Date of Graduation
Summer 2020
Degree
Master of Science in Psychology
Department
Psychology
Committee Chair
Amber Abernathy
Abstract
While much research has been done on altruism and people's perceptions of the altruistic tendencies of others, perception of altruism as it relates to self, especially in relation to the influence of internal states, lacks similarly extensive investigation. This study aims to explore how the stable internal states of personality and the fluid states of mood play a role in our own perceptions of our altruistic tendencies. Participants were provided with a personality questionnaire and exposed to image sets designed to induce positive or negative mood. The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) was administered post mood induction to verify successful change in affective state. Participants were provided with a questionnaire presenting altruistic behaviors subjects might hypothetically engage in, and were asked how often they believe they would engage in the behaviors in the near future. Lastly subjects were asked if they would be willing to participate in another study as a means of acquiring an explicit altruism measure. It is hypothesized agreeableness and conscientiousness will impact self-perceived altruism, while emotional states (positive and negative) will have a negligible impact.
Keywords
personality, conscientiousness, agreeableness, mood induction, altruism
Subject Categories
Personality and Social Contexts
Copyright
© Justin Thomas Robertello
Recommended Citation
Robertello, Justin Thomas, "Trait Conscientiousness and Agreeableness in Relation to Positive and Negative Mood Self-Perceived Altruism" (2020). MSU Graduate Theses. 3530.
https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/3530
