University
Introduction
● ¹Neurodiversityinvolvesthebeliefthatone’sdifficultytofollowthesocialnorms orcontributetowards societyisduetoprocessinginformationdifferentlyrather thansymptomatology
● ²ThisstudyaimstostudythemajorroleofPositivePsychology,whichisto promotewell-beingthroughprosocialbehaviorsandlifestylechoices.Positive Psychologyexploreshowindividualsthriveandflourishbyutilizingresourcesor strateogiesinsteadoftreatingpathology
● ³Actsofkindnessareconsideredtobeprosocialbehaviororactionsthatcanuplift others.Prosocialbehaviorengagementwaspositivelyassociatedwithsubjective well-being
● Gratitudeinvolvesonedisplayingapositiveemotionalreactionwhenrecieving benefitsandponderingovertheirfavors.
● 4Selfesteemisone’svaluationoftheselfthatcomesfromtheperceptionofbeing goodorvaluabletoothers
● 5Positivethinkingderivesfromrememberingpositiveeventsorexperiencesand suppressingnegativethoughts
● 6Onewhofrequentlyexperiencespositiveemotionsismorelikelytodevelop variousresiliencefactorssuchasenvironmentalmasteryorsocialsupport
● 7Executivefunctioningdescribescomplexcognitiveabilitiesthatcanenhanceone’s performanceofgoal-orientedbehavior
Method
● Therewereatotalof34participants(12neurodiverse,22non-neurodiverse)
● Onepredictorvariableisthetypeofgroup,specificallytheneurodivergentgroupandthe non-neurodiversegroup.
● Thesecondpredictorvariableisthetypeofactivitywhetheraparticipantwatches/listenstoa portionofaPositivePsychologyorienteddocumentarycalled“Happy”byRokoBelicor wrote aletterforfamiliesattheRonaldMcDonaldHouse
● Thedependentvariableistheoutcomemeasuresassessinggratitude,positivethinking, positivemindset,executivecontrolfunctioning,andselfesteemlevelsbasedonthescales.
● Thedurationoftheactivityshouldtakeapproximately30minutes
Materials
● 8TheGratitude(GQ-6)Scalepredictsgratitudelevelsbasedona6itemLikertscale consistingof7pointsfrom1representingstronglydisagreeto5representingstronglyagree.
● 9ThePositiveThinkingScalefocusesontowhatextentone’sthinkingalignswithpositiveor negativeaspectsbasedonthesituations
● 10ThePositiveMindsetScaleassessespositivemindsetlevelsthrougha6itemBipolar five-pointLikertscalewith1asinthenegativeextremeto5asinthepositiveextremein responsetosixstatementsonfeelingsormindsetatthemomentsuchashappinessor confident
● ¹¹TheExecutiveControlFunctioningScalemeasuresgeneralexecutivefunctioningaspects througha4itemLikertscaleof4pointsrangingfrom1asinnoproblemsexperiencedto4as inagreatmanyproblemsexperiencedwithatotalof6statements
● ¹²TheRosenbergSelf-EsteemScaleincorporatesa10itemLikertscaletomeasurepositive andnegativeself-esteemlevelsfrom4pointsrepresenting0asinstronglydisagree,1asin disagree,2asinagreeand3asinstronglydisagree
Results
FirstANOVAanalysis
● Thisstudyusedanindependent2x2ANOVA
● Therewasnomaineffectingratitudelevelchangewhether participantswroteacard(M=.5294, SD=2.45)or watched/listenedtothedocumentary(M=-.9412, SD=2.33), F(1)=1.684, p=.204).
● Therewasnomaineffectingratitudelevelswhetherthe participantsidentifiedasneurodiverse(M=-.0833, SD=1.51) ornon-neurodiverse(M=-.2727, SD=2.90),(F(1)=.108, p=.744).Therewasnointeractioningratitudelevelsbetween thetypeofactivityandtheneurodiverseidentificationamong participants(error=5.629, F(1)=2.341, p=.136).
Discussion
● Overall,thefindingsindicatethatparticipantswritingafeelbetter cardorwatching/listeningtoaportionofapositivepsychology documentarydidn’treportanysignificantchangesingratitude, positivethinking,positivemindset,executivecontrolfunctioning, andselfesteemlevels.
● Theprimarymainpurposeofthisstudywastoexploretheroleof actsofkindnessamongneurodiverseandnon-neurodiversestudents.
● ²Thesecondarypurposeistoincreaseawarenessonvariousaspects ofPositivePsychologysincethisareaofPsychologyisconsideredto beevolvingandmorewellknowntoresearcherscomparedtobefore
● Onemainstrengthisthatparticipantswererandomlyassignedto eitherwritingacardorwatchingorlisteningtoaportionofa documentaryrelatedtoPositivePsychology.
● Anotherstrengthwasthatsomeparticipantsidentifiedas neurodiverse,whichincreasesinclusionandrepresentationof anotherspecialgroup.
● Onemajorlimitationwasthatparticipantswereselectedbasedon specificpools,whichalignswithconveniencesampling.
● Another limitationisthattherewasasmallnumberofparticipants
● Primarily,itwouldbeinterestingtoheartheperspectivesof individuals,includingthosewhoidentifyasneurodiversewhenit comestolearningabouthowtheyengageintheircommunities.
● Secondly,thisstudywasdirectedtowardscollegestudentsand perhapsitwouldbehelpfulthatwelookintohowotheragegroups performprosocialbehaviorsandvolunteerwithintheircommunities.
FifthANOVAanslysis
● Therewasnomaineffectinselfesteemlevel changewhetherparticipantswroteacard (M=.0000, SD=1.27)orwatched/listenedtothe documentary(M=-.3529, SD=2.12), (F(1)=.986, p=.329).
● Therewasnomaineffectinself-esteemlevels whethertheparticipantsidentifiedasneurodiverse (M=-.3333, SD=1.87)ornon-neurodiverse (M=-.0909, SD=1.67),(F(1)=.039, p=.844).
● Therewasnointeractioninself-esteemlevels betweenthetypeofactivityandtheneurodiverse identificationamongparticipants(error=3.717, F(1)=2.399, p=.132).
References
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