After seven grueling months of hard work, a Sacramento State student’s psychology research on the effect an audience has on gender-specific performance was published in the McNair Scholars Journal, a publication dedicated to student research.

Ariel Mosley, a senior psychology and philosophy major, titled her article “Gender Discrepancies in Social Facilitation,” which was based off an experiment conducted amongst 62 randomly selected students.

“I did my research on gender and performance effects,” Mosley said. “I basically had two groups that did a task either by themselves or in an audience. The expectation is that if you do it in front of an audience, your performance is worse.” Each subject was placed in either an empty room or one with an audience. A pile of 30 M&M’s was laid on a table and students were instructed to organize each M&M by color into separate cups. Students were also responsible for starting and stopping the stopwatch provided to them.

“I found that women did a lot worse on the task in front of an audience than men did,” Mosley said. “Men have interdependent ways of thinking. When they do a task with an audience, it helps establish their uniqueness and dominance.”

Out of the 20 men and 42 women who participated, without an audience it took men an average of 32.44 seconds while it took women an average of 36.77 seconds to complete the task. With an audience, it took men an average of 39.45 seconds while it took women 55.2 seconds to complete.

“This program has helped me develop so much academically and professionally,” Mosley said.

The two-year program prepares select students for admission and study at the doctoral level. Mosley was recommended by the department chair to join the McNair Scholars Program at Sac State in March earlier this year. Students who are also involved in the program have been a part of the researching process since summer of 2011.

“That’s what was amazing,” said cohort Theo Harrison, a senior communication studies major. “She came a little later in the process. A lot of her research that was done with her mentor was well-developed.”

Despite working two jobs, assisting in research for others and having full-time student responsibilities, Mosley was more than willing to take the challenge of adding on the project.

“I am overwhelmed to the max,” Mosley said. “But I like it. I have a very excitable personality where I need a lot going on all the time.”

Her cohorts agree that her driven and eccentric personality is what made her stand out and allowed her to be a part of the program so late in the game.

“She’s really high-energy and makes things easy for people to relate to. In using M&M’s in her research, I thought it was different,” Harrison said. “Even though the topic is hard to grasp, she uses simple concepts.”

A student with a lot on her plate, Mosley said she finds joy in what she does although it’s been an intense experience. She is determined to continue learning as much as she can and discovering new concepts.

“I am so in love with psychology and I love learning so much. It’s so nerdy,” Mosley said. “I just always had a dream that I wanted to teach and figure out new things. I’m the first person in my family to go to college.”

Being the first member of her family to attend college was not the only obstacle she had to overcome. Mosley’s mother, Marlene Mosley, was diagnosed with lymphoma, a type of cancer, in 2009, which put her education on hold while she took the time to focus on family. Once her mother showed improvement, she was able to transfer to Sac State in the fall 2011 semester.

“That situation is what gave me the drive to work this hard,” Mosley said. “Once I transferred, I thought, ‘Okay, it’s time to do this.’”

Mosley’s parents are more than ecstatic for their daughter’s success. They continue to support her in every endeavor she strives for in any way they can.

“I have 10 siblings – a huge family. She is the first one that has ever done something like this. We didn’t really understand how successful she was until we saw her work,” her mother Marlene said. “We are so proud of her and will always be her greatest supporters.”

Maikalina Madali can be reached at [email protected]