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A rapidly growing body of evidence concludes that kindness is vital to human health and well-being. In hospitals, healthcare delivered with kindness improves patient and provider outcomes. Though the importance of kindness in healthcare is generally accepted, patients, families, and hospital employees report the need for more kind behavior. Theory-based and empirically driven interventions to increase kind behavior are needed. The current studies used group concept mapping and the reasoned action framework to operationalize kindness and examine the underlying beliefs and psychological determinants of kind behavior in hospitals. This formative research is crucial for developing, implementing, and evaluating organizational kindness interventions. Study 1, a community-based group concept mapping study, identified hospital employees' conceptualizations of kind behavior. Study 2 utilized the reasoned action approach to explore the underlying beliefs associated with intention to engage in kind behavior and test the psychological determinants of behavioral intention. Results revealed 1) six discrete categories of kind behavior in hospitals; 2) attitudinal, normative, and control beliefs about engaging in the different types of kind behaviors; and 3) instrumental attitude and capacity as the strongest determinants of intention to engage in kind behavior at work. The findings demonstrate the utility of a community-based, mixed-methods approach combining group concept mapping and the reasoned action framework to provide a foundation for developing organizational kindness interventions in healthcare contexts.

This dissertation is comprised of two studies investigating different aspects of dementia caregiver resilience. Study 1 draws on theorizing from the theory of resilience and relational load (TRRL) and the investment model to assess the influence of pre-onset relational investments on caregivers’ individual and relational wellbeing. To account for competing theorizing about the impacts of pre-onset relational investments on caregiver wellbeing, this study also examines the role of two mediating mechanisms (relational deprivation and ongoing relationship maintenance) in explaining the associations between pre-onset relational investments and caregiver wellbeing. Using survey data from 454 dementia family caregivers, Study 1 revealed that relational investments were positively related with individual and relational health outcomes, generally supporting TRRL theorizing. Framed by the TRRL, Study 2 examines the process of resilience enacted by dementia caregivers including the appraisals caregivers make of dementia as a stressor and the calibration caregivers enact to manage the relational challenges of dementia. Using in-depth interviews with 26 dementia family caregivers, the analysis revealed three appraisals of dementia (dementia is a balancing act, dementia is all-consuming, and dementia is loss), and a process of calibration that occurred as caregivers acknowledged dementia as an actor in the relationship and adapted their relational and caregiving approaches accordingly. These two studies are presented with a general introduction focused on individual and relational wellbeing and resilience in dementia caregiving and with a general discussion examining conclusions of the two studies together.

Contemporary theories of bias, such as the aversive racism framework (Gaertner & Dovidio, 1986), pose that progressive laws and social customs have changed how racist attitudes are held and expressed. The traditional form of racism that motivated societal events such as slavery and segregation has become less common because of modern society’s emphasis on egalitarian values (Dovidio et al., 2016). Instead of racism disappearing altogether, it has mutated to be more palatable and less obvious to avoid social and legal sanctions. In fact, aversive racism is characterized by the simultaneous holding of egalitarian beliefs (e.g., “I believe all people should be treated equally”) and unconscious negative feelings and beliefs (i.e., intergroup anxiety, colorblind attitudes; Dovidio & Gaertner, 2004). Although aversive racism is not as forthright as its traditional counterpart, its effects on racial minorities are still substantial (Ozier et al., 2019).The impact of subtle biases is not limited to its negative influence on racial minorities’ mental health (Liao et al., 2016; Nadal et al., 2014; Soto et al., 2011), cognitive resources, working memory (Murphy et al., 2013), and quality of healthcare services (Hall et al., 2015). Furthermore, aversive racism can often be difficult to detect because its holders believe themselves to be truly egalitarian (Dovidio & Gaertner, 2004). This introduces complication when discussing how aversive attitudes can be improved upon, as people’s racist attitudes can hardly be changed if they do not believe themselves to be racist. Dovidio and Gaertner (2004) expressed that the most auspicious avenue for attitudinal change is some combination of strategies that impact both dimensions of aversive racism. In the current dissertation, I proposed that the theoretical combination of contact theory (Allport, 1954) and inoculation theory (McGuire, 1964) shows promise in affecting the most substantial positive change as it concerns aversive racism. T

The purpose of this study was to gain a broader understanding of how returning students and their parents navigated the reentry home after a study abroad experience. For returning students, reentry is a time of transition that involves reestablishing relationships, readjusting to the home culture, and integrating aspects of their own identity that might have changed while abroad. Reentry is also a time of adjustment for the parents of returning students, who are among the first to notice and respond to changes that their child experienced abroad. Drawing from three open-systems frameworks (i.e., family systems theory, Berry’s acculturative framework, and the integrative theory of communication and cross-cultural adaptation), this study explored how returning students and their parents experienced and used communication to recalibrate and navigate the reentry after a study abroad experience. Data were collected using retrospective, in-depth, interviews with a total of 62 participants (i.e., 31 parent-child dyads) and analyzed using principles of thematic analysis, constructivist grounded theory, and the framework method. Throughout the analysis, I considered the perspectives of both returning students and their parents to investigate individual (RQ1) and family experiences (RQ2), reacculturative strategies (RQ3), communication practices (RQ4), and relational changes (RQ5) that shaped the reentry after a study abroad experience. At the most general level, findings suggest that indeed, reentry was a time of transition that affected not only the returning student, but their family as well. As returning students navigated this transition, they experienced multiple and contrasting emotions while simultaneously navigating identity shifts, and reestablishing relationships at home (RQ1a). For parents, reentry was simultaneously a time of temporary disruption and intentional preparation to welcome their child back home and witness their growth and change from abroad (RQ1b). A

Research shows that sexual minority youth are at increased risk for negative mental health outcomes (Goldbach & Gibbs, 2017; Kann et al., 2017; The Trevor Project, 2019). According to the minority stress model (Meyer, 2003), such disparities are proportionately related to their experiences of sexual minority stress (e.g., discrimination, internalized homonegativity). The effects of minority stress on adverse mental health outcomes can be mitigated through coping and social support resources (Griffin et al., 2004; Toomey et al., 2018). While coping and support resources are empirically supported within the minority stress model, empirical research has yet to explore the role of rescripted or subverted mainstream media messages in such relationships. In light of this, the current dissertation examined a novel coping mechanism (i.e., queer readings), which was theorized to moderate the impact of minority stress and negative mental health among sexual minority youth. Scholars posit that media texts are polysemic (i.e., open to multiple interpretations; Hall & Jefferson, 1993; Nylund, 2007) and typically promote governing societal norms (Hall, 1973). Popular media represent a social institution within Western cultures in which dominant societal values, norms, and expectations are spread. Due to their marginalized position within society, sexual minority individuals are frequently underrepresented by mainstream media messages. One way in which marginalized individuals can challenge the dominant, heteronormative discourse is through subversive/queer readings in which individuals interpret messages against heteronormative ideals (Doty, 1993). Ultimately, this allows sexual minority youth to re-script mainstream media messages to fit within their experiences. In the current dissertation, I suggested that this process, referred to as queer readings, may help alleviate the impact of minority stress on negative mental health outcomes. In other words, queer readings create oppor

Research on overparenting (a.k.a. helicopter parenting) shows that it is associated with many negative qualities of the parent and the child, among which is mental distress. Guided by attachment theory, self-determination theory, bidirectional effects in parenting and child characteristics, and interpersonal theories of mental health, the present studies examined the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between overparenting and the mental health of both emerging adults and their parents as well as associated mechanisms. Study 1 was a six-month longitudinal study and collected data from American parents and emerging adult children. Results showed that overparenting prospectively predicted emerging adults’ attachment avoidance in romantic relationships. Moreover, emerging adults’ mental distress prospectively predicted overparenting, but not vice versa. For parents, neither prospective nor cross-sectional associations were observed between parental mental distress and overparenting. Study 2 was a cross-sectional study and collected data from 196 Chinese emerging adults. Results showed that overparenting was positively associated with child mental distress, and this effect was mediated by unfulfilled psychological needs. Altogether, the findings from the present studies suggest overparenting as a response to child mental distress during emerging adulthood, and the effect from overparenting on child mental distress might be more temporary than enduring, if any. Parental mental distress was not associated with overparenting.

Since the #MeToo movement of 2017, the modern media landscape reflects a set of two contradicting scripts in the media. The first is the dominant script where women are sexualized and encouraged to focus on their sexual appeal for men’s pleasure whereas men are encouraged to be sexual aggressors. The second is what I refer to as the Counter-Sexualization Script, wherein men are held accountable and punished for this same sexualization of women and women are valued outside of their sexualizing roles. Across three empirical studies, this dissertation investigated these cognitively inconsistent media messages. In Study 1, focus groups (n = 19) were conducted to conceptualize and develop items of the Counter-Sexualization Script. Three themes emerged in the focus groups: (1) Giving Women the Microphone, (2) Holding Predators Accountable, and (3) Consciousness Raising. These three themes served as the factors for the Counter-Sexualization Script measure. The identified themes informed 38 items for the Counter-Sexualization Script measure. In Study 2, I conducted factor analyses to examine if the Counter-Sexualization Script fit a three-factor structure with a separate sample of emerging adults (n = 605). Results indicated that the Counter-Sexualization Script fit a three-factor structure; 18 items were removed from the measure to improve model fit. The final Counter-Sexualization Script measure included 20 items and the three factors. Study 2 also established the convergent, predictive, and concurrent validity of the Counter-Sexualization Script measure. Results suggested that the Counter-Sexualization Script measure was uniquely distinct, yet negatively associated with similar concepts (e.g., self-objectification, sexism), demonstrated predictive ability with related concepts (e.g., heterosexual script endorsement, rape myth acceptance), and was positively associated with empathy towards rape victims; the Counter-Sexualization Script was not statistically associated wit