How Do U.S. Students Perceive Trans Persons?

This study explored undergraduate students’ interpersonal responses, namely general feelings toward and desire for further social interaction with trans persons in a helping context. Secondarily, this study explored the relationship between participants’ intrinsic empathy, interpersonal curiosity and interest in further interaction. Two hundred fifty-one undergraduates at a moderate sized university in the southeastern United States served as participants. In order to assess baseline levels of empathy and curiosity, participants in session 1 completed the Interpersonal Reactivity Scale (Davis 1983) and the Interpersonal Curiosity Scale (Litman and Pezzo 2007). One week later, during session 2, the same students assumed the role of a peer counselor and read 1 of 4 (male, female, male-to-female, female-to-male) randomly assigned versions of an intake form completed by a fictitious peer client. Each version was identical, with the exception of the gender identity of the peer client. Participants completed various measures of affect and interest in further interaction. Male participants reported less willingness to interact with, and the strongest negative feelings toward the FTM peer client. Men reported highest willingness to interact with the MTF client and showed the lowest negative reactions towards the MTF client. Female participants’ scores on willingness to interact and on negative reactions were similar across all four intake form versions. Contrary to expectations, baseline levels of empathy and curiosity did not impact responses to gender expression. Further investigation is needed to elucidate the factors associated with anti-transgender prejudice particularly in the context of helping relationships.     

Gender Differences in U.S. College Students�� Fear for Others

This study examines U.S. college students?? fear of crime for others and uses the ??doing gender?? perspective to help explain gender differences. A sample of 931 college students (421 male students/510 female students and 605 White students/326 Black students) under the age of 30 from a Southeastern public university provided information on fear of crime, fear for others, and other variables often associated with fear of crime. When splitting the sample by gender, results suggest that both male and female college students fear for others, but do so in very different ways. While male students?? fear for others was associated with their personal characteristics (race, age and parental status) and whether they lived with an intimate, female students?? fear for others was most influenced by constrained behaviors and personal fear of crime. Additionally, when testing race specific models, there were not enough minority men to split the sample for men. However, when separating the sample by race for women only, the model generally did not work for non-White women, while the model worked well for White women. Overall, the results suggest that younger individuals?? fear of crime for others is gendered, associated with living status for men and personal fear for women and that racial differences among men and women should be examined in the future.     

Ratings of the familiarity of idioms’ figurative meanings and the likelihood of literal meanings among U.S. college students

Samples of college students from three states (Ohio, New Hampshire, Illinois) rated 390 idioms on familiarity of their figurative meanings. The Illinois samples also rated the likelihood of encountering the idioms’ literal meanings. Results suggested some modest regional differences in idiom familiarity, and consistent with Popiel and McRae (1988), the likelihood of encountering an idiom’s literal meaning is relatively independent of the familiarity of its figurative meaning. The 314 idioms rated by more than 75% of the subjects are listed with the idioms’ familiarity ratings, as are the 20 most and least familiar idioms for each of the three states. The 248 idioms rated by at least 75% of the Illinois subjects and the idioms’ figurative and literal ratings are also presented.     

What do tertiary level students in the U.S.A. and Northern Ireland (UK) worry about? An exploratory study

The purpose of this study is to determine the personal and social worries of samples of tertiary-level students in the U.S.A. and Northern Ireland (UK) using the Things I Worry About Scale (TIWAS). An online questionnaire, which included the TIWAS, was completed by two samples (U.S.A.?=?71 and Northern Ireland?=?187). Results indicate that students, in both locations, report worrying frequently about a similar broad range of issues, particularly the challenges of academic study and achievement, financial matters and future career possibilities. The needs of individual students who express frequent worrying about experiences ‘sometimes’ worried about by the majority are noted. The overall findings support perceptions that a majority of students are rather anxious, are under considerable pressure and worry very frequently.     

Committed to STEM? Examining Factors that Predict Occupational Commitment among Asian and White Female Students Completing STEM U.S. Postsecondary Programs

Although it is well known that women have relatively high rates of attrition from STEM occupations in the United States, there is limited empirical research on the views and experiences of female STEM degree-earners that may underlie their commitment to their chosen fields. Utilizing survey data from 229 women completing STEM degrees at two U.S. universities, the present study examines how perceptions of occupational affordances and interactions with others in the field predict their occupational STEM commitment. Additionally, the study employs an intersectional lens to consider whether the patterns of association are different for Asian women and White women. Multivariate regression analyses reveal that although communal goal affordances do not significantly predict women’s occupational STEM commitment, agentic goal affordances are a strong predictor of such commitment. Regarding experiences with others in the field, results reveal that classmate interactions are not associated with STEM commitment, whereas positive faculty interactions do significantly predict such commitment. However, further analyses reveal racial differences in these patterns because agentic goal affordances are much weaker predictors of occupational STEM commitment for Asian women than for White women, and results indicate that faculty interactions are significant predictors of STEM commitment only for White women. Thus, our results strongly suggest that the theoretical models of motivation and support that underlie much of the discussion around women in STEM do not similarly apply to women from all racial backgrounds and that more research is needed that considers how both gender and race simultaneously shape STEM engagement and persistence.

     

Assessing Measurement and Predictive Invariance of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale–20 in U.S. Anglo and U.S. Hispanic Student Samples

We collected data from a predominately Anglo American student sample in the Southeastern United States and a predominately Hispanic student sample in the Southwestern United States. Along with an assessment of internal consistency reliability, we examined measurement invariance of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale–20 (TAS–20) using confirmatory factor analysis. We also assessed the predictive invariance of the TAS–20. Results indicate that 2 of the 3 TAS–20 subscales demonstrated satisfactory internal consistency reliability across samples. Items from the TAS–20 subscales demonstrated measurement invariance of the latent means. The relationship between 2 measures of emotional dysfunction and the TAS–20 also demonstrated slope and intercept invariance, indicating equivalent validity.     

“Timely” Methods: Examining Turnover Rates in the U.S. Military

Despite a long history of research on organizational turnover, questions still linger about relative contributions of different factors to the probability and timing of turnover. Complicating matters, civilian and military differences can moderate important relationships among the factors. In this study, several event history models for predicting voluntary turnover in the U.S. military were estimated. Turnover predictors included background variables, military satisfaction, organizational commitment, withdrawal intentions, job withdrawal, and comparisons of military and civilian work and lifestyles. Results showed that withdrawal intentions, job withdrawal, organizational commitment, and military tenure consistently predicted voluntary turnover. Inconsistent findings for job satisfaction and comparisons of military and civilian work and lifestyles raise questions as to their roles as predictors of military turnover.     

Prejudiced or not? Hidden sectarianism among students in Northern Ireland

The authors developed a new measure of implicit prejudices of students in Northern Ireland, which they derived from a study by G. Haddock, M. Zanna, and V. M. Esses (1993). Using two student surveys, the authors modified and tested the new implicit prejudice measure, which was based on a "Budget Survey." The present study's results indicate that the measure is valid and useful in the student context. Investigators can easily adapt the measure to groups other than students in Northern Ireland, and it may hence be useful for the future investigation of hidden prejudice in a society that experiences low-level ethnopolitical conflict.     

Are we ready for sexual reorientation therapy in the U.S. military? A response to David W. Lutz.

In his paper "The Catholic Church, the American Military, and Homosexual Reorientation Therapy," David W. Lutz ultimately concludes that it is "appropriate, and highly ethical" for the American military to offer reorientation therapy to help homosexuals overcome "the vice of sodomy." The major thrust of his paper, however, is to call for abandonment of the "Don't Ask/Don't Tell" policy currently in place in the military. Lutz's paper covers much ground, and this review begins by examining whether such a wide view is necessary for the ultimate conclusions. It goes on to ask whether Lutz has omitted to mention important considerations bearing on this issue, and whether Lutz's call for the introduction of reorientation therapy is a serious call or a symbolic response to homosexual activities. Lutz fails to address essential issues such as the actual experiences of other nations having homosexuals in the military, and issues regarding what constitutes "reorientation therapy," the latter leading to questions about how such a therapy would actually be implemented.     

A general mechanism for decision-making in the human brain?

A new fMRI study by Heekeren and colleagues suggests that left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) contains a region that integrates sensory evidence supporting perceptual decisions. DLPFC meets two criteria posited by Heekeren et al. for such a region: (1) its activity is correlated in time with the output of sensory areas of the visual cortex measured simultaneously, and (2) as expected of an integrator, its activity is greater on trials for which the sensory evidence is substantial than on trials for which the sensory evidence is weak. Complementary experiments in humans and monkeys now offer a realistic hope of elucidating decision-making networks in the primate brain.     

Changing the Scripts: Midlife Women’s Sexuality in Contemporary U.S. Film

This article examines the portrayal of midlife women’s sexuality in 13 recent U.S. narrative films. Content analysis of these films suggests that film portrayals of midlife women’s sexuality are relatively muted, with the most positive portrayals found in the broadest comedies. In addition, midlife women’s bodies are more often displayed as objects of humor than as objects of desire, the “female gaze” at the male body is shown only humorously, and midlife women’s sexuality is primarily validated for slim, white, middle-class women in committed romantic relationships with “age-appropriate” partners. Nevertheless, these films suggest that midlife women should have sexual desires, should act on those desires, should experience sexual pleasure, and should not sacrifice their sexual needs for a man’s approval.     

Biodefense research and the U.S. regulatory structure whither nonhuman primate moral standing?

Biodefense and emerging infectious disease animal research aims to avoid or ameliorate human disease and suffering arising from the natural outbreak or intentional deployment of some of the world's most dreaded pathogens. Research to develop medical countermeasures to these diseases faces a difficult challenge since the products usually cannot be tested for efficacy in human beings. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Animal Rule may be increasingly used to overcome this challenge by allowing researchers to translate animal data into medical countermeasures without human subject efficacy testing. Yet the Animal Rule also has significant implications for increased intensive nonhuman primate research. We argue that despite the common belief that nonhuman primates have a fairly high level of moral standing and the protections for animals that are crucial to the U.S. regulations guiding animal research, the Animal Rule specifically and the regulations generally raise serious problems for the attribution of moral standing to nonhuman primates. We argue, however, that the burden of proof is on a position denying all moral standing to nonhuman primates and compare the implications of the U.S. regulatory structure in this regard with some recent developments in the European Union.     

Racial Diversity in U.S. Congregations, 1998–2019

Racially diverse congregations have become an important part of the American religious landscape. We use data from the National Congregations Study (NCS), notably including data from the fourth wave, collected in 2018–2019, to examine 20 years of racial diversity in congregations. We find that racial diversity within congregations has increased substantially between 1998 and 2019. There are more congregations in which no one racial or ethnic group comprises more than 80 percent of the people, congregations’ average diversity level has increased, and the percentage of all-white congregations has declined. Nearly a quarter of evangelical churches now have no one ethnic group constituting more than 80 percent of the people, a rate comparable to what we observe among Catholic churches. Moreover, congregations that meet this 80-percent threshold are more likely to be led by black clergy in 2019 than they were in 1998. We end with a note of caution about concluding that diverse congregations necessarily promote racial justice.     

Changing explanatory frameworks in the U.S. government’s attempt to define research misconduct

Nearly two decades of debate have not settled the definition of research misconduct. The literature provides four explanatory frameworks for misconduct. The paper examines these frameworks and maps them onto efforts by the U.S. Public Health Service to define research misconduct and subsequent responses to these efforts by the scientific community. The changing frameworks suggest that closure will not be achieved without an authoritative effort, which may occur through the Research Integrity Panel’s recent attempt to create a government-wide definition.     

Mathematics—a Critical Filter for STEM-Related Career Choices? A Longitudinal Examination among Australian and U.S. Adolescents

Although women have made progress in entering scientific careers in biology, they remain underrepresented in mathematically intensive fields such as physics. We investigated whether gender differences in mathematics motivation and socialisers’ perceptions impacted choices for diverse STEM careers of varying mathematical intensity. Drawing on expectancy-value theory, we tested structural equation models in which adolescents’ preferred careers related to each of physics, biology, chemistry, and mathematics were predicted by prior mathematical performance, motivations, and mothers’ perceptions. We explored potential differences in gendered processes of influence using multigroup models. Samples were 331 Australian adolescents followed from 9th to 11th grade in 1998 and 277 U.S. adolescents from 9th to 12th grade in 2009–10. In both samples female adolescents preferred biological careers more than males did; male adolescents preferred physics-related careers and also mathematical careers in the Australian sample. Mothers’ perceptions were important to female and male adolescents’ mathematics motivations; gendered motivations were more evident in the Australian sample. Mathematics interest played the strongest role in male adolescents’ preferred careers, whereas actual or perceived mathematical achievements were most important for females, demonstrating the impacts of mathematical motivations on preferences for diverse STEM careers.     

Is this America? Unfinished business with the U.S. national imaginary,religion and violence

This article first proposes definitions and raises questions about what it means to be a nation. I then analyze the national imaginary of the United States, and suggest that at its deepest core we find “substitute ultimates” regarding America's sacrificial war‐culture. This cultural violence perpetuates destructive consequences, including the phenomena of “U.S. war‐culture,” and “moral injury” among military servicemembers and veterans. But widespread legitimation of the imaginary largely inhibits citizens from awareness about their own reality. Lastly, I inquire about the role of prophetic public theology to address nationalism, and engage in a thought experiment with an imagined community of diverse partners.