trait similarity (i.e. the “Birds of a Feather” concept) without a clear answer, with very little research supporting the “Opposites Attract” concept. Additional factors have also been noted, to include emotionality, how maladaptive traits factor into a relationship, self-esteem, and how the perception of a partner affects feelings about the relationship. Self-report measurement methods have shown to provide conflicting... Thu, 12 Dec 2019 08:49 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1776/the-psychology-of-romance-the-impact-of-personality-traits-on-romantic-relationships http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1773/a-nietzschean-interpretation-of-the-self-in-psychological-continuity By Harry P. Chalklin - There are two views of personal identity that many people find plausible. The first is the psychological continuity view; the second is what I shall call multiplicity views of the self. Despite their plausibility, these positions appear incompatible, as I shall go on to explain. In this essay, I propose the thesis that psychological continuity and multiplicity views of the self can be made compatible by thinking of the self, not as a continuous psychological unity, but instead as a continuous, creative, psychological task a person undertakes to form a self which feels more unified than it previously... Mon, 02 Dec 2019 08:38 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1773/a-nietzschean-interpretation-of-the-self-in-psychological-continuity http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1768/trauma-and-silence-in-no-no-boy-an-interdisciplinary-reading By Yuxin Zheng - Depicting the rugged reintegration of Ichiro Yamada, a no-no boy imprisoned during WWII, Japanese American author John Okada presents a traumatized and conflicted Japanese American community during the mid-1940s in his novel No-No Boy (1957). Applying Dan McAdams’ psychological theory to their literary study of the novel, Floyd Cheung and Bill Peterson demonstrate that an interdisciplinary approach can “provide inspiration for different disciplines in the academy to view Asian American experience in new and exciting ways” (213). Using an interdisciplinary approach as Cheung and... Thu, 03 Oct 2019 08:09 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1768/trauma-and-silence-in-no-no-boy-an-interdisciplinary-reading http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1766/fatherhood-socialization-of-masculinity-through-parental-involvement-in-youth-sport By Joseph M. Serrato - Fathers often use sport to socialize their sons into masculinity. When coaching their own son in a sport, men must juggle their own desire to win with their son’s enjoyment. This paper examines the types of masculinity in coaching, while integrating theories of parental participation and involved fathering. As identified with mixed research methods, inclusive masculine fathers have better father-son relationships than orthodox masculine fathers. Techniques used by inclusive masculine fathers were studied through qualitative interviews; they often delegate their own son to other coaching... Wed, 02 Oct 2019 09:55 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1766/fatherhood-socialization-of-masculinity-through-parental-involvement-in-youth-sport http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1747/exploring-the-origins-of-achievement-goals-and-their-impact-on-well-being By David A. Olson - Achievement goals refer to the motivational approach of an individual when facing an achievement situation that challenges the person’s sense of competence, such as a university course (Baranik, Stanley, Bynum, & Lance, 2010; Harackiewicz, Barron, & Elliot, 1998; Reeve, 2009). Research in this area is primarily quantitative and largely does not provide the opportunity for participants to elaborate on why they adopt certain achievement goals or what effect it has on their personal well-being. Drawing upon a questionnaire completed by fifty participants, seven interviews, and three... Wed, 19 Dec 2018 10:21 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1747/exploring-the-origins-of-achievement-goals-and-their-impact-on-well-being http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1741/differences-in-ethical-decision-making-and-reward-responsiveness-in-individuals-with-anxiety-and-depression By George Bate - This study aimed to determine if anxiety and depression in individuals are related to deontological ethical decisions, with particular emphasis on the role of reward responsiveness as an underlying principle mediating any differences. Despite some studies indicating that anxiety and depression can impede upon general decision making, existing research has largely failed to address the impact of these enduring traits on ethical decision making. In order to assess this, three trait inventories measuring anxiety, depression and reward responsiveness, along with an ethical dilemma measure, were administered... Wed, 05 Sep 2018 09:30 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1741/differences-in-ethical-decision-making-and-reward-responsiveness-in-individuals-with-anxiety-and-depression http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1739/specific-language-impairment-in-children-with-high-functioning-autism-spectrum-disorder By Pamela Lim - Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are among the most common neurodevelopmental disorders. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), studies in Asia, Europe, and North America have identified individuals with ASD with an average prevalence of about 1% (CDC, 2015). ASDs are typically diagnosed in early childhood, often at or before preschool age. However, there is no specific genetic test or clinical procedure for diagnosis. Diagnosis is based mainly on documented core impairments related to social interaction, communication, as well as restricted and repetitive behavior (... Fri, 25 May 2018 10:16 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1739/specific-language-impairment-in-children-with-high-functioning-autism-spectrum-disorder