Definition and Measurement of Sexual Orientation

Measurement and definition of sexual orientations have increasingly become a central focus in both research design and public policy debates. This paper reviews major methods, and their theoretical underpinnings, for the definition and measurement of sexual orientations, highlighting their limitations and pitfalls, both practical and conceptual. The increasing politicization of this area is discussed and cautioned against. Recommendations, both general and geared toward measurement concerns with adolescent populations, are made. A specific measurement strategy, which can be utilized at a number of different levels, is detailed.     

Social reactions to the expression of emotion

Abstract

Weeping has traditionally been seen as a sign of weakness, and laughter as a sign of health. In the current study, attitudes and reactions toward emotional expressions were evaluated in a laboratory setting. Subjects (n = 168) viewed a movie with a confederate who cried, laughed, or expressed no emotion; they then engaged in 3 minutes of videotaped interaction. Results indicated that men were liked best when they cried, and women when they did not. Criers were seen as more depressed and emotional than individuals who laughed, but not as more feminine. More personal conversations were initiated in the Control condition, and contagion occurred in the Laugh condition, where moods were most positive. These results are consistent with other research which suggests that gender role expectations of emotional expression, especially crying, may have changed in recent years; they also demonstrate that reactions to others' expressions depend upon the expression and also the expressor.     

Candidate Effects on Election Outcomes: Political Skill,Campaign Efficacy,and Intentions in a British General Election

Integrating Social/Political Influence Theory with the Theory of Planned Behavior, we argue that personal resources (i.e., political skill, self-efficacy) enable political candidates to form more ambitious campaign intentions, and thus perform better in elections. We tested this model with a sample of political candidates (N = 225) campaigning in a British general election. Three months before polling day, candidates provided self-ratings of political skill, domain-specific self-efficacy (i.e., campaign efficacy), and personal campaign intentions during the campaign period. Our results demonstrated that political skill was positively related to campaign efficacy, and intentions, via campaign efficacy. We also found a significant indirect effect for political skill on electoral performance (i.e., percentage of the vote), through campaign efficacy and intentions. Implications of our results for understanding candidate effects in campaigns and future research are discussed.