Cultural background and norms can shape beliefs and behavior. As such, the propensity toward seeking help from others is likely also dependent on cultural background. Those who identify strongly with their native culture may have different attitudes toward help-seeking compared to individuals who are more acculturated to U.S. culture. This investigation surveyed a sample of 551 participants from four ethnic backgrounds via Prolific and the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences Research Participation System (SONA) to examine whether greater overall help-seeking was evident among 1) individuals from the majority U.S. culture (European American) compared with ethnic minority individuals in the U.S. identifying as Black/African American, Asian American, or Hispanic/Latino; 2) individuals who endorsed more individualistic cultural values; 3) individuals reporting higher levels of acculturation (i.e., greater comfort with mainstream American culture); and 4) individuals who reported greater emotion granularity (EG), which is the ability to understand one’s own emotions in a more detailed way; and 5) the interactions of ethnic group and each of these constructs (i.e., individualism, acculturation, and emotion granularity). Results based on analysis of variance revealed that, contrary to the first study hypothesis (H1), White/European American participants reported being less likely to seek help for personal or emotional problems than Black/African American participants. In exploratory analyses, Black/African Americans also reported greater help-seeking tendencies than Asian Americans. Also contrary to what was hypothesized (H2), participants high in individualism reported less help-seeking tendencies than participants low in individualism. The third hypothesis (H3) was not supported: Ethnicity did not interact with individualism in predicting help-seeking behavior. As hypothesized (H4), greater acculturation (i.e., comfort with mainstream culture), was associated with greater help seeking; however, (H5) acculturation and ethnic group membership did not interact to predict help-seeking. Finally (H6), there were not differences in help-seeking based on comparisons of individuals higher versus lower in EG, nor did EG interact with ethnic group membership (H7); however, exploratory correlational results indicated greater EG (when measured as a continuous variable) was associated with greater help-seeking. Understanding cultural influences on help-seeking can be invaluable in helping professionals navigate how to effectively provide diverse populations with culturally accessible resources.

Gratitude is defined as a state of being in which a person is able to acknowledge and appreciate something they have benefitted from. From a social perspective, gratitude can involve thanking another person for a kind act. Research has shown that gratitude can encourage self-improvement, feelings of connection, and humility. Most of the research available surrounds the positive emotions that accompany gratitude. There is a gap in the literature on how gratitude evokes and is accompanied by negative emotions. Following the guidance of Katie Nelson-Coffey and John Coffey, this study will evaluate whether gratitude increases feelings of indebtedness and decreases impulsivity.

Transgender populations display disproportionately poorer health outcomes compared to the general population. On average, these populations tend to experience decreased well-being in part through increased mental health concerns (e.g., anxiety, depression) and poorer physical and behavioral health status. Understanding the process by which these deleterious outcomes occur for this population is integral to developing interventions. This thesis aimed to examine whether experiences of gender dysphoria and body dissatisfaction influenced the association of felt pressure to conform to gender norms with mental health and quality of life outcomes. Specifically, I hypothesized that greater pressure to conform to gender norms would be directly related to worse mental health and quality of life outcomes, and that gender dysphoria and body dissatisfaction would indirectly mediate this relationship. Furthermore, I hypothesized that participants' gender identity would moderate this relationship, such that transgender individuals would show stronger associations on all pathways as compared to cisgender individuals. The sample consisted of 211 individuals – 109 being transgender and 102 being cisgender. Participants completed a 15-minute online survey including a consent form. Results indicated partial support of hypotheses – pressure to conform to gender norms directly predicted outcomes of compromised mental health (i.e., depression, anxiety, and stress), but did not predict well-being or quality of life. Furthermore, gender dysphoria (but not body dissatisfaction) mediated the relationship between felt pressure for gender conformity and compromised mental health outcomes for cisgender participants, but unexpectedly not for transgender participants. Post hoc analyses suggest that perceived discrimination mediated the relation between felt pressure and all mental health measures and quality of life measures for both transgender and cisgender participants.