Gender and role-based perceptions of domestic abuse: does sexual orientation matter?

Although it is estimated that domestic abuse is as common in gay male and lesbian intimate relationships as in heterosexual relationships, the legal system often fails to recognize or respond to same-gender cases. Empirical research examining the impact of sexual orientation on perceptions of abuse is virtually nonexistent. Undergraduates (N = 252) read a summary of a domestic abuse incident in which victims and perpetrators varied by gender and, by implication, sexual orientation. Victim and respondent gender, rather than the couple's sexual orientation, primarily affected responses to domestic abuse. Domestic abuse perpetrated against women was perceived to be more serious and in need of intervention than abuse against men. Women were more likely than men to believe the victim and to recommend criminal justice system interventions. Because they are inconsistent with gender role stereotypes, domestic abuse cases involving male victims or female perpetrators may not receive equitable treatment within the criminal justice system.     

Women and body dissatisfaction: Does sexual orientation make a difference?

In this study, heterosexual (n = 95) and nonheterosexual (n = 84) women were asked to rate figure drawings and computer-generated images of women that varied in body fat, waist-to-hip ratio, and breast size in terms of self, ideal, and cultural ideal; discrepancy indices, indicating body dissatisfaction, were created for each body aspect. Nonheterosexual women had significantly higher body mass indices (BMIs) than heterosexual women, but when the effects of BMI were controlled, participants evidenced similar perceptions of their bodies, their ideal bodies, and the female cultural ideal, as well as similar levels of body dissatisfaction for body fat, waist-to-hip ratio, and breast size. The results of this study suggest that being a member of a society that highly values a thin, curvaceous, relatively large-breasted body puts women, regardless of sexual orientation, at risk for body dissatisfaction.     

Parallel reading and mathematics growth for English learners: Does timing of reclassification matter?

This study compared reading and mathematics growth trajectories in a statewide dataset of 33,715 students across third through fifth grades. Specifically, we examined growth for English Learners (ELs) who were reclassified as no longer needing English Language services at different grade levels as compared to their never-EL peers. Overall, EL students performed significantly below never-EL students on reading and mathematics assessments at Grade 3, with EL students making greater academic gains across time points than never-EL students. Students who were reclassified after third grade and after fourth grade closed, or began to close, the academic opportunity gap by the end of fifth grade, providing promising evidence suggesting that reclassification policies are adequate for identifying those students who no longer need EL services. Students who continued to be classified as EL from third through fifth grades continued to score significantly lower than never-ELs, and in many cases other EL groups, indicating that there exists a group of EL students who continue to make inadequate reading and mathematics gains across late elementary school. Implications for policy and practices that support EL students' mathematics and reading growth are discussed.     

Does accuracy matter? A review of the consequences of accurate personality impressions as a function of context and content

What are the implications of seeing others as they see themselves? That is, does viewing others accurately have consequences, positive or negative, to relationship evaluations (e.g., liking)? To address this, the current article provides a comprehensive review of the personality accuracy literature and discusses related work from the self-verification and empathic accuracy domains. We specifically explore whether the consequences of accurate perceptions could be influenced by two key categories of moderators: the context of the impression (e.g., high vs. low stakes) and content of the impression (e.g., desirability of traits). Lastly, we discuss future directions to aid our understanding of this question.     

Does pattern matching require the normalization of size and orientation?

Subjects judged whether two visual patterns had the same shape under conditions in which the patterns could vary orthogonally in size and orientation. Analyses of reaction times and errors indicated that, before judging the correspondence between shapes, subjects normalized orientational variation by means of a continuous mental rotation. However, an analogous normalization for variation in size was not detected, and thus no evidence for an internal operation of size scaling was obtained in this experiment. The latter result is at variance with previous findings, and we discuss two possible explanations for this lack of effect.     

Conceptualizing and measuring perceptions of sexual attractiveness: Are there differences across gender and sexual orientation?

There is no consistent conceptualization of sexual attractiveness in the literature. The present paper reviews previous literature on sexual attractiveness, examining the different terms used to refer to sexual attractiveness, as well as the measures designed to evaluate perceptions of sexual attractiveness. A new measure of self-perceptions of sexual attractiveness is proposed and psychometrically tested based on this material. The review of the literature demonstrates that there are multiple, often ambiguous, terms used in relation to sexual attractiveness, with few definitions provided. Additionally, there is no standardized measure of perceptions of sexual attractiveness. Single item measures are commonly used to assess an individual’s perceptions of their own or of another’s sexual attractiveness, and few studies provide a psychometric evaluation of the measures used. A clearer picture of sexual attractiveness is formed in this paper and, with this, a new scale measuring self-perceptions of sexual attractiveness is developed. The new scale is a valid and reliable measure of self-perceived sexual attractiveness that may be used among men and women who identify as heterosexual, gay, lesbian or bisexual. Furthermore, the findings suggest that sexual attractiveness may be conceptualized similarly across gender and sexual orientation.     

The valence and the functions of autobiographical memories: Does intensity matter?

Autobiographical memories serve psychosocial functions in daily life and the use of memories is related to their valence. In the present study, we examined whether functions are also related to the intensity of positive and negative memories. Our sample included 110 participants (57–89 years of age). Memories were prompted with 30 emotionally neutral cue words. Participants rated the emotional quality of each memory and indicated how frequently they had recalled it for self-continuity, directing behavior, social-bonding, and mood-enhancement. We used multilevel modeling to test whether individual differences in the use of memories can explain why individuals recall different numbers of positive and negative memories as well as memories high or low in intensity. Each function revealed its specific pattern regarding valence and intensity but also regarding within-person and between-person effects. Mood-enhancement showed the strongest relations, which points to the importance of considering emotion regulation as a function of autobiographical memory.     

Does sex sell? The effect of sexual programme content on the recall of sexual and non-sexual advertisements

This study looked at the recall of sexual and non‐sexual television advertisements embedded within programmes, with or without, sexual content. It was predicted that there would be a detrimental effect of sexual programme content, and a beneficial effect of sexual advertisement content on ability to recall advertisements. Further, when programme and advertisement content were congruous (i.e. both sexual), this also would hinder recall. Participants aged between 18 and 31 were placed in one of four conditions and were shown either ‘Sex and the City’ (sexual programme) or ‘Malcolm in the Middle’ (non‐sexual programme) with sexual or non‐sexual advertisements embedded in each. Participants were then asked to recall advertisement details from the advertisements. The results indicated that there was a main effect of programme type, demonstrating that sexual programme content hindered recall of advertisements. However, there was no main effect of the type of advertisements seen (sexual or non‐sexual) on recall, nor was there a negative effect on recall when programme and advertisement content were congruous. An interaction between advertisements and sex of participants showed that males recalled sexual advertisements better and females recalled non‐sexual advertisements better. Limitations of the study are considered. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Emerging issues in research on lesbians' and gay men's mental health: does sexual orientation really matter?

Theoretical writings and research suggest that the onset, course, treatment, and prevention of mental disorders among lesbians and gay men differ in important ways from those of other individuals. Recent improvements in studies of sexual orientation and mental health morbidity have enabled researchers to find some elevated risk for stress-sensitive disorders that is generally attributed to the harmful effects of antihomosexual bias. Lesbians and gay men who seek mental health services must find culturally competent care within systems that may not fully address their concerns. The affirmative therapies offer a model for intervention, but their efficacy and effectiveness need to be empirically documented. Although methodological obstacles are substantial, failure to consider research questions in this domain overlooks the welfare of individuals who may represent a sizable minority of those accessing mental health services annually.     

Articulatory suppression and the irrelevantspeech effect in short-term memory: Does the locus of suppression matter?

Immediate serial recall for letter sequences was impaired when irrelevant speech (IS) was presented throughout stimulus input and a subsequent rehearsal interval. This irrelevant-speech effect was eliminated when participants engaged in articulatory suppression (repeated articulation of one or more digits) during stimulus input but not when suppression occurred during the postinput rehearsal period. Also, changing-state suppression (articulation of multiple items) impaired the overall level of performance more than did steady-state suppression (repetition of a single item), whereas both forms of suppression had the same influence on the IS effect. Our results suggest that the locus of suppression (during or after stimulus input) may have contributed to discrepant findings in the prior literature regarding the influence of articulatory suppression on the IS effect. We consider the implications of our findings for three prominent models of immediate memory: the working memory model, the objectoriented episodic record model, and the feature model.     

Born gay? The psychobiology of human sexual orientation

Sexual orientation is fundamental to evolution and shifts from the species-typical pattern of heterosexuality may represent biological variations. The growth of scientific knowledge concerning the biology of sexual orientation during the past decade has been considerable. Sexual orientation is characterised by a bipolar distribution and is related to fraternal birth order in males. In females, its distribution is more variable; females being less prone towards exclusive homosexuality. In both sexes homosexuality is strongly associated with childhood gender nonconformity. Genetic evidence suggests a heritable component and putative gene loci on the X chromosome. Homosexuality may have evolved to promote same sex affiliation through a conserved neurodevelopmental mechanism. Recent findings suggest this mechanism involves atypical neurohormonal differentiation of the brain. Key areas for future research include the neurobiological basis of preferred sexual targets and correlates of female homosexuality.     

Personality assessment: Does the medium matter? No

The equivalence of an Internet administration of personality tests with two other administration formats was assessed using Item Response Theory (IRT) and various other statistical methods. The analyses were conducted on measures of Neuroticism, Extroversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness. A total of 728 participants took part in the study. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three administrative conditions: paper-and-pencil, proctored computer lab, and unproctored Internet. Analyses with IRT, factor analysis, criterion-related validity, and mean differences supported the equivalence of Internet and traditional paper-and-pencil administrations of personality tests.     

Self-forgiveness and well-being: Does divine forgiveness matter?

ABSTRACT

A reliable association exists between self-forgiveness and well-being. But self-forgiveness and its correlates will not be fully understood without considering forgiveness by God or divine forgiveness, especially in light of the fact that the majority of the population identifies as religious. This study therefore examined the role of divine forgiveness in understanding the association between self-forgiveness and well-being using data collected from 435 young adults. Because well-being is not the absence of distress, this study examined whether self-forgiveness and divine forgiveness relate to psychological well-being and distress in the same way. Self-forgiveness and divine forgiveness were independently related to psychological well-being and distress even with religiosity statistically controlled. Divine forgiveness also moderated the relationship between self-forgiveness and psychological distress in that perceived forgiveness by God was associated with fewer depressive symptoms at lower but not higher levels of self-forgiveness. The implications for future research are outlined.     

The importance of feeling sexually attractive: Can it predict an individual's experience of their sexuality and sexual relationships across gender and sexual orientation?

Limited research exists on the implications of feeling sexually attractive for various aspects of sexuality and sexual relationships. This article examined associations between self‐perceived sexual attractiveness and sexual esteem, sexual satisfaction and amount of sexual experience, among both men and women who identified as heterosexual (n = 1017), gay or lesbian (n = 1225) or bisexual (n = 651). Results of the study demonstrated that positive self‐perceptions of sexual attractiveness predicted greater sexual esteem, greater sexual satisfaction, a higher frequency of sexual activity with others and a larger number of sexual partners among both men and women who identified as heterosexual, gay, lesbian or bisexual. The findings suggest that feeling sexually attractive may have implications for how an individual experiences their sexuality and sexual relationships regardless of their gender or sexual orientation. The importance of considering an individual's self‐perceptions of sexual attractiveness when they present with concerns related to their sexual experiences or relationships, and the potential benefits of educational and therapeutic interventions designed to enhance self‐perceptions of sexual attractiveness are discussed.     

Parent—Child interaction and daycare: Does quality of daycare matter?

A Daycare Quality Assessment Instrument was developed and subsequently usedto select two high-quality and two poor-quality daycare centers. Three- to 5-year-old children from these centers as well as home-care controls were observed in the laboratory interacting with their mothers during three types of episodes: while ignored, while attended to, and while required to do a difficult task. Overall, behavior differed during the various episodes; more importantly, the three groups did not behave equivalently. Children in poor-quality daycare were less compliant with task instructions than were other children. Verbal interaction patterns differed as well, with home-care children carrying on more sustained dialogues, while children attending poor-quality daycare were more likely to have verbal interaction limited to numerous single statements—that is, less dyadic interchange. Children attending good-quality daycare were intermediate. Results were interpreted in terms of children learning patterns of adult interaction at daycare that affect interactions with their mothers.     

Does it matter in the long run? Longitudinal effects and interactions in the differentiated job demands–resources model

The distinction of challenge and hindrance stressors in the job demands–resources (JD–R) model has increasingly attracted the interest of occupational health researchers. Drawing on the differentiated JD–R framework, we tested causal, reciprocal, and interaction effects of challenge demands, hindrance demands, and job resources on emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and work engagement. Cross-lagged structural equation modelling was used to analyse cohort data of N = 400 German physicians across three waves comprising 9 years of observation. Overall, support for our hypotheses was limited. Higher job resources were associated with reduced depersonalization in the first time lag of 2 years. No cross-lagged effects were found for the second time lag of 7 years. Out of 12 hypothesized interaction effects, only 1 significant interaction was observed, where job resources attenuated the positive association between challenge demands and depersonalization between the first and second waves. Results provide only modest support for differential effects of challenge and hindrance demands in the JD–R model. Potential shortcomings and implications for future research are discussed.     

Narcissism and the non-equivalence of self-esteem measures: A matter of dominance?

Previous research reveals a substantial degree of variability in the extent to which narcissism (as measured by the Narcissistic Personality Inventory or NPI; Emmons, 1987) and self-esteem (measured using a variety of self-report scales) are associated. Data from 329 college students provided support for the hypothesis that the variability in associations between narcissism and different measures of self-esteem may be explained in part by the degree to which a given self-esteem measure is related to dominance. These results have important implications for research on narcissism and self-esteem, as well as the broader issue of how self-esteem is conceptualized and measured in psychological research.     

Does matching of internal and external facial features depend on orientation and viewpoint?

Although it is recognized that external (hair, head and face outline, ears) and internal (eyes, eyebrows, nose, mouth) features contribute differently to face recognition it is unclear whether both feature classes predominately stimulate different sensory pathways. We employed a sequential speed-matching task to study face perception with internal and external features in the context of intact faces, and at two levels of contextual congruency. Both internal and external features were matched faster and more accurately in the context of totally congruent/incongruent facial stimuli compared to just featurally congruent/incongruent faces. Matching of totally congruent/incongruent faces was not affected by the matching criteria, but was strongly modulated by orientation and viewpoint. On the contrary, matching of just featurally congruent/incongruent faces was found to depend on the feature class to be attended, with strong effects of orientation and viewpoint only for matching of internal features, but not of external features. The data support the notion that different processing mechanisms are involved for both feature types, with internal features being handled by configuration sensitive mechanisms whereas featural processing modes dominate when external features are the focus.     

Eye movements and parafoveal preview of compound words: Does morpheme order matter?

Recently, there has been considerable debate about whether readers can identify multiple words in parallel or whether they are limited to a serial mode of word identification, processing one word at a time (see, e.g., Reichle, Liversedge, Pollatsek, & Rayner, 2009). Similar questions can be applied to bimorphemic compound words: Do readers identify all the constituents of a compound word in parallel, and does it matter which of the morphemes is identified first? We asked subjects to read compound words embedded in sentences while monitoring their eye movements. Using the boundary paradigm (Rayner, 1975), we manipulated the preview that subjects received of the compound word before they fixated it. In particular, the morpheme order of the preview was either normal (cowboy) or reversed (boycow). Additionally, we manipulated the preview availability for each of the morphemes separately. Preview was thus available for the first morpheme only (cowtxg), for the second morpheme only (enzboy), or for neither of the morphemes (enztxg). We report three major findings: First, there was an effect of morpheme order on gaze durations measured on the compound word, indicating that, as expected, readers obtained a greater preview benefit when the preview presented the morphemes in the correct order than when their order was reversed. Second, gaze durations on the compound word were influenced not only by preview availability for the first, but also by that for the second morpheme. Finally, and most importantly, the results show that readers are able to extract some morpheme information even from a reverse order preview. In summary, readers obtain preview benefit from both constituents of a short compound word, even when the preview does not reflect the correct morpheme order.