tranny boyz: cyber community support in negotiating sex and gender mobility among female to male transsexuals

Female-to-male transsexuals (FTMs) are aware that manhood is a test that is separate from simple anatomical maleness. Failure to pass the test carries a penalty of exclusion from the desired rank as well as stigmatization as deviant for having attempted such a feat. Armed with this awareness, they are utilizing modern technology to form a community of virtual support, a study group of sorts, that will facilitate passing that test. This project identifies, through content analysis, various themes of concerns of female-to-male transsexuals who post on the Internet. The themes include concerns about gender status production, including issues such as “passing,” surgical worries, legal avenues and blockades, and social support. These themes relate directly to FTMs’ real-world ideologies about themselves as men. They recognize their central problem as one which debates the nature of manhood as either an ascribed or achieved status, and in self-reflexive fashion are able to see themselves as non-deviant in one gender category, yet deviant to onlookers while in another gender category. For FTMs, the fear is that even if medical and legal obstacles can be overcome, social obstacles and social stigmatization may not. Yet, in their cyber-community, a number of FTMs have found acceptance and understanding to be less elusive than what they find in the real world.     

Everyday Morality

This essay explores the nexus between Buddhist discourse, moral reasoning, and aspects of indigenous ethnopsychology in a Shan community in northern Thailand. I suggest that these three strands of thought are routinely braided together in intricate ways and, furthermore, that some version of this conceptual arrangement is necessary in order for any moral thinking to take place. That is, all moral thought entails some conception of the way the world is structured (a conception that may or may not be based on religion) and some ethnotheory of human nature, both of which are culturally mediated. Finally, I discuss the implications of this view for our understanding of human agency and autonomy.     

Effects of Relationship Values and Goal Interdependence on Guanxi Between Foreign Managers and Chinese Employees1

Foreign managers are advised to develop effective relationships with Chinese employees who as collectivists are thought to value relationships, particularly guanxi, with their leaders. However, foreign managers typically do not have the background and prior experiences typically used to develop guanxi in China. In an experiment with 120 participants in South China, Chinese employees with foreign managers who communicated that they wanted a relationship (compared to no relationship) with them concluded that they interacted better and had little relational and task conflict. Chinese employees who discussed their views within a cooperative (compared to competitive) context helped their leader, productively integrated their diverse views into the decision, and concluded that they had little relational and task conflict.     

Environmental stimulation, parental nurturance and cognitive development in humans

The effects of environmental stimulation and parental nurturance on brain development have been studied extensively in animals. Much less is known about the relations between childhood experience and cognitive development in humans. Using a longitudinally collected data set with ecologically valid in-home measures of childhood experience and later in-laboratory behavioral measures of cognitive ability, we were able to test hypotheses concerning the effects of environmental stimulation and parental nurturance. A double dissociation was found: On the one hand, there was a selective relation between parental nurturance and memory development, consistent with the animal literature on maternal buffering of stress hormone effects on hippocampal development. On the other hand, there was a selective relation between environmental stimulation and language development. The relevance of these findings to socioeconomic gradients in cognitive ability is discussed.     

Students as Members of University-based Academic Research Ethics Boards: A Natural Evolution

University based academic Research Ethics Boards (REB) face the particularly difficult challenge of trying to achieve representation from a variety of disciplines, methodologies and research interests. Additionally, many are currently facing another decision – whether to have students as REB members or not. At Ryerson University, we are uniquely situated. Without a medical school in which an awareness of the research ethics review process might be grounded, our mainly social science and humanities REB must also educate and foster awareness of the ethics review process throughout the academic community. Our Board has had and continues to have students as active members. While there are challenges to having students as Board members, these are clearly outweighed by the advantages, for both the academic community and the future of ethically sound research in the social sciences and humanities. Moreover, the challenges are often based on misconceptions and can be easily overcome through increased education and understanding of the research ethics review process by the academic community at large. The purpose of this paper is to describe and discuss the experiences, advantages and challenges of having students as REB members. The advantages of having students as REB members include the following: (1) Students are the proposed participants in many of our reviewed protocols and student members may illuminate unique issues of participation. (2) Students are active and highly engaged members of the REB. (3) Having students on the REB enhances awareness of research ethics within the University. (4) Student REB members have an opportunity to mentor other students and provide leadership for both undergraduate and graduate students. (5) Students are more vigorously recruited than faculty members and often apply for student positions with enthusiasm and preparation. (6) In creating an atmosphere of excellence in research, engaging students at the beginning of their research career will help in creating tomorrow’s leaders in research and research ethics. The challenges of having students as REB members include the following: (1) Faculty members may be uneasy regarding the prospect of students reviewing protocols. (2) Faculty members may be concerned about confidentiality and respect with students reviewing faculty research protocols. (3) There may be an increased burden for students who serve as members on an REB. (4) There is concern that students will offer less continuous service to the REB. (5) There is a common misconception that students do not have the experience to carry out ethical reviews. While there are challenges from faculty members and others regarding having students as REB members, these challenges are often based on misconceptions about the nature of the REB work and the ethics review process in general. These challenges are also often based on the misconception of the ethics review process as one of peer review and evaluation, instead of a community-based and inclusive process. Having student members is a long-term strategy for both overcoming the misconceptions of the REB as a “necessary evil” and for fostering an awareness of the imperative for ethically sound research in the social sciences and humanities.     

Stress, Coping, and Differentiation of Self: A Test of Bowen Theory

Differentiation of self from the family of origin is thought to be a significant factor in psychological functioning. Bowen contended that the effects of stress are moderated by differentiation of self, such that high levels of stress would have more impact on individuals lower in differentiation as compared to individuals higher in differentiation in predicting dysfunction. We tested this hypothesis and also assessed the relations among stress, coping, differentiation of self, and dysfunction. Results provided support for Bowen's prediction; differentiation indeed moderated the effects of perceived stress in predicting psychological functioning in expected ways. The interaction of differentiation of self and stress predicted variance in functioning beyond what was accounted for by coping styles, suggesting that although coping and differentiation of self are related, they are not synonymous.     

Coping style as a predictor of health and well-being across the first year of medical school.

Medical students in their 1st year (N=71) were assessed prior to starting training and at year's end. Coping styles reported at baseline were strongly related to coping styles at the end of the year. Students' physical health and psychological well-being declined over the course of the year. The greater the students' use of both problem-focused coping and approach emotion-focused coping, the less their physical health deteriorated. Psychological well-being at year's end was more strongly related to baseline functioning, and coping style did not predict change. This study demonstrated the utility of measuring coping style and the predictive ability of coping on physical health in a healthy sample.