Summerfeldt, Laura J

While preferences for symmetry are seemingly universal, they can be seen at their most extreme among individuals high in trait incompleteness. As yet, it is unclear why incompleteness yields heightened symmetry preferences. Summerfeldt et al. (2015) speculated that individuals high in incompleteness may develop heightened preferences for symmetry due to its greater perceptual fluency. Accordingly, the aim of the present set of three experiments was to examine this relationship. Implicit preferences for symmetry were measured using a modified version of the Implicit Association Test (IAT) reported by Makin et al. (2012). Experiments 1 (N = 24) and 2 (N = 24) examined whether the general implicit preferences for symmetry and influence of perceptual fluency reported by Makin et al. (2012) extended to a within-subjects design. Experiment 3 (N = 86) examined whether trait incompleteness is related to greater implicit preferences for symmetric stimuli, and whether perceptual fluency affects this association. Results showed that incompleteness and implicit preferences were related, and that incompleteness-related differences in preferences were eliminated when the patterns were equally perceptually fluent, supporting the idea that incompleteness-related preferences for symmetry are linked to perceptual fluency. Implications of these findings are discussed.

While existing models of emotional intelligence (EI) generally recognize the importance of social competencies (SC), there is a tendency in the literature to narrow the focus to competencies that pertain to the self. Given the experiential and perceptual differences between self- vs. other-oriented emotional abilities, this is an important limitation of existing EI models and assessment tools. This thesis explores the psychometric properties of a multidimensional model for SC. Chapter 1 describes the evolution of work on SCs in modern psychology and describes the multidimensional model of SC under review. Chapter 2 replicates this model across a variety of samples and explores the model's construct validity via basic personality and EI constructs. Chapter 3 further explores the predictive validity of the SC measure within a group of project managers and several success and wellness variables. Chapter 4 examines potential applications for the model and suggestions for further research.

Author Keywords: emotional intelligence, project management, social competency, work readiness

Young children learn their emotion regulation skills by modeling and internalizing their caregivers' emotional competencies. Inadequate or problematic emotional competencies in parents can result in insufficient development of these competencies in children, which can

have severe consequences on multiple domains of their lives, including physical wellbeing. This study examined the relationship between emotional competencies, health care usage rates, somatization and health anxiety in the context of a family with young children. Participants were mothers of children 4-11 years old recruited in the community. The results revealed a relationship between mother's emotional competencies and mother and child's health care usage rates. Mother's health care usage rates were also linked to mother's health anxiety and child's somatic symptoms. These findings add to our understanding of the relationship between emotional competencies of parents and children, and the effects it can have on both mother's and child's physical wellbeing. Implications and avenues for future research are discussed.

Author Keywords: emotional competencies, health care usage, mother and child, somatization