Department of Psychology

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Open Access
Abuse Awareness: Physical and Psychological Health Consequences
(2006-11) Goldsmith, R.E.; Freyd, Jennifer J.; DePrince, Anne P.
Despite established links between child abuse and psychological symptoms such as depression, dissociation, and anxiety, many abuse survivors experience awareness of specific abuse instances or abuse-related symptoms without acknowledging the abuse itself. The current study examines relations among abuse awareness, physical symptoms, and emotional functioning in young adults. One hundred eighty-five university students responded to questions regarding perceptions of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, as well as standard abuse and symptom measures. Ninety-six individuals completed the questionnaire a second time 1-2 years later. At baseline, labeling oneself as having been abused was not correlated with depression, anxiety, dissociation, or physical health complaints. At follow-up, however, labeling abuse was significantly positively related to depression, anxiety, physical health complaints, and the number of reported visits to a health professional, even after controlling for abuse severity. These results indicate that processes involved in abuse perception appear to be connected to individuals' psychological and physical functioning, and that abuse awareness may have important clinical implications.
Open Access
Adult trauma and adult symptoms: Does childhood trauma drive the relationship?
(2006-11) Klest, Bridget K. (Bridget Kristen); Allard, Carolyn B. (Carolyn Brigitte), 1968-; Freyd, Jennifer J.
We used structural modeling to examine observed relationships between childhood trauma, adult trauma, and adult dissociation and mental health. We propose a model in which childhood betrayal trauma predicts adult betrayal trauma and dissociation, and dissociation predicts mental health. Paths between adult betrayal trauma and dissociation, and adult betrayal trauma and mental health were set at zero. This model was tested using questionnaire data from 307 undergraduates. The model fit the data very well (comparative fit index = .98, chi-square(df = 8) = 21.99), and performed as well as other less parsimonious models. Alternative equivalent models and implications of these findings are discussed. The pattern of parameter estimates generated for this model suggests that childhood trauma drives the relationship between trauma and symptoms.
Open Access
Aesthetics and Psychological Effects of Fractal Based Design
(Frontiers in Psychology, 2021-08-17) Robles, Kelly E.; Roberts, Michelle; Viengkham, Catherine; Smith, Julian H.; Rowland, Conor; Moslehi, Saba; Stadlober, Sabrina; Lesjak, Anastasija; Lesjak, Martin; Taylor, Richard P.; Spehar, Branka; Sereno, Margaret
Highly prevalent in nature, fractal patterns possess self-similar components that repeat at varying size scales. The perceptual experience of human-made environments can be impacted with inclusion of these natural patterns. Previous work has demonstrated consistent trends in preference for and complexity estimates of fractal patterns. However, limited information has been gathered on the impact of other visual judgments. Here we examine the aesthetic and perceptual experience of fractal ‘global-forest’ designs already installed in humanmade spaces and demonstrate how fractal pattern components are associated with positive psychological experiences that can be utilized to promote occupant wellbeing. These designs are composite fractal patterns consisting of individual fractal ‘tree-seeds’ which combine to create a ‘global fractal forest.’ The local ‘tree-seed’ patterns, global configuration of tree-seed locations, and overall resulting ‘global-forest’ patterns have fractal qualities. These designs span multiple mediums yet are all intended to lower occupant stress without detracting from the function and overall design of the space. In this series of studies, we first establish divergent relationships between various visual attributes, with pattern complexity, preference, and engagement ratings increasing with fractal complexity compared to ratings of refreshment and relaxation which stay the same or decrease with complexity. Subsequently, we determine that the local constituent fractal (‘treeseed’) patterns contribute to the perception of the overall fractal design, and address how to balance aesthetic and psychological effects (such as individual experiences of perceived engagement and relaxation) in fractal design installations. This set of studies demonstrates that fractal preference is driven by a balance between increased arousal (desire for engagement and complexity) and decreased tension (desire for relaxation or refreshment). Installations of these composite mid-high complexity ‘globalforest’ patterns consisting of ‘tree-seed’ components balance these contrasting needs, and can serve as a practical implementation of biophilic patterns in human-made environments to promote occupant wellbeing.
Open Access
Ancestral War and the Evolutionary Origins of "Heroism"
(University of Chicago Press, 2007-11) Smirnov, Oleg; Arrow, Holly; Kennett, Douglas J.; Orbell, John
Primatological and archeological evidence along with anthropological accounts of hunter-gatherer societies indicate that lethal between-group violence may have been sufficiently frequent during our ancestral past to have shaped our evolved behavioral repertoire. Two simulations explore the possibility that heroism (risking one’s life fighting for the group) evolved as a specialized form of altruism in response to war.We show that war selects strongly for heroism but only weakly for a domain-general altruistic propensity that promotes both heroism and other privately costly, group-benefiting behaviors. A complementary analytical model shows that domain-specific heroism should evolve more readily when groups are small and mortality in defeated groups is high, features that are plausibly characteristic of our collective ancestral past.
Open Access
Animal House: The Dark Tetrad traits and membership in sororities and fraternities
(Elsevier, 2022) Kay, Cameron S.
Very little is known about the relationship between antagonistic personality traits and membership in Greekletter organizations (GLOs). The present study (N = 2191) examined the association between the Dark Tetrad traits—Machiavellianism, grandiose narcissism, psychopathy, and everyday sadism—and membership in sororities and fraternities. Participants who were high in grandiose narcissism were more likely to be in sororities and fraternities, whereas participants who were high in Machiavellianism and everyday sadism were less likely to be in these organizations. Psychopathy was not significantly associated with membership in GLOs. Taken together, the present results suggest that members of GLOs are not necessarily more manipulative, cold-hearted, or cruel than their non-GLO counterparts, but they may be more entitled, domineering, and status-seeking.
Open Access
Are All Traumatic Events Equal? Further Research Using the BBTS
(2005-11) Allard, Carolyn B. (Carolyn Brigitte), 1968-; Freyd, Jennifer J.; Goldberg, Lewis R. (Lewis Robert), 1932-
The Brief Betrayal Trauma Survey (BBTS; Goldberg & Freyd, 2004) assesses potentially traumatic childhood and adulthood experiences, which can be categorized as high in betrayal (HB) or low in betrayal (LB) depending on whether the perpetrator was close or not close to the respondent. Previous research has provided support for betrayal trauma theory (Freyd, 1996) in revealing that, while LB predicts psychological distress in adulthood, HB traumas explain significantly more of the predictive variance. In the present study, changes in the BBTS were introduced in an effort to increase its interpretability and validity, and further tests of betrayal trauma theory are being conducted. Our preliminary findings are consistent with previous research in that HB events significantly predict higher levels of dissociation, depression, and anxiety symptoms than do LB events. In our sample of young adults, childhood HB events alone, and not events experienced in adulthood, predict increased symptomatology. Furthermore, those childhood HB events that were directly experienced explain the most variance, whereas those that were witnessed or heard about do not contribute to the predictive associations. These findings have implications for conceptualizations of traumas, their sequelae, and their treatment.
Open Access
Associations Among Food Delay of Gratification, Cognitive Measures, and Environment in a Community Preschool Sample
(Frontiers in Nutrition, 2022-04-11) Giuliani, Nicole R.; Kelly, Nichole R.
Much of the work on the development of appetite self-regulation in early childhood employs tasks assessing Delay of Gratification (DoG). While this skill is thought to rely on “cool” cognitive processes like effortful control, executive functioning, and self-regulation, demonstration of how laboratory measures of food DoG relate to common assessments of those cognitive processes in community samples of children is needed. This study presents secondary data investigating the associations between two laboratory tasks of food DoG, the Snack Delay and Tongue Tasks, and an array of laboratory and parent-report cognitive measures in a sample of 88 children ages 3-6 (M age = 4.05, SD = 0.76), as well as how four measures of the child’s environment were associated with food DoG. Results indicated that both measures of food DoG were positively correlated with performance on the cognitive tasks, with stronger associations observed for the Tongue Task. Family income was positively associatedwith food DoG asmeasured by the Tongue Task, and child negative life events in the past year were negatively correlated with food DoG as measured by the Snack Delay Task. These findings present the pattern of associations between cognitive tasks and food DoG, the development of which may be meaningfully affected by specific aspects of family environment.
Open Access
Believability Bias in Judging Memories for Abuse
(2004-11) Cromer, Lisa D.; Freyd, Jennifer J.
Participants (N=337) were presented with four vignettes in which an adult confided to a friend about being sexually or physically abused at age 9 by either a stranger or father. The memory was presented as either continuous or recovered. Participants judged report believability, memory accuracy, and rated each incident on a scale of 0=not abuse to 5=definitely abuse. Analyses were conducted using a 2(continuous or recovered memory) x 2 (victim sex) x 2 (physical or sexual abuse) x 2 (stranger or close perpetrator) repeated measures ANOVA. Participants completed the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES; Bernstein & Putnam, 1986), Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI; Glick & Fiske, 1996), and Brief Betrayal Trauma Inventory (BBTS; Goldberg & Freyd, 2003). The believability bias hypothesis was supported. Continuous memory was believed more (p<.0001) and rated more accurate (p<.0001) than recovered memory, and male victims were believed more than female victims (p=.05). Level of dissociation was positively correlated with likelihood to label "being made to have sex with" or "being beaten with a belt" as abuse (p<.01), and level of sexism was negatively correlated with labeling these actions as abuse (p<.02). Implications are discussed in relation to biased and unscientific public opinion about memory for abuse.
Open Access
Betrayal Trauma, Acculturation and Historical Grief Among Native Americans
(2005-11) Gray, Mary E.; Cromer, Lisa D.; Freyd, Jennifer J.
Since European contact, Native Americans have experienced loss of life, land, and culture causing intergenerational trauma and unresolved grief (Yellow Horse Brave Heart & DeBruyn, 1998). Not surprisingly, identification with Native American heritage has been found to be affected by the individual's level of acculturation, or resistance to, dominant white culture, as well as ownership of traditional customs and beliefs (Garrett & Pichette, 2000). Acculturation studies in the extant literature report ways to measure acculturation and discuss the relationship between acculturation and psychological health. They do not however, examine the relationship of acculturation to intergenerational trauma. The current research documents prevalence rates of historical grief and betrayal trauma to better understand how these relate to acculturation. Native Americans in Oregon (N=45) participated in the study. Participants completed the Historical Losses Scale (Whitbeck et al., 2004), Native American Acculturation Scale (Garrett & Pichette, 2000) and the Brief Betrayal Trauma Survey (Goldberg & Freyd, under review). As predicted betrayal trauma is negatively correlated to acculturation r = .27, p <.05, meaning that Native Americans who are less acculturated to dominant white culture experience more trauma. Results are discussed in relation to historical losses and Native American diversity.
Open Access
The Big Five Across Socioeconomic Status: Measurement Invariance, Relationships, and Age Trends
(University of California Press, 2021-06-10) Hughes, Bradley T.; Costello, Cory K.; Pearman, Joshua J.; Razavi, Pooya; Bedford-Petersen, Cianna; Ludwid, Rita M.; Srivastava, Sanjay
Associations between socioeconomic status (SES) and personality traits have important implications for theory and application. Progress in understanding these associations depends on valid measurement, unbiased estimation, and careful assessment of generalizability. In this registered report, we used data from AIID, a large online study, to address three basic questions about personality and SES. First, we evaluated the measurement invariance of a common measure of personality, the Big Five Inventory, across indicators of educational attainment, income, and occupational prestige. Fit indices showed some instances of detectable noninvariance, but with little practical impact on substantive results. Second, we estimated associations between SES and personality. Results showed that personality and SES were largely independent (most rs < .1), in contrast to predictions derived from several previous studies. Third, we tested whether age trends in personality were moderated by SES. Results did not support predictions from social investment theory, but they did suggest that age trends were largely generalizable across SES. We discuss the implications of these findings for developing and validating personality measures for use in diverse samples. We also discuss the implications for theories that propose that the Big Five are responsive to, or partially responsible for, people’s economic and social conditions.
Open Access
Characterizing the impact of adversity, abuse, and neglect on adolescent amygdala resting-state functional connectivity
(Elsevier, 2020) Cheng, Theresa W.; Mills, Kathryn L.; Miranda Dominguez, Oscar; Zeithamova, Dagmar; Perrone, Anders; Sturgeon, Darrick; Feldstein Ewing, Sarah W.; Fisher, Philip A.; Pfeifer, Jennifer H.; Fair, Damian A.; Mackiewicz Seghete, Kristen L.
Characterizing typologies of childhood adversity may inform the development of risk profiles and corresponding interventions aimed at mitigating its lifelong consequences. A neurobiological grounding of these typologies requires systematic comparisons of neural structure and function among individuals with different exposure histories. Using seed-to-whole brain analyses, this study examined associations between childhood adversity and amygdala resting-state functional connectivity (rs-fc) in adolescents aged 11–19 years across three independent studies (N = 223; 127 adversity group) in both general and dimensional models of adversity (comparing abuse and neglect). In a general model, adversity was associated with altered amygdala rs-fc with clusters within the left anterior lateral prefrontal cortex. In a dimensional model, abuse was associated with altered amygdala rs-fc within the orbitofrontal cortex, dorsal precuneus, posterior cingulate cortex, and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex/anterior mid-cingulate cortex, as well as within the dorsal attention, visual, and somatomotor networks. Neglect was associated with altered amygdala rs-fc with the hippocampus, supplementary motor cortex, temporoparietal junction, and regions within the dorsal attention network. Both general and dimensional models revealed unique regions, potentially reflecting pathways by which distinct histories of adversity may influence adolescent behavior, cognition, and psychopathology.
Open Access
Child Abuse: Betrayal and Disclosure
(2006-11) Foynes, M. Ming; Freyd, Jennifer J.; DePrince, Anne P.
The present study examined the association between perpetrator relationship and disclosure latency (DL) for physical and emotional abuse using a survey methodology with a sample of 202 undergraduate participants. Based on Freyd's Betrayal Trauma Theory (1996), we predicted that abuse by a close perpetrator would be related to longer DL, because nondisclosure may serve as a protective coping mechanism in the same way as unawareness of abuse. BTT frames disclosure as a risk that poses a threat to the emotional needs of the child, without requiring the child's conscious awareness of the way in which the world operates. We found that closeness of perpetrator significantly predicts DL above and beyond other variables such as age at abuse onset, gender of survivor and abuse severity. Abuse by very close perpetrators was associated with a greater likelihood of first disclosure years following abuse, if disclosure ever occurred. While delayed disclosure may allow the attachment relationship to be sustained, it may also prolong abuse and prevent receipt of emotional, legal, or financial support. Since disclosure may result in the loss of important social relationships, it is important to address these risks in interventions geared toward encouraging disclosure to promote ethical intervention delivery.
Open Access
Child Sex Abuse Perpetrators Among Male University Students
(2006-11) Becker-Blease, Kathryn; Friend, Daniel; Freyd, Jennifer J.
Previous studies indicate that approximately 21% of undergraduate men report attraction to “little children”, 4 – 9 % report having fantasies about sex with a child, and 5 – 6% report masturbating to these fantasies. Between 3 and 7% report some likelihood of having sex with a child if there was no chance they would be caught (Briere & Runtz, 1989; Smiljanich & Briere, 1996). Understanding potential for perpetration among young adult men is important for prevention, but research on perpetration in non-convicted samples is limited. We asked 531 undergraduate men about their experiences with abuse as a child, as well as perpetration of child sexual abuse. Approximately 18% report fantasies about child sexual abuse and 8% have masturbated to these fantasies. Four percent indicate some likelihood that they would have sex with a child, and just over 2.5% report having perpetrated at least one sexually abusive act against a child. More students in this survey report fantasies about child sex than in past surveys, perhaps because of the increased availability of child pornography, or differences in willingness to admit such fantasies. The results are discussed in terms of the need for prevention programs
Open Access
Contextual considerations for deception production and detection in forensic interviews
(Frontiers in Psychology, 2023-02-07) Markowitz, David M.; Hancock, Jeffery T.; Woodworth, Michael T.; Ely, Maxwell
Most deception scholars agree that deception production and deception detection effects often display mixed results across settings. For example, some liars use more emotion than truth-tellers when discussing fake opinions on abortion, but not when communicating fake distress. Similarly, verbal and nonverbal cues are often inconsistent predictors to assist in deception detection, leading to mixed accuracies and detection rates. Why are lie production and detection effects typically inconsistent? In this piece, we argue that aspects of the context are often unconsidered in how lies are produced and detected. Greater theory-building related to contextual constraints of deception are therefore required. We reintroduce and extend the Contextual Organization of Language and Deception (COLD) model, a framework that outlines how psychological dynamics, pragmatic goals, and genre conventions are aspects of the context that moderate the relationship between deception and communication behavior such as language. We extend this foundation by proposing three additional aspects of the context — individual differences, situational opportunities for deception, and interpersonal characteristics — for the COLD model that can specifically inform and potentially improve forensic interviewing. We conclude with a forward-looking perspective for deception researchers and practitioners related to the need for more theoretical explication of deception and its detection related to the context.
Open Access
Delay of Gratification Predicts Eating in the Absence of Hunger in Preschool-Aged Children
(Frontiers Media, 2021-03-19) Giuliani, Nicole R.; Kelly, Nichole R.
Poor ability to regulate one's own food intake based on hunger cues may encourage children to eat beyond satiety, leading to increased risk of diet-related diseases. Self-regulation has multiple forms, yet no one has directly measured the degree to which different domains of self-regulation predict overeating in young children. The present study investigated how three domains of self-regulation (i.e., appetitive self-regulation, inhibitory control, and attentional control) predicted eating in the absence of hunger (EAH) in a community sample of 47 preschool-aged children (M age = 4.93, SD = 0.86). Appetitive self-regulation, as measured using a delay of gratification task, was significantly and negatively associated with EAH 1 year later (p < 0.5). Measures of inhibitory and attentional control did not significantly predict EAH. These results suggest that food-related self-regulation may be a better predictor of overeating behaviors than general measures of self-regulation.
Open Access
Direct and indirect associations among mothers’ invalidating childhood environment, emotion regulation difficulties, and parental apology
(BMC, 2022-08-15) Adams-Clark, Alexis A.; Lee, Angela H.; Everett, Yoel; Zarosinski, Arianna; Martin, Christina Gamache; Zalewski, Maureen
Background: Effective emotion regulation abilities are essential for engaging in positive, validating parenting practices. Yet, many parents report difficulties with both emotion regulation and positive parenting, and these difficulties may in part be the result of parents’ own childhood experiences of invalidation. Building upon prior literature documenting the intergenerational transmission of invalidation and emotion dysregulation, the present study examined the associations between these constructs and a specific parenting practice – parental apology – that can be conceptualized as a type of validating parenting practice. Methods: Using a sample of 186 community mothers, we tested direct and indirect relationships via correlational and path analysis between participants’ retrospective reports of parental invalidation during childhood, difficulties with emotion regulation, and two aspects of parental apology – proclivity (i.e., participants’ self-reported propensity to apologize to their child) and effectiveness (i.e., participants’ inclusion of specific apology content when prompted to write a child-directed apology). Parental invalidation, difficulties with emotion regulation, and parental apology proclivity were measured via self-report questionnaires. Apology effectiveness was measured by coding written responses to a hypothetical vignette. Results: There was a significant negative bivariate relationship between difficulties with emotion regulation and parental apology proclivity and effectiveness. Parents’ own childhood experiences of invalidation were linked to parental apology indirectly via emotion regulation difficulties. Conclusions: Results suggest that mothers with greater difficulties regulating emotions may be less able to or have a lower proclivity to apologize to their child when appropriate. Thus, parent apology may be an important addition to current calls for parent validation training.
Open Access
Dissociation and Memory for Neutral and Traumatic Stories
(2005-11) Klest, Bridget K. (Bridget Kristen); Freyd, Jennifer J.
Previous research has consistently found a positive correlation between history of trauma and dissociation, and recent research (DePrince and Freyd, 1999; 2004) suggests that people who score high on a measure of dissociation may have enhanced abilities at dividing attention and suppressing traumatic information from consciousness. The current study set out to replicate these findings using more complex stimuli than have been used previously. Fifty-two subjects, half scoring high and half low on the Dissociative Experiences Scale, watched neutral videos while listening to neutral and trauma related stories. High dissociators remembered significantly more than low dissociators when listening to neutral stories, and performed no differently than low dissociators when listening to trauma related stories. This interaction was significant, t (50) = 1.72, p < .05 (one-tailed), and this finding is consistent with previous research.
Open Access
Dissociative tendencies, attention, and memory
(Blackwell, 1999) DePrince, Anne P.; Freyd, Jennifer J.
Two groups of college students were selected on the basis of their scores on the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES). The high-DES group and low-DES group both completed the standard and a new dual-task version of the Stroop ink-naming task with xs (baseline condition) and color, neutral, and emotionally charged words. Free recall results indicated that high-DES participants remembered fewer emotionally charged words than low-DES participants. We found a crossover interaction for Stroop interference: High-DES participants showed more interference (conflicting color--baseline latency for ink naming) in a selective-attention Stroop task and less interference in the dual-task Stroop task. The interaction between attentional context and dissociation for Stroop interference and the free recall results are consistent with a cognitive-environments view of dissociative tendencies. In this view, dissociative tendencies, which have been otherwise speculated to be largely deleterious, can be advantageous in certain contexts.
Open Access
Do dimensional psychopathology measures relate to creative achievement or divergent thinking?
(Frontiers in Psychology, 2014) Zabelina, Darya L.; Condon, David; Beeman, Mark
Previous research provides disparate accounts of the putative association between creativity and psychopathology, including schizotypy, psychoticism, hypomania, bipolar disorder, ADHD, and autism spectrum disorders. To examine these association, healthy, non-clinical participants completed several psychopathology-spectrum measures, often postulated to associate with creativity: the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire, the Psychoticism scale, the Personality Inventory for DSM-5, the Hypomanic Personality Scale, the Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder scale, the Beck Depression Inventory, and the Autism-Spectrum Quotient. The goal of Study 1 was to evaluate the factor structure of these dimensional psychopathology measures and, in particular, to evaluate the case for a strong general factor(s). None of the factor solutions between 1 and 10 factors provided a strong fit with the data based on the most commonly used metrics. The goal of Study 2 was to determine whether these psychopathology scales predict, independently, two measures of creativity: 1. a measure of participants' real-world creative achievements, and 2. divergent thinking, a laboratory measure of creative cognition. After controlling for academic achievement, psychoticism and hypomania reliably predicted real-world creative achievement and divergent thinking scored with the consensual assessment technique. None of the psychopathology-spectrum scales reliably predicted divergent thinking scored with the manual scoring method. Implications for the potential links between several putative creative processes and risk factors for psychopathology are discussed.
Open Access
The Effect of Feeling Stereotyped on Social Power and Inhibition
(SAGE Publications, 2011) Cook, Jonathan E.; Arrow, Holly; Malle, Bertram F.
An experience sampling study examined the degree to which feeling stereotyped predicts feelings of low power and inhibition among stigmatized and nonstigmatized individuals. For 7 days, participants with a concealable (gay and lesbian), a visible (African American), or no identifiable stigma recorded feelings of being stereotyped, of powerlessness, and of inhibition immediately following social interactions. For members of all three groups, feeling stereotyped was associated with more inhibition, and this relation was partially mediated by feeling low in power. Although stigmatized participants reported feeling stereotyped more often than nonstigmatized participants, they reacted less strongly to the experience, consistent with the presence of buffering mechanisms developed by those living with stigma. African Americans appeared to buffer the impact of feeling stereotyped more effectively than gay and lesbian participants, an effect that was partly attributable to African Americans’ higher identity centrality.