Sexual Orientation and Leadership Suitability: How Being a Gay Man Affects Perceptions of Fit in Gender-Stereotyped Positions

The current set of studies examines perceptions of gay men’s fitness for leadership positions in the workplace. In two between-subjects experiments we examined the effect of a male employee’s sexuality on perceptions of his suitability for stereotypically feminine, masculine, and gender-neutral managerial positions, as well as potential mediators (perceptions of target agency and communion) and moderators (target out status) of these effects. In Study 1, 341 U.S. college student participants rated a gay male target as more communal and more suitable for feminine managerial positions than an otherwise identical heterosexual target, irrespective of his “out” status. Moreover, ratings of communion mediated the relationship between targets’ sexuality and suitability for feminine leadership. No differences between gay and heterosexual targets in targets’ agency or targets’ suitability for masculine or gender-neutral managerial positions were detected. Study 2 used a sample of 439 U.S. adults and an ambiguous target’s résumé to replicate and expand Study 1. This study provided participants with conflicting information on targets’ agency and communion, and it assessed the same dependent variables of targets’ agency, communion, and leadership suitability for various positions. Study 2 again found that ratings of communion significantly mediated the relationship between male targets’ sexuality and perceived suitability for feminine managerial roles. These findings extend previous research on perceptions of gay men in the workplace and have practical implications for being “out” at work.     

Evaluation of a Train-The-Trainers Model for Family Peer Advocates in Children’s Mental Health

Standardized training and credentialing is increasingly important to states and healthcare systems. Workforce shortages in children's mental health can be addressed through training and credentialing of professional peer parents (called family peer advocates or FPAs), who deliver a range of services to caregivers. A theory-based training program for FPAs targeting skills and knowledge about childhood mental health services (Parent Empowerment Program, or PEP) was developed through a partnership among a statewide family-run organization, state policy leaders, and academic researchers. Prior studies by this team using highly-experienced family peer advocates (who were also co-developers of the training program) as trainers found improvements in knowledge about mental health services and self-efficacy. In 2010, to meet demands and scale the model, a training of trainers (TOT) model was developed to build a cohort of locally-trained FPAs to deliver PEP training. A pre/post design was used to evaluate the impact of TOT model on knowledge and self-efficacy among 318 FPAs across the state. Participants showed significant pre-post (6 month) changes in knowledge about mental health services and self-efficacy. There were no significant associations between any FPA demographic characteristics and their knowledge or self-efficacy scores. A theory-based training model for professional peer parents working in the children's mental health system can be taught to local FPAs, and it improves knowledge about the mental health system and self-efficacy. Studies that evaluate the effectiveness of different training modalities are critical to ensure that high-quality trainings are maintained.     

Aging and the structure and long-term stability of the internalizing spectrum of personality and psychopathology

Structural psychopathology research has identified two broad factors--internalizing and externalizing--that account for comorbidity among many common mental disorders. Evaluating the utility of these factors for nosology, research, and treatment entails expanding beyond a cross-sectional understanding to how these factors evolve over time. We tested factorial invariance of internalizing in three age cohort groups--35 years and under (n = 1,729), 36-50 years (n = 2,719), and over 50 years (n = 2,601)--as well as the long-term stability of internalizing within individuals. Internalizing showed a notable degree of invariance between cohorts and within cohorts over time; long-term internalizing stability was equivalently moderate-to-high in each cohort.     

The Application of Biological, Evolutionary, and Sociocultural Frameworks to Issues of Gender in Introductory Psychology Textbooks

The purpose of this paper is to explore the application of biological, evolutionary, and sociocultural frameworks to issues of gender in the 10 most popular introductory psychology textbooks in the U.S. The use of these metatheories is of interest to feminist scholars because they have implications for the extent to which students learn that gender and gender differences are fixed and innate or socially constructed. If gender and gender differences are seen as malleable, then efforts at social change to improve women’s status or men’s and women’s abilities or opportunities can be understood as promising endeavors. The relative use of these three frameworks differed dramatically across books, affording all scholars the opportunity to actively select those texts whose prominent frameworks best align with their course goals. The paper concludes with suggestions for which books offer the most thorough coverage of sociocultural frameworks.     

The mediating role of perceptual validation in the repentance-forgiveness process

This research focuses on one potential mechanism by which repentance leads to forgiveness. Two studies demonstrate that repentance leads to increased perceptual validation (social verification that one is correct about one's interpretation of an event) and, ultimately, more forgiveness. Participants reported more perceptual validation when they received repentance than when they did not (Studies 1 and 2), particularly repentance that included an acknowledgement of the transgression and the harm done (Study 2). In addition, in Study 2, acknowledgement of the transgression by a third party also had a positive effect on forgiveness. There was evidence that perceptual validation mediated the repentance-forgiveness relationship. These findings suggest that repentance facilitates forgiveness, at least in part, because it makes victims feel validated.