The nature of stress experienced by lesbians and gay men

Abstract

This study examined both the meanings and sources/causes of stress from the perspectives of lesbians and gay men (n=30), using a series of focus groups. The findings suggest that stress is considered a part of life itself, and is perceived to contain both negative (e.g. detrimental effects on health and overall functioning, unfairness, out-of-control), and positive (e.g. a motivator, growth-facilitator) elements. The sources/causes of stress (i.e. stressors) identified include stress experienced from the “coming out” process, stress in family relations and intimate relationships, conflict over one's sexuality given society's homophobic and heterosexist attitudes toward lesbians and gay men, as well as stress from financial and work-related issues. More importantly, this study suggests that culture/ethnicity, gender, and aging, which are interconnected with one's sexual identity, play an important role in shaping the experiences of stress among lesbians and gay men.     

Toward Narrative Strategy

Strategic planning exercises often begin with the observation, “We need a better story to tell.” We argue that this is not just a figure of speech but that the narrative form is uniquely appropriate to both the development and the effective communication of good strategies. Drawing on recent literature in the relatively new field of narratology, we argue that the temporal structure of stories allows for a reach into the future that evidence-based, analytic approaches cannot achieve. The case of Nakamura's turnaround at Matsushita/Panasonic is cited as an example of narrative strategy.     

A comparative study on GaN luminescence under/after inductively coupled plasma exposure

GaN luminescence, induced by ultraviolet light under/after inductively coupled plasma exposure, has been measured in situ and ex situ. After the plasma exposure, both near-band edge (NBE) and yellow luminescence (YL) intensities decrease. The decay times of NBE and YL in the in situ measurement are shorter than those of the ex situ measurement on account of the temperature rise induced by the plasma. On the other hand, with increasing plasma power, the decay times decrease. It is considered that this decrease is strongly related to non-radiative defects introduced by the Ar plasma. The results suggest that in situ photoluminescence monitoring can be used to reveal plasma-induced damage at GaN surfaces.     

Studies of interaction between He and elements with mass number 140 in Fe by time-differential perturbed-angular-correlation measurements

Room-temperature time-differential perturbed-angular-correlation (TDPAC) spectra of ¹⁴⁰Ce arising through ¹⁴⁰Ba-¹⁴⁰La from ¹⁴⁰Cs in He-doped Fe, unannealed and annealed in vacuum at various temperatures, were obtained in order to examine whether Ce (or rather, La and Ba) and He form complexes having a definite geometrical structure in Fe, as suggested by first-principles density-functional theory calculations. No clear signal of such complexes was observed in the TDPAC spectra. However, the TDPAC spectra indicate that Ce and He form complexes having a variety of geometrical structures. Comparison with reported TDPAC results on ¹¹¹Cd arising from ¹¹¹In in He-doped stainless steel shows that the parent atoms (La and Ba) of ¹⁴⁰Ce trap He atoms more efficiently than In atoms do, indicating stronger bonding of He to the former atoms, while different from the present case, ¹¹¹Cd (In)–He complexes form a unique geometrical structure.     

Effects of sound-marker durations on rhythm perception

Our aim in this study was to examine the influence of sound-marker durations on the perception of simple rhythm patterns. These comprised three successive sounds marking two neighbouring time intervals, T1 and T2, with their onsets. We varied the durations of each of the three sound markers to make them either 20 or 60 ms. Durations of T1 and T2 were also varied, but the total duration of T1 and T2 was fixed at either 240 or 480 ms. In experiment 1, participants compared the durations of T1 and T2. In experiment 2, the subjective duration of each interval was measured separately. We found that lengthening the duration of the sound marker which terminated an interval increased the subjective duration of that interval: lengthening the duration of the second marker increased the subjective duration of T1, and lengthening the duration of the third marker increased the subjective duration of T2. Lengthening the duration of the first marker increased the subjective duration of T1 when T1 + T2 = 240 ms, especially when T1 > T2. This effect of first-marker duration, which could not be observed with single intervals used in the control conditions, seemed to enhance the contrast between T1 and T2. The effects of marker durations are associated with previous time-perception studies, in which single time intervals were used. They are discussed in the context of rhythm-perception studies, in which more complex sound patterns have been used.     

Building on strengths and resilience: leisure as a stress survival strategy

Exploring the ways in which leisure contributes to managing, relieving, or counteracting stress has become an increasingly popular area of study in recent years. Findings from a multi-year study of stress and coping among diverse residents of a western Canadian city are reported in this paper. In particular, the key findings presented are specific to the role of leisure in stress-coping, with an emphasis on those that are relevant to guidance and counselling. The participants in the study included: (a) Aboriginal individuals with diabetes, (b) individuals with physical disabilities, (c) older adults with arthritis, (d) gays and lesbians, and (e) a group of professional managers. Grounded in a qualitative framework, data were collected using a focus group method, while phenomenology was adopted as the analytical framework. Our findings demonstrated leisure's role as a palliative coping strategy. This strategy incorporates two elements: a positive diversion or 'time-out' from stress-inducing situations and thoughts, and a context for rejuvenation and renewal. Leisure also provided opportunities for promoting life balance, whereby the intentional creation of a leisure space became an oasis for personal renewal (physical, psychological, emotional) that facilitated resilience and the capacity to proactively cope with or counteract stress. Implications of the findings for guidance and counselling are discussed.     

Time-shrinking,its propagation,and Gestalt principles

When a relatively short empty time interval is preceded by an even shorter one, its duration can be underestimated remarkably. This phenomenon, called time-shrinking, has been investigated with patterns consisting of two time intervals. In five experiments, we investigated whether underestimation of the last interval would occur when it was preceded by two time intervals. Significant underestimations of the last interval occurred in some of those patterns. The influence of the second preceding interval was dominant, but in some patterns, the first preceding interval could shrink the subjective duration of the last time interval directly. The first interval could also affect perception of the duration of the last one indirectly by shrinking the second interval, as a result of which the latter either shrank the last interval more strongly or became too short to shrink it. There were two types of temporal patterns in which the perceived duration of the last interval could not be explained by time-shrinking or its propagation through the pattern. It seemed plausible that auditory Gestalt principles invoked strong figural organizations in these patterns, which rendered the time-shrinking mechanism inoperative.     

The Effects of Relaxation and Postural Training on External Perception: Improvement of Visual Acuity, Visual Field, and Hearing Acuity

This study examined the effects of muscular relaxation and postural training on external perception using a visual acuity test, a visual field test, and a hearing acuity test. Eighteen undergraduate students were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group underwent muscular relaxation and postural training. Each subject in this group was administered the tests before and after the training. Each subject in the control group carried out the tests before and after participating in a 30-min conversation with the experimenter. On all three tests, the experimental group improved significantly more than the control group.     

On the perception of two successive sound bursts

Summary This paper is concerned with both time perception and the methodology of perceptual psychology. The perception of the pattern of two successive sound bursts was studied by two different methods, i.e., magnitude estimation and phenomenal report. The temporal interval between the bursts was varied from 38 ms to 3394 ms. First, the observer estimated the duration or speed of each pair by a number without modulus. The estimations could not be fitted by a single power function across the entire range of intervals. That is, the exponent changed discontinuously. Next, the observer categorized freely the impressions of all the pairs. The quality of the phenomenon changed at the point where the exponent changed. All the observers arrived at the same three categories expressing the phenomena of the pairs. The boundaries between them corresponded approximately to the intervals of 150 ms and 2000 ms. The pairs in the middle category were often associated with body movements. The other categories also are of a unique nature. Finally, the possibility and the usefulness of employing psychophysical methods and phenomenological methods together is discussed.We are grateful to Professor Y. Umeoka, University of Tokyo, for his constant advice     

The category of 1:1 ratio caused by assimilation of two neighboring empty time intervals

We investigated the perception of temporal patterns of two neighboring empty time intervals, t1 and t2, in this order. In a previous study, we reported that bilateral assimilation took place during t1 and t2, as well as unilateral assimilation. [Miyauchi, R. & Nakajima, Y. (2005). Bilateral assimilation of two neighboring empty time intervals. Music Perception, 22, 411-424]. The points of subjective equality (PSEs) of t1 and t2 approached each other. We speculated that these temporal patterns would yield nearly 1:1 ratios perceptually despite the change in the physical temporal ratio between t1 and t2. However, we were uncertain whether these temporal patterns were really perceived as having 1:1 ratios. In the present study, we conducted three experiments. In Experiment 1, we measured subjective similarities of two temporal patterns and analyzed the results by hierarchical cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling. The temporal patterns, where the physical ratio between t1 and t2 was varied systematically, were divided into three clusters, and one cluster consisted of the temporal patterns within a range of -80 ms 相似文献