Gender and Motivation in Concussion Symptoms
Open Access
- Author:
- Slavin, Ariel Tamara
- Area of Honors:
- Psychology
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Peter Andrew Arnett, Thesis Supervisor
Kenneth N. Levy, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Concussion
Gender
Motivation - Abstract:
- There is an apparent divergence between genders in their reports of concussion symptoms in that women tend to report fewer symptoms than men. In an effort to uncover the underlying causes of gender differences in reports of concussion symptoms, the present study examined the role of motivation in affecting this variation. Archival data of participants who have had a concussion were used, and I evaluated three scales. The Examiner Motivation Scale assesses the athletes’ motivation according to the perception of the person giving the test. The Subject Motivation Scale examines the athletes’ self-rated motivation. Lastly, the Post Concussion Symptom Scale assesses the athletes’ self-report of symptoms. It was predicted that gender would be associated with differences in motivation that, in turn, would be associated with self-reports of concussion symptoms. In other words, the theory and research presented in this thesis examined the possibility that gender differences in motivation help to explain the well-documented gender differences in the reports of post-concussion symptoms. The main effect of motivation was found to be significant, but only when rated by the examiner. Additionally, the interaction between gender and motivation to affect Post Concussion Symptom Scale scores was significant, but again, only when the motivated was examiner-rated.