The Influence of Parental Behavior on Emerging Adult Egocentrism

Existing research indicates that adolescent egocentrism, people of adolescent age being overly interested in oneself, is influenced by numerous factors, including identity development and parental behavior (Scarfo, 1993). Though it has been shown that this link between perceived parental behavior and adolescent egocentrism exists (Adams & Jones, 1982), research has not yet examined this relationship in emerging adults. Thus, the purpose of the current study was to explore the relationship between parental behavior/support and egocentrism in emerging adults, while controlling for personality. Emerging adult college students (N = 46) completed a Qualtrics survey that measured imaginary audience (a component of egocentrism), overall egocentrism, perceived parental behavior, and personality. The results of our study showed there was no significant relationship between openness, agreeableness, extraversion, neuroticism, and egocentrism. There was also no correlation between parenting style and egocentrism. However, there was a positive relationship between conscientiousness and egocentrism (p=0.16). There was also a correlation between conscientiousness and the imaginary audience scale (p=0.03). While this finding does not support our hypothesis, it does offer added information about possible correlational relationships between the big five, parental support, and egocentrism in emerging adults

The Influence of Parental Behavior on Emerging Adult Egocentrism

Existing research indicates that adolescent egocentrism, people of adolescent age being overly interested in oneself, is influenced by numerous factors, including identity development and parental behavior (Scarfo, 1993). Though it has been shown that this link between perceived parental behavior and adolescent egocentrism exists (Adams & Jones, 1982), research has not yet examined this relationship in emerging adults. Thus, the purpose of the current study was to explore the relationship between parental behavior/support and egocentrism in emerging adults, while controlling for personality. Emerging adult college students (N = 46), completed a Qualtrics survey that measured imaginary audience (a component of egocentrism) egocentrism, perceived parental behavior and personality. The results of our study showed there was no significant relationship between openness, agreeableness, extraversion, neuroticism, and egocentrism. There was also no correlation between parenting style and egocentrism. However, there was a positive relationship between conscientiousness and egocentrism (p=0.16). There was also a correlation between conscientiousness and the imaginary audience scale (p=0.03). While this finding does not support our hypothesis, it does offer added information about possible correlational relationships between the big five, parental support, and egocentrism in emerging adult

Relationships Among Gender in Politics, Perceived Competency, and Likelihood of Voting

It has been established that in the realm of politics, gender stereotypes influence the perceptions of politicians\u27 competence (Lawless, 2004). Studies have also shown that both men and women underestimate women’s overall political knowledge (Mendez & Osborn, 2010). People who hold sexist ideologies tend to put less effort into researching female candidates and their positions and are less likely to vote for them (Ditonto, 2019). Previous research has explored these connections between gender and electability (likelihood of voting) and competence and gender separately (Huddy, 1993 & Roosmarijn et al., 2021). However, there exists no established connection between these three variables in one comprehensive study, which we seek to achieve. 60 participants were sampled from Belmont University’s Scientific Psychology, General Psychology, Honors Scientific Inquiry, and Introductory Psychology courses and recruited through SONA. Participants were asked to complete a Qualtrics survey consisting of a competency and likelihood of voting assessment made by the research team, the Gender-Career IAT, and demographics questions. We propose four hypotheses. First, we predict that there is a negative correlation between sexism and the perceived competency of female candidates, in turn, we also predict that there is a negative correlation between sexism and likelihood of voting for female candidates. Next, we predict that there is a positive correlation between perceived competency and likelihood of voting for female candidates. Finally, we predict that female candidates will be rated as less competent and less electable than male and gender-neutral candidates. Overall, women have been consistently underrepresented in politics due to no fault of their own. We hope that through this research people can better understand the relationships between sexism and female representation in politics and be inspired to implement changes to close the gap between men and women in leadership positions

The Effects of Environmental Enrichment on Extrinsic Motivation in Rodent Models

Home environment has an everlasting effect on one’s ability to learn, grow, and attain one’s goals. This study seeks to investigate the extent to which an enriched home environment has an impact on one’s level of motivation. A research gap exists in how significant the enrichment of a rodent’s home environment is to a rodent’s level of motivation. The current study is designed to address the conflicting information and see if including nesting and gnawing material in the rats’ home environments will have any impact on their motivation to push the lever a multitude of times in the operant chamber to receive reward. For the first two weeks, rats are tested in operant chambers learning how to associate lever presses with food pellets. As the rats habituate to the chambers, the amount of work needed to earn a reward gradually increases. The second two weeks, the rats are housed in three different home environments: a neutral environment (wooden shavings), and two separate enriched environments in the form of gnawing (wooden blocks) and nesting materials (toilet paper) in addition to the wooden shavings. We predict that rats who have enriched home environments will be less food motivated and have less lever presses within the operant chamber compared to when in the neutral environment