A Study of Nonverbal Communication Decoding and its Relation to Marital Satisfaction

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Christopher Neu, Trevor Alder, and Dr. Spencer James, School of Family Life Improving communication within the family can lead to more satisfying marriage and family relationships. Communication includes interaction through words, tone of voice, and our focus in the study, body language. Body language is a key form of communication, because of its honest demonstration […]

Shyness and Relationship Expectations

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Stephanie Richardson and Larry Nelson, School of Family Life Introduction Emerging work suggests that socially withdrawn individuals are at risk for a variety of problems during emerging adulthood (Luster, Nelson, & Busby, 2013; Tackett, Nelson, & Busby, 2013). In particular, a variety of studies link relationship difficulties to shy individuals within the context of romantic […]

Differential Number of Days Lived Among Utah Centenarians

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Haley Bronson and Jeremy Yorgason, School of Family Life Introduction As a result of the nearly 77 million people born during the Baby Boom, older adults are the fastest growing segment of the population in the United States1. Centenarians, those who live to be 100 years of age or older, are a burgeoning subgroup of […]

It’s How You Respond: Emotional Preschoolers and their Longterm Victimization

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Sarah Shepard and David Nelson, School of Family Life Introduction Experiencing victimization by peers can have detrimental consequences for children, such as depressive symptoms, social anxiety, and feelings of loneliness (Crick & Grotpeter, 1995; Crick, Ostrov, & Werner, 2006; Prinstein, Boergers, & Vernberg, 2001; Tran, Cole, & Weiss, 2012). For this reason, it is important […]

Positive Psychology Holistic Determinants, Testosterone Treatment, and Veteran Happiness

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Jameson Brau and Faculty Mentor: Larry Nelson, College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences In this study I design a survey instrument and construct a data panel from the responses of a sample of US veterans. As part of the survey, I estimate the level of happiness each veteran exhibits using the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire. […]

Pregnancy, Media, and Body Image

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Madison Memmott and Sarah Coyne, Family Life Introduction Research shows that exposure to certain portrayals of women in media can influence women’s body image (Grabe, et al., 2008), self-esteem (Groesz, et al., 2002), eating behaviors and beliefs, as well as the tendency to have an eating disorder (Holmstrom, 2004). Accordingly, research shows that the effects […]

Analysis of the Salary Gap in the Library Workforce

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Sean Miner and Faculty Mentor: Quinn Galbraith, HBLL, Family Life and Sociology Since 1980, the Associate of Research Libraries (ARL) has annually published a comprehensive salary survey that provides useful information on librarian salaries, separating them by institution, personal characteristics, and other factors. At the beginning of each of the surveys, ARL has documented many […]

Normative Perceptions of Aggression among Ukrainian, Turkish, and Taiwanese Adolescents

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Audrey Schoenfeld and David Nelson, School of Family Life Introduction The purpose of this project was to code data collected from survey’s given to adolescents in three different countries. The purpose of the survey was to investigate the current adolescent perceptions of aggression in Turkey, Taiwan, and Ukraine. We also coded data collected from the […]

Perceptions of Aggression in Turkish Adolescents

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Stacy Victoria Call and David Nelson, School of Family Life Introduction The adolescent years have been described as a “unique developmental period wherein relationships become increasingly important and intimate.”1 This being said, many relationships can become tainted or ruined when injured with aggression. Studies have shown that many adolescents are involved in physical and/or relational […]

The Meaning Behind a Child Saying, “Let’s Play!”

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Brandon Clifford and Larry Nelson, School of Family Life Introduction Social withdrawal functions as an umbrella term capturing various types of withdrawn behavior in children (Coplan & Rubin, 2010). Past research has defined more specific types of withdrawal using various approaches including observed play behaviors (Coplan, et al., 1994). To illustrate, reticent children (a form […]