Case Study

Based on your comprehension of the original MacDonald and Martineau (2002) findings, justify whether Dr. Silva must measure self-esteem in her replication attempt to fully capture the expected effects on risky behavior.

Case context: Dr. Silva is developing a new study based on the findings of MacDonald and Martineau (2002). She plans to induce a negative emotional state in a group of female university students and then assess their likelihood of engaging in risky behaviors. Before running the study, Dr. Silva must select measurement tools for her variables. She finds an established survey for assessing self-worth, but she is unsure if she actually needs to include it, since her primary interest is the effect of mood on behavior.

Question: Based on your comprehension of the original MacDonald and Martineau (2002) findings, justify whether Dr. Silva must measure self-esteem in her replication attempt to fully capture the expected effects on risky behavior.

Sample answer: Dr. Silva must include a measure of self-esteem because MacDonald and Martineau found that negative mood only increased intentions for unprotected sex among participants with low self-esteem. Without measuring self-esteem, Dr. Silva would not be able to observe this specific interaction effect, and her overall results might be obscured if she groups all participants together regardless of their self-esteem levels.

Key points:

  • Recommends that Dr. Silva must measure self-esteem.
  • Explains that the original study found an effect only for participants with low self-esteem.
  • Demonstrates comprehension that analyzing mood alone without self-esteem would fail to replicate the full findings.

Rubric: Full credit is awarded for correctly stating that self-esteem must be measured and accurately explaining that the original effect of negative mood on sexual intentions was exclusively seen in students with low self-esteem.

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Updated 2026-05-27

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Research Methods in Psychology - 4th American Edition @ KPU

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