Student examines links between social media use and narcissism

Recent psychological research has shown links between Facebook usage and narcissism—a personality trait characterized by an inflated sense of importance, a constant quest of admiration from others, and a lack of empathy. What does that mean about the millions of people who check Facebook daily?

Penny Trieu ’15 wants to find out. She is using her summer research project to study the links between activity on the social network and narcissism. Particularly, she wants to find out whether engaging in different activities on Facebook in different affects a user’s personality.

Trieu said that scientists have tracked an increase in narcissism over the past 40 years. The increase began after a period of “positive psychology” that focused on self-esteem. “The theory was that if you have a high self-esteem, everything will work out well for you,” she said. “Parents and schools started to work on ways of raising kids that builds self-esteem, regardless of the accomplishments of the children.”

Those attempts, however, can lead to negative repercussions related to narcissism. For example, people who are accustomed to receiving a reward regardless of their performance might not know how to handle a minor failure. “It’s healthy to accept that, rather than inflate self-esteem by saying everybody wins,” Trieu said.

Social media may have magnified the effects for self-esteem among some users. Trieu started wondering about that as she saw many people posting multiple self-portraits and talking openly about their accomplishments and other good things about their lives. She then read scientific studies about links between Facebook and self-esteem and started formulating ideas for her own project.

This summer, Trieu has read many research studies about links between Facebook and narcissism. She has worked with project advisor, Beth Schwartz, the Catherine E. & William E. Thoresen Chair in Social Sciences and assistant dean of the College, about those studies to glean ideas for an original research project.

Trieu plans to have participants use Facebook in different ways. Some would share photos and information about themselves. Others would use the network to post photos and talk about other people. She will have each group participate in an activity to help gauge narcissism.

Trieu and Schwartz believe that focusing Facebook use on interacting with others might decrease traits of narcissism. “Research in the past has shown that connection to others leads to lower levels of aggression and narcissism,” Schwartz said. “It could be that it’s not going on Facebook, but it’s what you’re doing on Facebook that leads to narcissism.”

Trieu plans to begin her own research on the topic sometime this fall and continue in the spring.

Evolution, psychology, and physical attraction

Open up almost any magazine aimed at teenagers and young adults, and you can find numerous articles about how to be attractive, either through the way one dresses, acts, or talks.

Two Randolph students are working on scientific research into the topic of attractiveness. But their work is designed to lead not to more dating advice, but to an increased understanding of how concepts of attractiveness have evolved.

Sandeep Poudyal ’16 became interested in the topic in an evolutionary psychology class in which he learned that there have been many evolutionary explanations for heterosexual physical attraction, but there are fewer explanations on homosexual attraction. An idea for a research project began brewing.

“I thought it would be fun to explore some more stuff about heterosexual attraction, and find some new information on homosexual attraction,” he said. He proposed a summer research project with Dennis Goff, the Charles A. Dana Professor of Psychology. He also invited Lauren Mason ’16, who wanted research experience to help prepare her for graduate school.

Goff explained that many aspects of physical attraction can be explained by the evolutionary impulse to reproduce. Women evolved to seek strong mates who would be interested in supporting and protecting children, while men have an evolved attraction toward characteristics that signal fertility.

The group’s goal is to design an experiment that would gauge the influence of various characteristics on physical attraction. For the past few weeks, they have been reading articles to get ideas. “We’ve been doing a literature review and looking at possible studies to replicate,” Mason said. They plan to look at how facial characteristics, voice, and personal traits such as humor or intelligence affect attraction.

They will measure the physical attraction associated with those characteristics by administering questionnaires that people will complete. For example, they might play two voices and ask participants which one is more attractive, or they show a picture and ask the participants to rate the face for attraction.

Poudyal said the group plans to administer the survey to a few people this summer to collect pilot data. This will set the stage for more in-depth research with more participants in the fall. The same survey would be administered to homosexual and heterosexual participants to yield a broader scale of data.

The students have enjoyed the summer research, especially the ability to work closely with a professor who helps them develop ideas. “You don’t have to compete with anyone else for the personal attention that you very much want from a professor,” Poudyal said.

He added that the project has helped him confirm his plans to continue researching and earn a Ph.D. after college. “I definitely know that this is what I want to do in the future,” he said. “That is why I decided I want to do research this summer. You learn so much that you didn’t know anything about in the beginning.

“It’s a challenge, but it’s fun.”

Psychology students present research at annual VPA meeting

Several Randolph College psychology seniors presented their research papers at the annual meeting of the Virginia Psychological Association in Norfolk, Va.

The seniors and their presentation titles are listed below.

Jacob Hood ’14 and Robert Villanueva ’14 (presented by Jacob Hood): Effects of Race and Socioeconomic Status on the Perceived Credibility of Eyewitnesses

Alexis Arnett ’14, Nushaa Kaz ’14, and Elizabeth van Noppen ’14: The Effect of Exercise Choice on Adherence, Motivation, and Self-Efficacy

Emily Rist ’14 and Sara Kasey ’14: Stress Levels and Contact with Nature

Elizabeth Delery ’14 and Brian Mule ’14: The Effects of Meditation on the Cortisol Stress Response

Sara Khalid ’14: A Comparison of Help-Seeking Behaviors Across Cultures and Genders

Randolph professor publishes more books in EasyGuide series

A Randolph professor has published two more books in the EasyGuide series designed to help students grasp technical topics related to psychology and other social sciences research.

This month, SAGE Publications released An EasyGuide to Research Design and SPSS and An EasyGuide to Research Presentations, both co-authored by Beth Schwartz, the William E. and Catherine Ehrman Thoresen ’23 Chair in Social Sciences and assistant dean of the College.

Dennis Goff, the Charles A. Dana Professor of Psychology, was one of Schwartz’s co-authors for the book on research design.

These books follow An EasyGuide to APA Style, which Schwartz published in 2013. “It started as a single book, but when I talked with the publisher after the success of that first book, we decided it would be great to add some additional EasyGuides,” Schwartz said.

The EasyGuide books aim to make information more accessible to students by conveying technical information in a more conversational tone, as well as combining information from a variety of sources, Schwartz said.

“The books include step-by-step instructions, with screenshots when applicable, to help with the logistics of writing, conducting statistical analyses, and creating presentation slides,” Schwartz said. “The information is easy to read, includes some humor to make what can be dry material a bit easier to digest, and has easy-to-follow examples.”

Schwartz said she has already started discussing potential topics for more books in the EasyGuide series.

Professors present honor code and academic integrity research at national conference

Two Randolph psychology professors recently presented their research on honor codes, cheating, and academic integrity to a standing-room-only audience at a national conference in Hawaii.

Beth Schwartz and Holly Tatum organized the symposium “Why Do Students Cheat: Investigations of Academic Integrity in the Classroom” for the American Psychological Association annual conference this month. The research brought together several scholars who investigate the motivations for cheating and methods for preventing cheating.

“It’s always really exciting when people are that interested,” Tatum said. “I was glad they were there trying to figure out which parts of our research they can use to prevent cheating.”

Schwartz, the Catherine Ehrman Thoresen '23 and William E. Thoresen Professor of Psychology and assistant dean of the College, and Tatum began a research project on academic integrity about two years ago. With the help of Megan Hageman ’13, they investigated the way students’ understanding of academic integrity is affected by an honor code.

“A lot of people look at cheating and what causes cheating,” Schwartz said. “We wanted to look at ways of preventing cheating.”

“Our focus has been more on integrity,” Tatum added.

Their research, which will be published in the journal Ethics and Behavior this fall, found that in small liberal arts colleges, a traditional honor code—under which students feel a responsibility toward the honor code and run the judicial system responding to violations—is more effective at promoting academic honesty than a modified honor code, such as one with a faculty-run judicial process.

Randolph’s Honor Code, overseen by a student judiciary committee and with perks like unproctored, self-scheduled exams, follows the traditional model.

Last year, Hageman expanded the research to look at the way an institution’s size might affect students’ understanding of integrity and cheating. Elizabeth van Noppen ’14 is continuing that research this year.

Schwartz and Tatum organized the symposium at the APA conference to share their findings and collaborate with more professors. They invited Eric Anderman of The Ohio State University, who spoke at Randolph College earlier this year, and David Rettinger of the University of Mary Washington, to present research that complemented their own.

The professors are still receiving feedback from people who attended the symposium. Many have questions about promoting academic integrity.

Tatum said that Hageman’s contributions were crucial to the success of this research and the symposium. “She was involved at every stage in the research,” she said. “She managed the data collection, which was good experience for her and allowed us to do the research.”

In addition to sponsoring the symposium, Schwartz was voted as the vice president for recognitions and awards in the Society for the Teaching of Psychology, a division of the APA.

Top psychology professors list includes Beth Schwartz

A Randolph College faculty member has been named one of the best 21 psychology professors in Virginia.

Beth Schwartz, the Catherine E. & William E. Thoresen Chair in Social Sciences and assistant dean of the College, was named to the list by StateStats.org and Online Schools Virginia, websites that provide information on educational resources, including online and traditional colleges.

Schwartz was selected because she “helps students prepare for graduate studies by facilitating hands-on lab experiences rarely available to undergraduates at other schools,” according to the online list. “She encourages students to learn through teaching, emphasizing collaboration across classes and disciplines.”

Schwartz said scientific literacy is a significant emphasis in her classroom. “When I'm teaching, I try to help the students understand the science of the discipline,” she said. “It’s not just content focused. It’s more about how psychologists understand the material.”

Schwartz begins this emphasis with her introductory psychology courses, so even students majoring in other subjects can understand how the science of psychology works. She invites students to help her prepare presentations for psychology conferences, write chapters for books, and design and conduct research projects during the year as well as during the Summer Research Program.

This prepares students to continue studying psychology, enter related fields, and answer questions that can benefit from a scientific understanding of psychology. “They know not just what the answers to the questions are, but how we can go about answering those questions,” Schwartz said.

The websites produced the list of top psychology professors after publishing information on the top schools in each state. “Our readers requested information on the instructors, so we had a group of researchers look for professors who had recently been awarded or recognized by their peers, students, and/or institutions for exemplary work inside or outside of the classroom,” said Roman Schomberg, a communications and partnerships official with StateStats.org. “Individuals whose work addressed issues to deemed to be of great importance were honored as well.”

Students visit psychology history museum

Spring break offered a group of psychology students the opportunity to learn more about the history behind psychological research and understanding.

Jordan Bailey ’14, Tina Barnes, psychology professor Rick Barnes,
Victoria Harris ’13, Cindy Ferguson ’13, and Robert Ferguson  went
on the trip to the Center for the History of Psychology.

Psychology professor Rick Barnes invited students from his History of Psychology course on a trip to the Center for the History of Psychology in Akron, Ohio. The center houses archives and artifacts from famous psychological experiments and includes educational exhibits detailing the history of the discipline. Students saw devices such as Henry Lavery’s psychograph, which was thought to measure mental aptitude, and Stanley Milgram’s shock machine, which was instrumental in a controversial study on obedience, among other artifacts and documents.

Cindy Ferguson ’13 said the experience was not to be forgotten. “I enjoyed seeing firsthand the tools and studies that we have discussed in class,” said Ferguson. “ I was inspired to continue to learn all that I can in this amazing field of psychology.”

Mom of three fulfills educational dream at Randolph

Cindy Ferguson ’13 has lived two blocks from Randolph College for nearly 20 years. When her children were small, she used to bring her family to have dinner on campus. “It was a great way to find babysitters,” she said.

She never thought a degree from Randolph would be in her future.

“I grew up in a really dysfunctional family, with parents that weren’t involved in school. Education seemed like it wasn’t really important to them,” Ferguson said. Although she dreamed of being a middle school guidance counselor, she felt she had to put those hopes on hold. She worked in several jobs, taught herself computer skills, became a paralegal, and volunteered in a recovery mission at her church, all while raising her family.

Cindy Ferguson ’13 transferred to Randolph to
continue pursuing her dream of finishing college

A few years ago, Ferguson’s oldest daughter came home from middle school with a poignant question: “Do you have any regrets?”

The resulting conversation led to Ferguson to enroll in college a few months later, with the support and encouragement of her husband Robert and their three children.

Today, Ferguson is preparing to graduate with a degree in psychology from Randolph. She plans to pursue a master’s degree in counseling. She is determined to have the career she always wanted. She hopes she can help middle and high school students make wise decisions and attend college. “I want to encourage other students to think not just about where they are right now, but to think about what choices they can make right now that would help their future be better.”

Before enrolling at Randolph, Ferguson attended Central Virginia Community College and received an associate’s degree. When she learned about Randolph’s highly ranked psychology department, she decided to continue her undergraduate education here.

Transferring to Randolph
Community college students in Virginia are guaranteed admission to Randolph College if they meet the requirements of an agreement between Randolph and the community college system. Visit our website to learn more about transferring to Randolph.

Randolph has been exactly what Fergusan hoped it would be. “I don’t think I’ve had any class that I’ve disliked,” she said. “I love that the class sizes are small so you get to have more conversations than lectures. The professors are just incredible.”

Despite the fact that some of her classmates are only a few years older than Ferguson’s children, she doesn’t feel out of place. “I think I fit in here because it is so diverse,” she said. “Everyone is learning from each other. I feel like everyone is my peer here.”

Attending Randolph means taking part in traditions that seemed silly for an adult at first, such as decorating academic robes with buttons and wearing a funny hat and singing College songs. But Ferguson has come to enjoy those traditions and the way they bind her to other students and to the school’s history. “Sometimes you just need to step out and see how much fun it really can be,” she said. “That’s not just about school, that's about life.”

How to succeed in graduate school: Psychology professor co-authors chapter

If you want to know how to succeed in graduate school for psychology, Holly Tatum has advice for you.

Tatum, a psychology professor at Randolph College, recently co-wrote a chapter for Your Graduate Training in Psychology: Effective Strategies for Success, published by SAGE Publications this year.

Her chapter, “Setting Your Path: Begin With Your Dissertation in Mind,” provides advice that could help students save time by maintaining focus. “Sometimes in graduate school you get distracted by all the little things,” Tatum said. “It may be several years before you write your dissertation, but your activities should be framed by that ultimate goal.”

She wrote the chapter with Daniel Corts of Augustana College. They drew on some of their own experiences and lessons learned in graduate school at the University of Tennessee. “It was a good chapter to write because I made a lot of the mistakes that we wrote about,” Tatum said.

Thinking about the long-term goal of a dissertation can help beginning graduate students select an advisor, choose courses, and develop research skills that will be necessary for the dissertation, according to the chapter.

Tatum said the opportunity to reflect on her experiences helps her prepare her students for graduate school, and the final book is a good resource, too.

Psychology is one of the most popular majors at Randolph, where professors are well known for helping students prepare for graduate school through a rigorous curriculum and intense research programs. Among all undergraduate institutions, Randolph ranks among the top 14 percent for the number of graduates who go on to receive a Ph.D.

Rick Barnes blogs from Semester at Sea

Rick Barnes, professor of psychology and environmental studies, is spending
the fall 2010 semester teaching aboard a ship as it cruises around the world.

Barnes is teaching two courses, Environmental Psychology and Sustainable Communities, with Semester at Sea. Special guest on the Fall 2010 voyage is Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The ship visits 11 ports in Africa and Asia...

• Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
• Cadiz, Spain
• Casablanca, Morocco
• Takoradi, Ghana
• Cape Town, South Africa
• Port Louis, Mauritius
• Chennai, India
• Singapore
• Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam
• Hong Kong / Shanghai, China
• Yokohama / Kobe, Japan
• Honolulu / Hilo, Hawaii, USA
• San Diego, California, USA

Follow Professor Barnes' journey on his blog...
http://ricksemsea.blogspot.com/

About Semester at Sea
Semester at Sea (SAS) is a study abroad program founded in 1963, now managed by the Institute for Shipboard Education in Charlottesville, Virginia. The University of Virginia's the current academic sponsor for the program while the program, itself, is run on a cruise ship called the MV Explorer. Throughout the history of the program, nearly 50,000 undergraduate students from more than one thousand colleges and universities have participated in Semester at Sea.

Video: Carl Coffey

Randolph College student Carl Coffey talks about his experience as a Randolph College scholar-athlete. Carl has excelled in the College's Faculty-Student Summer Research Program, working on an advanced psychology project with Professor Beth Schwartz.



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Video: Psychology Student Discusses Her Research

Psychology major Lexi Mandarakas talks about her Summer Research project on best practices in teaching and learning with professor Beth Schwartz.

The project will result in published work, which puts Mandarakas at an advantage as she applies to graduate school and seeks future employment.



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