Relationship Quality with Parents: Implications for Own and Partner Well‐Being in Middle‐Aged Couples

Relationships with parents have significant implications for well‐being throughout the lifespan. At midlife, these ties are situated within both developmental and family contexts that often involve the adult offspring's spouse. Yet, it is not known how ties with aging parents are related to psychological well‐being within middle‐aged couples. This study examined how middle‐aged wives’ and husbands’ views of the current quality of relationships with their own parents (positive and negative) are linked to their own and their partner's psychological well‐being. Using a sample of 132 middle‐aged couples from Wave 1 of the Family Exchanges Study, we estimated actor–partner interdependence models to evaluate these dyadic associations while controlling for each spouse's marital satisfaction. Both actor and partner effects were observed. With respect to actor effects, wives who reported more negative relationship quality with their own parents had elevated depressive symptoms and lower life satisfaction. Husbands who reported more negative relationship quality with their own parents had lower life satisfaction. In terms of partner effects, husbands had lower depressive symptoms and greater life satisfaction when wives reported more positive relationship quality with their own parents. Finally, the link between wives’ positive ties with parents and husbands’ lower depressive symptoms was intensified when husbands had less positive relationships with their own parents. Findings suggest that relationship quality with wives’ aging parents has implications for both spouses’ well‐being and may serve as a critical social resource for husbands.     

Positive outcomes of social norm transgressions

Norm transgressions occur when consumers behave outside social expectations; such transgressions often cause embarrassment for the perpetrator and negative responses from witnesses. This study asks if norm violations can lead to positive audience responses. The study relies on 246 written reports from norm breakers and finds positive audience responses occurring almost 17 per cent of the time, with an additional 26 per cent of cases providing a mix of both positive and negative reactions. A content analysis of influence factors suggests that the emergence of a positive outcome depends on the importance of the norm, the position of the perpetrating behavior relative to the broader scope of the norm, and the rewards received by the audience as a result of the norm transgression. These factors are illustrated by representative participant quotes. The findings have implications for theory as well as marketing practice. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Exploring Women's Expectations of Recovery From Intimate Partner Violence: A Phenomenological Study

Occupational therapy literature related to intimate partner violence primarily focuses on clients' pragmatic concerns. The purpose of this study was to explore women's recovery needs for the first six months after leaving the abusive relationship. Specifically, the focus explored how women experiencing intimate partner violence anticipate their recovery process to progress and explored their perceptions regarding the obstructions and challenges that influence that process. As part of an ongoing, multiyear study, in-depth interviews based on Kawa Model river drawings were conducted at a domestic violence center with eight women. Multiple themes were identified highlighting pragmatic and personal objectives.     

Graphic Pathogeographies

This paper focuses on the graphic pathogeographies in David B.’s Epileptic and David Small’s Stitches: A Memoir to highlight the significance of geographic concepts in graphic novels of health and disease. Despite its importance in such works, few scholars have examined the role of geography in their narrative and structure. I examine the role of place in Epileptic and Stitches to extend the academic discussion on graphic novels of health and disease and identify how such works bring attention to the role of geography in the individual’s engagement with health, disease, and related settings.     

Social Construction of Intimate Partner Violence: A Brief Report on Quantitative Grammatical Analysis

This pilot study uses a quantitative linguistic analysis to assess evidence of agency and control, as well as treatment engagement, in letters written by men (N = 46, 37% Latino) participating in a batterer intervention program. At the program’s conclusion, men were asked to imagine their situation in 5 years and write a letter from their “future self” to their “present self.” Letters were scored for grammatical representations of agency and objectification, and temporal complexity. Results showed that the men tended to grant themselves the subject position (conferring agency) and to grant others the object position (deferring or denying agency) by almost equal margins, both rhetorical maneuvers suggesting an objectifying stance toward others. Moreover, they employed several strategies to address temporality, with more complex strategies suggesting greater treatment engagement. Findings suggest that quantitative linguistic analysis is a promising tool for assessing participants’ progress in and engagement with treatment.     

Drag Gender: Experiences of Gender for Gay and Queer Men who Perform Drag

The present study explored the experience and understanding of gender for gay and queer men who perform drag. It is part of a 20-year program of research focused on how LGBTQ gender identities arise, why they coalesce, and how they are enacted within their social contexts. Interviewers on this topic involving 18 participants were subjected to a grounded theory analysis. Drag genders were tied to common experiences of overcoming social messages that maligned femininity within men, an appreciation of performance arts, and a desire to use social power to confront issues of sexism, genderism, and/or heterosexism. At the same time, participants reported differences in experiencing gender as binary or fluid and in whether they experienced their gender as shifting when engaged in performance. The study contributes to the program of research on LGBTQ genders by examining how drag gender is both essential and constructed, and how it resist sets of oppressive values and is eroticized. It examines how gendered communication functions when performed for audiences and how the social position of these men is both elevated and stigmatized within LGBTQ community. Drag gender’s multiple meanings are credited to its position between gay and transgender politics within this socially transformative moment in time.