Record Details
Karmic Effects: How Aggressive Behavior Toward Important People Changes the Perception of Others
ScholarsArchive at Oregon State University
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Title | Karmic Effects: How Aggressive Behavior Toward Important People Changes the Perception of Others |
| Names |
Whitman, Frederick R.
(creator) Edwards, John (advisor) |
| Date Issued | 2014-05-30 (iso8601) |
| Note | Honors Bachelor of Science (HBS) |
| Abstract | Synthesizing perspectives from Bruner (1957), and the Mind Only School of Buddhism, the current study examined the effect of a persons’ own behavior on knowledge activation. Both social cognitive psychology and the Mind Only School posit that perception is based on previously learned knowledge. Knowledge is accumulated through an individual’s experience, and information is categorized by the mind. Once mental categories are constructed they are ready for use in interpreting stimuli. Some categories, such as hostility, have shown to be activated through a person’s own behavior (Chandler and Schwarz, 2009). Methods of the current study partially replicated those by Chandler and Schwarz (2009), where extension of the middle finger activated constructs of aggression. Participants extended their middle-fingers (as if flipping off) toward a photo of their mothers, or a photo of a different female, and subsequently rated a character on hostility related characteristics. The hypothesis of the study was that those who extended their middle-finger toward a photo of their mother would perceive the character as more aggressive than those who extended their middle finger toward a photo of a different female. The hypothesis was not statistically supported. |
| Genre | Thesis |
| Topic | Buddhism |
| Identifier | http://hdl.handle.net/1957/50864 |
