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MINDFULNESS AND HEALTH BEHAVIORS: DOES AUTONOMOUS MOTIVATION MEDIATE ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN MINDFULNESS AND HEALTH BEHAVIORS IN COLLEGE STUDENTS?
Title
MINDFULNESS AND HEALTH BEHAVIORS: DOES AUTONOMOUS MOTIVATION MEDIATE ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN MINDFULNESS AND HEALTH BEHAVIORS IN COLLEGE STUDENTS?
Creator
Coppersmith, Jody
Date
2016, 2016-07
Description
College is a critical period for the development of life-long health behaviors, and college students are particularly vulnerable to engaging...
Show moreCollege is a critical period for the development of life-long health behaviors, and college students are particularly vulnerable to engaging in high risk health behaviors, including physical inactivity and poor nutritional habits, that are risk factors for the development of chronic diseases. Current interventions aimed at promoting positive health behaviors in this population have shown limited efficacy. However, prior research suggests that both mindfulness and autonomous motivation are important theoretical constructs in health promotion and disease prevention research and intervention. To date, limited research has been conducted to understand the relationship amongst mindfulness, autonomous motivation, and health behaviors. This study examined the relationship between mindfulness, autonomous motivation, and health behaviors in college students. Based on self-determination theory, it was hypothesized that autonomous motivation would mediate the relationship between mindfulness and health behaviors, specifically physical activity and fruit and vegetable intake. Participants were 187 college students who completed a series of online questionnaires including demographic information, mindfulness, autonomous motivation for physical activity and to eat fruits and vegetables, physical activity, and fruit and vegetable intake. Results indicated that autonomous motivation to eat fruits and vegetables mediated the association between mindfulness and fruit and vegetable intake. Similarly, autonomous motivation for physical activity mediated the association between mindfulness and physical activity. These findings support autonomous motivation as a mechanism through which mindfulness impacts health behaviors. Thus, mindfulness should be incorporated into the self-determination theory of health-behavior change and represents a promising avenue for health behavior intervention in college students.
Ph.D. in Psychology, July 2016
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WHO ONLINE DATES? PERSON VARIABLE PREDICTORS OF ONLINE DATING
Title
WHO ONLINE DATES? PERSON VARIABLE PREDICTORS OF ONLINE DATING
Creator
Coppersmith, Jody
Date
2012-04-23, 2012-05
Description
Due to social and technological changes, an increasing number of people are turning to online dating to seek romantic partners. People who...
Show moreDue to social and technological changes, an increasing number of people are turning to online dating to seek romantic partners. People who engage in online dating were initially thought to be socially anxious, shy individuals who became distressed in face-to-face interactions and used the Internet to compensate for their social challenges (McKenna & Bargh, 2000). However, more recent research has suggested this may no longer be the case (Valkenburg and Peters, 2007). The psychological literature has begun to address a wide range of person variables that may be related to online dating, but given the rapidly changing nature of the Internet, there is limited amount of understanding of the characteristics and motivations of individuals who engage in online dating. This study investigated the relationship between online dating and age, gender, fear of negative evaluation, introversion, perceived social support, general self-efficacy, and success finding dates face-to-face. Additionally, the belief that the online world reflects the offline world was assessed by examining the relationship between success finding dates face-to-faces and success finding dates online. The sample consisted of 110 participants: 55 participants who endorsed online dating and 55 individuals who did not endorse online dating. Results revealed that significant differences existed between online daters and non-online daters for age, success finding dates face-to-face, and perceived social support. However, only age and success finding dates face-to-face were significant predictors of who online dates. There was not a significant correlation between success findings dates face-to-face and success finding dates online. Overall, there appear to be limited differences in person characteristics of online daters and non-online daters. Online daters did not differ from non-online daters in social characteristics, one way or the other, as prior research has indicated. Rather, people of all types appear to be online dating. Despite the limitations of this study, these findings add to the growing online dating literature and support the case for an overall broad influence of technology on individuals’ lives, relationship formation, and relationship maintenance.
M.S. in Psychology, May 2012
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