Off-campus UNL users: To download campus access dissertations, please use the following link to log into our proxy server with your NU ID and password. When you are done browsing please remember to return to this page and log out.
Non-UNL users: Please talk to your librarian about requesting this dissertation through interlibrary loan.
INFERENCES OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS (LABELING, ATTRIBUTION)
Abstract
This study examined the process by which people attribute psychopathology to other people. It was hypothesized that inferences of psychopathology would depend upon the observed quality of an interpersonal relationship, the capacity of an observer to empathize with a target person, and the extent to which an observer uses constructs of psychopathology to understand other people. The participants in this study were 249 undergraduate students in psychology. They participated voluntarily and were randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions. In one experimental condition, subjects were asked to observe a tape of a target person talking to a friend about a personal problem. The level of social involvement of the persons in the tape was varied. In the second experimental condition, subjects were asked to observe the tape of a target person talking to them about a personal problem. The level of social involvement of the target person was varied, and randomly chosen groups of subjects were requested to assume an empathic stance. Subjects' judgments of psychopathology were measured using a behavior postdiction test. In addition, subjects answered a questionnaire on their feelings of empathy and related issues. Random groups of subjects were given a Role Construct Repertory Test which included the elicitation of constructs of psychopathology. The results showed that interpersonal interest in a target person is most influential in the process of attributing psychopathology when the situation does not involve a more personal stance from the observer. In a situation which involves a more personal stance from the observer, the feelings of empathy appeared to be most influential in the process of attributing psychopathology. Although the results were not significant, a trend was observed where subjects who had psychopathology constructs in their systems attributed high psychopathology to the target person. Exploratory findings on other variables, such as the sex of the observers and the content of psychopathology constructs were discussed. Areas of future investigation were delineated.
Subject Area
Psychotherapy
Recommended Citation
COLON, ANA ISABEL, "INFERENCES OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS (LABELING, ATTRIBUTION)" (1986). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI8624584.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI8624584