November 6, 2012 (Jackson) - A team of students from Belhaven’s Psychology Program received the award for best undergraduate research poster at the Annual Convention of the Mississippi Psychological Association (MPA) on September 12-14 in Gulfport, Miss. This is the second year Belhaven students have won this award at the MPA conference.
Students submitted two original studies that were conceived, designed and conducted by students in the Undergraduate Honors Research class taught by Dr. Scott White, Professor of Psychology. “I’m proud of our students’ success. Going to professional conventions such as this expands their understanding of the profession and helps give them a vision for their future,” said Dr. White.
Other universities submitting original undergraduate research included Ole Miss, Southern Mississippi, Millsaps College and Jackson State University. Psychologists attending the conference voted on the best original undergraduate study and the best graduate psychology study.
The winning study was titled “Young Women and Revealing Dress: A Comparison Between Female Motivations and Male Attributions Using Social Media & Online Surveys”. This study examined how males tend to wrongly attribute young women’s dress as being motivated by a woman’s desire to gain sexual attention from males. This year’s undergraduate researchers were Rachel Myers, Jessica Polson, Grace Owens, Francis Ratcliffe, April Williams and Stephanie Wilson.
Students in the current Undergraduate Honors Research class had the opportunity to attend meetings exploring the various career opportunities in psychology as well as presentations on a variety of topics in professional psychology.