Estimating the Prevalence of Gender-Biased Language in Undergraduates’ Everyday Speech

Sex Roles - Research has shown that language can be gender-biased; however, little research has investigated the prevalence of this bias in everyday speech. Using recordings sampled from...     

Working while studying at university: The relationship between work benefits and demands and engagement and well-being

We tested a role-conflict, depletion, and enrichment model, in which work-based benefits (enabling resources, psychological rewards, and psychological involvement) and work-based demands (time-, strain-, and behaviour-based demands, and hours worked) were antecedents to work–university conflict and work–university facilitation, which, in turn, were antecedent to students' academic engagement (dedication and vigour) and well-being (general and context-specific feelings about university). We also tested whether conflict and facilitation acted as mediators in the relationships between benefits and demands and the outcomes of engagement and well-being. The hypotheses were tested using 185 university students (77% female; mean age = 22.7 years) who were working while studying. Work-based benefits (enabling resources, rewards, and involvement) were associated with higher work–university facilitation; more time demands and fewer psychological rewards were associated with more work–university conflict; facilitation was associated with more engagement (dedication) and general well-being; and conflict was associated with more negative feelings towards the university. There were no mediation effects. Working while studying is related to students' engagement and well-being, although modest effects were explained by role-conflict theory.     

WHO FILLS OUT A LESBIAN QUESTIONNAIRE?

Most research on lesbians has used self-report questionnaires, and assumed that respondents who complete a lesbian questionnaire self-identify as lesbians and engage in sexual relationships with women. The present study examined the degree to which 2,393 women who answered a Lesbian Wellness Survey are distributed on five aspects of lesbian sexuality and the coming-out process. The five aspects were: (a) Sexual Orientation (numerical rating of sexual identity from exclusively lesbian/gay to exclusively heterosexual); (b) Years Out (length of time of self-identity as lesbian/gay/bisexual); (c) Outness/Disclosure (amount of disclosure of sexual orientation to others); (d) Sexual Experience (proportion of sexual relationships with women); and (e) Lesbian Activities (extent of participation in lesbian community events). Mild but significant correlations were found among these dimensions, indicating that being lesbian is not a homogeneous experience. Closer examination by the demographic characteristics of race/ethnicity and age revealed a diversity of experience. African American, Native American, and Latina respondents had moderate correlations among these aspects of lesbian experience, whereas White and Asian American respondents evidenced only mild or nonsignificant correlations. The results indicate that researchers who are studying one aspect of the lesbian experience (e.g., outness to others) need to ensure that they are not assuming such behavior based on other dimensions (such as frequent participation in lesbian community activities or years of being out), especially among White and Asian American lesbians.     

Distances on hills look farther than distances on flat ground: Evidence from converging measures

Distances on hills are judged as farther than when the same distance is presented on the flat ground. The hypothesized reason for this difference is because perception is influenced by the increased effort required to walk up a hill than to walk the same distance on flat ground. Alternatively, distances presented up a hill might be judged as farther for other, nonperceptual reasons such as bias from demand characteristics. To test whether distances on hills are perceived as farther or are merely judged as farther, we used a variety of measures, including visual matching and blindwalking tasks, and found similar effects across all measures. This convergence is consistent with a perceptual explanation. Second, we mined our data with the goal of making recommendations for future research on this paradigm. Although all of the perceptual measures used showed similar effects, visual matching was the only measure that had good intrasubject reliability. We recommend that future research on this action-specific effect could use any measure unless the research is geared towards individual differences, in which case, only the visual matching measure of perceived distance should be used.