The phenomenon of cognitive dissonance is described as the psychological process an individual undergoes when making a decision that involves conflicting beliefs or information. Understandings come mainly from both a biological perspective and a cognitive-behavioral perspective. Studying decision-making at an individual’s cognitive level has applications for the study of complex social processes such as political group action, modern digital communication, and religion. Understanding the phenomenon of cognitive dissonance is important to furthering our understanding of how people both obtain, retain, and replace ideologies. This literature review discusses the long-standing theories of cognitive-dissonance and then goes further to list and contrast criticisms of these paradigms as well as new data gathered on this topic. While the model of cognitive consistency, which is defined as an inherent human motivation to reduce inconsistent beliefs and ideas, is still widely accepted and used in psychology, there are now several challenges to this construct, mainly over the conception of consonance and dissonance and the subsequent processes that follow. These criticisms include the perspective that current methods over-measure processes of cognition that manifest in action, the perspective that people look outward to socially verified opinions and paradigms more than previously accounted for in current and past research, and that the choice process for decision preference is active during or already concluded by the time that subjects are self-aware of any conscious decision-making process. Methods are widely varied in this field and include fMRI, PET, behavior studies involving decision-related attitudes, and specific group case studies that include ethnography. Further research remains to be done regarding cognitive dissonance in both psycho-cultural and neurological contexts, as well as a reexamination of past literature on the topic within cognitive psychology.

Early home life and classroom environments are crucial to lifelong success. Family structure, opportunities for learning, and socioeconomic status (SES) influence experiences within the home. Further, SES impacts the resources that a student has access to, which can shape academic support and learning opportunities. Factors such as family climate, caregiver occupation and education, and parenting style have been shown to influence academic self-regulation and achievement. Literature has also pointed to the importance of relationships with peers and teachers on academic and social success. Few studies have examined how both of these environments impact student life into adulthood and litte research has explored social success in terms of feelings within interpersonal relationships and self-efficacy. The goal of the present study was to retrospectively explore experiences in the home and school environments throughout formative, developmental years and success later in life. Participants (n = 149) were asked about their family structure, SES, home learning environment (HLE), experiences in three separate academic eras, academic success, feelings in relationships, and self-efficacy. This study fills a paucity in the discussion of academic success by exploring a new measurement tool: the academic ladder, which examines a student's own perception of their achievement in relation to their classmates. Results confirm the impact of early experiences in the home and at school on later academic and social success. Interestingly, caregiver factors do not significantly impact students' interpersonal success as much as relationships with teachers and peers. Results also show that SES does not have an effect on opportunities for learning in the home; however, caregiver educational attainment affects those opportunities. Both HLE and caregiver variables have an effect on self-perceived academic success. Continuing to examine how educational experiences and environmental factors impact students' well-being will help develop intervention programs that best prepare youth to succeed throughout life.

Ability has long been an attributed reason as to why certain groups of people are more represented in some STEM fields than others. However, ability is likely not the only factor influencing group representation. In fact, there is an increasing body of literature describing how interest levels may have a larger impact on representation in STEM. The current study used a minimal groups design to investigate how individuals perceive interest and ability between two made up groups (Omes and Veps) as they relate to various STEM fields. This study collected data from University of Washington undergraduate students (N=100) and was administered through an online survey. Participants read one of two made up articles. One article discussed the Omes and Veps as having equal ability by showing equal scores on a standard test in Chemistry or Biology, while the other article portrayed an ability gap between the two groups by showing a lower score for the Veps. In both conditions, the Veps’ significant underrepresentation in the presented field was emphasized. Participants then answered a series of questions to access their opinions about interest and ability relating to the respective field. We predict that participants in the ability gap condition will report both groups as having equal interest in the field. We also predict that participants in the equal ability condition will report the Veps as less interested. Implications of expected findings could be used to explore potential mechanisms explaining unequal gender representation in STEM fields.

Gender violence is an extreme manifestation of bias. More and more, research suggests that attitudes surrounding such manifestations are likely the product of a combination of objective psychological mechanisms and more obvious reactions to socialization. This same body of work shows that understanding the combination is key to any attempt to effectively target biased behaviors. When it comes to gender violence and societal attitudes surrounding specific instances, psychological research barely scratches the surface of this interplay. The nearest researchers have come is in studies pertaining to power dynamics and reactions to stereotypes, with a few related tangents in courtroom-based studies and analyses of masculine identity. Database and library searches for research in the fields of group theory, gender identity and stereotype formation and maintenance confirmed the paucity of study and revealed an as-yet unexplored intersection between these fields. This literature review suggests exploring that intersection beginning with research that views gender as a group. Studies of gender salience in children show that where an expectation of gender duality is imposed, group-like behaviors emerge. Similar research into the behavior of minority students when a fellow minority student displays a negative trait demonstrates that when a group member is forcibly reminded of group membership, one of several in-group behaviors emerges. This appears to remain true in the case of a dominant group identity, though this area has yet to be thoroughly explored. This and related research suggests that the stark reminder of gender duality that is gendered violence may also bring psychological behaviors related to group membership into play. This makes the various theoretical frameworks posited for viewing group identity a potentially fruitful place to start identifying the social-psychological interplay at work in this area, providing the basis for deeper work on topics across the spectrum of gender.

For many years, the primary mode of treatment for people experiencing alcohol use disorder (AUD) has been abstinence-based treatment. Research has indicated, however, that abstinence-based treatment does not optimally engage or treat more severely affected populations, such as people experiencing AUD and homelessness. Instead, harm-reduction treatment approaches are more desirable for this population and can serve as an effective treatment alternative for people experiencing AUD and homelessness. Harm-reduction treatment entails a set of compassionate and pragmatic strategies to emphasize client autonomy, mitigate substance-related harm, and promote quality of life (QoL) without the need for abstinence or use-reduction. Specific components include assessment and tracking of harm-reduction metrics, harm-reduction goal-setting, and implementation of safer-use strategies. This secondary study (N = 213) served to qualitatively and quantitatively explore harm-reduction goals generated by participants in a larger, 4-arm randomized control trial of harm-reduction treatment for people experiencing homelessness and AUD. The three treatment groups included in this secondary study received: a) harm-reduction counseling only, b) harm-reduction counseling + medication assisted treatment (i.e., extended-release naltrexone), and c) harm-reduction counseling + placebo. Participant goals were recorded using the Safer Drinking and Harm Reduction Efforts (SHaRE) scale at baseline assessments and weeks 4, 8, and 12. Qualitative analyses will be conducted to determine the kinds of goals participants generated throughout the 12-week treatment period. Additional descriptive, quantitative analyses will establish quantity of participant goals set at each time point. Finally, inferential statistics will be used to test harm-reduction goals as correlates of alcohol outcomes across the 12-week treatment period. It is expected that a) the combined pharmacotherapy group will generate, progress toward, and achieve more goals than other study conditions; and b) quality-of-life goals will be more strongly associated with reduced alcohol-related harm than drinking-related goals.