Victoria's dirty secret: how sociocultural norms influence adolescent girls and women

The present studies tested whether the salience of sociocultural norms for ideal appearance leads women to base their self-worth more strongly on appearance, which in turn leads them to feel more concerned with others' perceptions and less satisfied with their bodies. Study 1 tested this model by manipulating the salience of the sociocultural norm among female university students. The model was supported. In Study 2 an intervention challenging the legitimacy of the sociocultural norm was delivered to female and male adolescents. Compared to controls, females who received this intervention were less accepting of the sociocultural norms for appearance, based their self-worth less strongly on appearance, and in turn were less concerned with others' perceptions and were more satisfied with their bodies. The implications for women are discussed.     

Parenting self-efficacy and problem behavior in children at high risk for early conduct problems: the mediating role of maternal depression

Parenting self-efficacy (PSE) has been positively linked to children's adjustment and negatively associated with maternal depression. However, most PSE research has been cross-sectional, limited to predominantly white, middle-class samples, and has not examined potential mechanisms underlying associations of PSE with children's behavior. The present study investigates: (1) how PSE changes over time, (2) the relationship between age 2 PSE and children's behavior problems 2 years later, and (3) the potential mediating role of maternal depression in relation to the association between PSE and child problem behavior. Participants are 652 ethnically and geographically diverse mothers and their children, at high risk for conduct problems. PSE increased between ages 2 and 4 and higher initial levels predicted lower caregiver-reported age 4 conduct problems after controlling for problem behavior at age 2. The relationship between PSE and later conduct problems was mediated, however, by maternal depression. These findings suggest maternal depression as a potential disruptor of caregiver confidence in early childhood, which has implications for the design and focus of parenting interventions.     

Reciprocal models of child behavior and depressive symptoms in mothers and fathers in a sample of children at risk for early conduct problems

Although much has been written about transactional models in the study of parenting practices, relatively few researchers have used this approach to examine how child behavior might be related to parental well-being. This study used latent growth curve modeling to test transactional models of age 2 child noncompliance, parental depressive symptoms, and age 4 internalizing and externalizing behaviors using a subsample of families in the Early Steps Multisite Study. In unconditional models, maternal depressive symptoms showed a linear decrease from child ages 2 to 4, whereas paternal depression did not show significant change. Observed child noncompliance at age 2 showed significant associations with concurrent reports of maternal depressive symptoms and trend-level associations with paternal depressive symptoms. For both parents, higher levels of initial depressive symptoms were related to increased age 4 child internalizing behaviors. The findings provide support for reciprocal process models of parental depression and child behavior, and this study is one of the first to present empirical evidence that fathers' depressive symptoms have bidirectional associations with their children's behavior in early childhood.     

‘Deeply Female and Universally Human’: The Rise of Kuan-yin Worship in America

American convert Buddhism has always been comparatively aniconic and opposed to supernaturalism. Earlier periods saw popular Asian bodhisattvas, such as Kuan-yin, relatively marginalized in the new Zen communities. With a rise in the number of female leaders, new found appreciation for ritual, and discovery of the crossover appeal of Kuan-yin, however, bodhisattvas are a visibly growing presence in American Zen and other traditions. Large numbers of converts claim Kuan-yin as an integral part of their Buddhist practice and drawing on and furthering this blossoming of Kuan-yin appreciation is a substantial new industry of bodhisattva-related products, including books advocating devotion to one or more figures. Now even many non-Buddhists have taken interest in Kuan-yin, who is valued for being a feminine figure in a world of mainly male deities.     

Recognizing the Threat Posed by an Incestuous Parent to the Victim's Siblings: Part I: Appraising the Risk

Despite unmistakable evidence that incest offenders rarely stop with one child, courts routinely fail to protect an incest victim's siblings. Many courts simple deny that a parent's sex act with one child signals risk to others. Nevertheless, even those courts that acknowledge a sibling's risk reach wildly different results when confronting similar cases. Courts are split over whether a parent who molests his stepchild is equally likely to victimize biological offspring or whether a father who violates a daughter will also victimize sons. There is a substantial body of research about incest that can aid courts to better gauge a sibling's risk. Because the first act of incest creates a corresponding risk to some—but not necessarily all—children in the family, Part I of this 2 part series argues in favor of a presumption of risk that offenders may rebut. Part II examines whether a sibling's gender, genetic ties to the offender, or the offender's treatment mitigate the threat and, consequently, should serve as a basis for rebutting the presumption. Ultimately, this article concludes that the law can safeguard children only if guided by substantial evidence of how abusive families function.     

Population sex differences in IQ at age 11: the Scottish mental survey 1932

There is uncertainty whether the sexes differ with respect to their mean levels and variabilities in mental ability test scores. Here we describe the cognitive ability distribution in 80,000+ children—almost everyone born in Scotland in 1921—tested at age 11 in 1932. There were no significant mean differences in cognitive test scores between boys and girls, but there was a highly significant difference in their standard deviations (P<.001). Boys were over-represented at the low and high extremes of cognitive ability. These findings, the first to be presented from a whole population, might in part explain such cognitive outcomes as the slight excess of men achieving first class university degrees, and the excess of males with learning difficulties.     

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.     

The Role of a Merit Principle in Distributive Justice

The claim that the level of well-beingeach enjoys ought to be to some extent afunction of individuals' talents, efforts,accomplishments, and other meritoriousattributes faces serious challenge from bothegalitarians and libertarians, but also fromskeptics, who point to the poor historicalrecord of attempted merit assays and theubiquity of attribution biases arising fromlimited sweep, misattribution, custom andconvention, and mimicry. Yet merit-principlesare connected with reactive attitudes andinnate expectations, giving them some claim torecognition and there is a widespread beliefthat their use indirectly promotes thewell-being of all. After critically evaluatingarguments for and against assigning a prominentrole to merit in a distributive protocol, it isargued that an entitlement to the ``doubtful andspeculative' but not the ``known andpresumptive' components of well-being can flowfrom perceived relative merit. However,statistical equality of outcome with respect togroups is mandatory. Semi-meritocracies aredefensible institutions, but existing rewardschemes by and large do not meet the conditionsof social justice.