All poster presentations for Research Methods in Psychology will be held at 11 am in Hostetter Chapel 

This paper examines the relationship between relationship status and extroversion. A review of previous studies found that a link between extroversion and positive relationship opportunities may exist for college students (Gazzard et al., 2020; Wade et al., 2022). However, neither the relationship between extroversion and relationship status nor its impact on religiously affiliated college students has been studied frequently. This study hypothesized that there would be a positive relationship between extroversion and relationship status. Participants (N=90), college students at a religiously affiliated university (ages 18-23), completed a survey measuring extroversion and relationship status. The result of this study showed that there is a statistically non-significant, positively trending relationship between extroversion and relationship status, r (88) = 0.04, p = 0.70, meaning that the amount of extroversion does not affect if someone is single or in a relationship within our population. Further study is needed to determine if these results remain consistent with a larger, more representative sample and with a relationship scale with higher sensitivity. 

The current study aimed to determine whether increasing daily water intake improves happiness. One hundred participants from a small religiously affiliated school in the northeast of the United States were selected to complete an online survey regarding information on demographics, happiness level, and daily water intake. Subjective happiness was assessed via the Subjective Happiness Scale which utilized the seven-point Likert Scale. Water intake was assessed by asking respondents how much water they drink per day in ounces. It was specified that coffee, tea, and sparkling water do not count. There was a statistically significant but moderately weak, correlation between increased water intake and happiness, r (93) = 0.24, p = 0.02, meaning that a larger water intake is weakly correlative to higher happiness levels. A limitation of this research was the use of a survey and the reliance on self-reported data which is subject to bias. To eliminate this issue further research should be conducted in a laboratory setting where participants are given a specific amount of water per day and blood samples are taken to test serotonin levels indicating happiness level. 

The present study aimed to examine the relationship between sleep quality and happiness. Previous research in the area of sleep quality has found that good sleep quality can have benefits on Body Mass Index (BMI) and cardiovascular performance (Castelli et al., 2022; Pilcher et al., 202). Previous studies pertaining to happiness have found that emotional and physical variables can affect overall subjective happiness (Qu 2020; Satici 2020). Previous research on the relationship between sleep quality and happiness has found a significantly positive correlation between the two variables (Kouros et al., 2022; Mushtaq et al., 2014). Therefore, it was hypothesized that there would be a positive relationship between sleep quality and happiness. The study included 86 participants, with 58 females, 26 males, and 2 who preferred not to say. Participants were recruited via convenience sampling to take a survey that included questions from the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the Subjective Happiness Scale. The results showed a moderately negative correlation between sleep quality and happiness, r (84) = -0.336, p <0.002. This means that poor sleep quality increases subjective happiness, and good sleep quality decreases subjective happiness. Therefore, it was concluded that further research is needed to examine the relationship between sleep quality and happiness, potentially from a nonlinear perspective. 

This study sought to understand the relationship between pet ownership and well-being in the population of college students. Previous research had identified the psychological benefits of spending time with or owning a pet for college students (Grajfoner et al., 2017; Khalid et al., 2021). Convenience sampling was used to distribute a survey to students in dining areas of a small, religiously affiliated university in the northeast. The survey included a psychological well-being scale to measure well-being and inquired about the number of pets students lived with on a permanent basis. The hypothesis of the research was that pet ownership would be negatively correlated with the well-being scores of college students, indicating a positive correlation between the variables. A negative correlation between pet ownership and well-being scores was found although it was not significant. This may be because of the many other factors that may impact the well-being of participants. College students may benefit more from spending short periods with pets than owning a pet of their own because of the financial cost and responsibility of caring for a pet.  

This study aimed to study the relationship between social media usage and happiness levels, using the Subjective Happiness Scale. There were 117 participants from a small, religiously affiliated university in the northeast, who were recruited through convenience sampling. Participants were asked to complete the Subjective Happiness Scale and asked questions regarding their social media usage, especially about TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat. The data collected included mean happiness levels and average number of hours spent on social media daily. No significant correlation was found between social media use and happiness level. Future research could use random sampling, tailor the social media questions more towards the time spent on the apps, and conduct an experimental study to determine the causal change in the variables. 

Exercise and sleep quality are key contributors to one’s overall health. Previous studies found that increased physical activity coincided with better sleep quality (Johnston et al. 2021; Wunsch et al., 2017). The goal of this study was to further analyze this positive correlation on a small, religiously affiliated university campus using a short online survey. Ninety-seven participants responded to the survey questions regarding the average number of minutes an individual exercised daily, and how they would rank their level of sleep quality, which were adapted from the Fitbit “Active” Minutes Scale (Broaddus et al., 2021) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (Gilbert et al., 2010) respectively. The results showed a correlation coefficient of 0.06, which means the relationship between exercise duration and sleep quality was almost non-existent. The researchers concluded that the findings did not support the hypothesis or previous findings. This research shows that more studies need to be conducted to corroborate past research findings due to apparent inconsistencies. The goal of future research is to better understand the relationship between exercise duration and sleep quality and advocate for the institution of educational programs that lead college students and others to prioritize these intertwined factors and lead healthier lives.