Predictors of opposition to and support for the ordination of women: insights from the LDS Church

Female ordination is an important component of gender equality in Christian religious communities. While prior research has examined societal, institutional, and organisational factors that predict changes in ordination policies in Christian denominations, there is very little research examining individuals’ attitudes regarding the ordination of women. In this research, we use data from two surveys of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) to examine the factors that predict attitudes towards the ordination of women using two polity-specific measures of support or opposition. Results indicate greater support for the ordination of women when framed in a way that takes into account LDS church governance. While several demographic variables predict attitudes towards ordination, the strongest correlate is perceptions of inequality.     

‘Until that magical day…no campus is safe’: reflections on how transgender students experience gender and stigma on campus

Based on interview data garnered from two transgender university students (transman and transwoman) and a reflexive narrative analysis, this research found that some transgender students experience overt forms of gender discrimination, violence, and stigma on campus spaces. Particularly troubling are the inadequate athletic facilities, social organizations, and counselling resources available to trans students. There is a need to have more readily available staff members educated on trans needs and human rights. That said, some narratives emphasize the activist and resilient roles some trans students undertake to make campuses a safer and more gender-inclusive space for trans and cisgender communities. Given the small sample size, the goal of this paper is to raise larger awareness toward the social issues present amongst transgender students, and emphasize the need for further research on gender diversity, marginalization, stigma, and best practices within campus spaces.     

Gendered God Imagery and Attitudes Toward Mothers’ Labor Force Participation: Examining the Transposable Character of Religious Schemas

God imagery has been shown to have a profound influence on a diverse array of attitudes and behaviors. Research has also underscored the religious antecedents of traditionalist gender ideologies. This study integrates these parallel literatures by examining the degree to which gendered God imagery is a transposable schema that is associated with attitudes toward mothers’ paid labor force participation. We hypothesize that otherworldly schemas predicated on gender difference—namely, paternal and maternal images of God—have this‐worldly consequences by reinforcing opposition to mothers’ workforce participation. Analyses of General Social Survey data reveal strong support for this hypothesis. The evidence also demonstrates that paternal God images produce particularly robust and persistent opposition to mothers’ labor force participation net of other factors. Additional hypotheses about the interaction effects exhibited by gendered God imagery, prayer, and worship service attendance are modestly supported. We conclude by discussing our study's implications and outlining directions for future research.     

Personality traits,gender differences and symptoms of anhedonia: What does the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) measure in nonclinical settings?

In healthy populations men report more depressive symptoms than women when depression is measured by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). This study aims to investigate the role of neuroticism and extroversion in symptom reporting by men and women and whether anhedonia can explain these reversed gender differences in depression observed when using HADS. HADS, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO FFI) were administered twice to a sample of university students. Number of subjects at T1 was 372 and 160 at T2, measured two months apart. Men had a higher average score on depressive symptoms measured by HADS‐D compared to women (p = 0.029). Women scored higher than men on HADS‐A (p = 0.012), neuroticism (p < 0.001) and PANAS‐negative affect (p < 0.029). No significant gender differences were observed in extroversion and positive affect. Test‐retest stabilities on HADS‐A and HADS‐D were high. Neuroticism predicted HADS‐A at Time 2. Gender, extroversion, and neuroticism predicted HADS‐D at Time 2. The anhedonic content in HADS may be a plausible explanation of reversed gender differences in the HADS depression scale. HADS‐D represents a specific anhedonic subtype of depression where symptom reporting reflects dispositional tendencies related specifically to extroversion.     

Egalitarians,sufficientarians, and mathematicians: a critical notice of Harry Frankfurt’s On Inequality

This critical notice provides an overview of Harry Frankfurt’s On Inequality and assesses whether Frankfurt is right to argue that equality is merely formal and empty. I counter-argue that egalitarianism, properly tweaked and circumscribed, can be defended against Frankfurt’s repudiation. After surveying the main arguments in Frankfurt’s book, I argue that whatever plausibility the ‘doctrine of sufficiency’ defended by Frankfurt may have, it does not strike a fatal blow against egalitarianism. There is nothing in egalitarianism that forbids acceptance of the moral platitude expressed in sufficientarianism's positive thesis, (viz., it is morally important that everyone have enough). Nor is there anything in egalitarianism as such that makes it impossible to recognize the banal truth that there are many important things besides equality, and that many dimensions of human affairs are improperly appraised from a relational or comparative point of view. The fact that a relational or comparative point of view is sometimes out of place, however, surely does not mean that it always is. I conclude with the suggestion that egalitarianism is most compelling when it is understood as a normative conception of social relations (rather than, as Frankfurt seems to assume throughout his book, a thesis about the equal distribution of something) and thus presides over precisely those aspects of human affairs for which that relational or comparative point of view is germane.     

Reassuring sex: Can sexual desire and intimacy reduce relationship‐specific attachment insecurities?

Past research has shown that attachment orientations shape sexual processes within relationships. Yet, little has been done to explore the opposite direction. In the present research, we examined whether sexual desire and emotional intimacy reduce attachment insecurities over time in emerging relationships. In an 8‐month longitudinal study, we followed 62 newly dating couples across three measurement waves. At Time 1, romantic partners discussed sexual aspects of their relationship and judges coded their displays of sexual desire and intimacy. Participants also completed measures of relationship‐specific attachment anxiety and avoidance in each wave. The results indicated that men's displays of desire predicted a decline in their own and their partner's relationship‐specific insecurities. Conversely, women's displays of desire inhibited the decline in their partner's relationship‐specific insecurities, whereas women's displays of intimacy predicted a decline in their partner's relationship‐specific insecurities. These findings suggest that different sex‐related processes underlie attachment formation in men and women.     

System‐justifying behaviors: When feeling dependent on a system triggers gender stereotype‐consistent academic performance

Based on system‐justification theory, we hypothesized that men and women would perform in accordance with gender stereotypes mainly when justification of the system is necessary. In this research, system‐justification motivation was triggered using a system‐dependency manipulation. Study 1 shows that when feeling highly (vs. less) dependent on the system, people endorsed system‐justifying beliefs more. In Study 2, men performed better in math than in verbal domains, while women showed the reverse pattern, but only when they felt highly dependent on the system. Similar results were obtained on performance self‐evaluation. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Interplay of Self‐Certainty and Prosocial Development in the Transition from Late Adolescence to Emerging Adulthood

The transition from late adolescence to emerging adulthood is a period of the life span that offers young people the possibility to consolidate their self‐certainty and prosociality. Both aspects are of core importance for increasing personal and societal well‐being. The purpose of this longitudinal study was twofold: (i) to examine patterns of change and stability in self‐concept clarity and prosociality; and (ii) to unravel over time associations between these constructs in the transition from late adolescence to emerging adulthood. In addressing both aims, we explored the moderating effects of gender. Participants were 244 Dutch emerging adults (46% male; mean age at T1 = 16.73 years) who completed six waves of data collection (mean age at T6 = 22.7 years). Findings highlighted that (i) self‐concept clarity developed nonlinearly, with an initial decline from T1 to T2 followed by an increase thereafter, while prosociality increased linearly over time and both self‐concept clarity and prosociality were characterized by high rank‐order consistency; (ii) self‐concept clarity and prosociality were positively related over time, with the effect of prosociality on self‐concept clarity being stronger than the reciprocal effect of self‐concept clarity on prosociality. Gender differences were detected in mean levels of self‐concept clarity and prosociality (male participants reported higher self‐concept clarity and lower prosociality than female participants) but not in their developmental pathways nor in their reciprocal associations. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology     

女性对新异性事件加工的偏向:来自ERP的证据

采用修订后的oddball范式,结合ERP技术考察女性与男性在加工中性新异刺激时的差异。ERP结果表明,在早期已经出现新异性效应。在300-500ms内,新异刺激在男性和女性被试中都比标准刺激诱发了更大的LPC。在500-700ms内,新异刺激仅在女性被试中比标准刺激诱发更大的LPC,在男性被试中没有显著差异。这些结果表明男性和女性都对中性新异刺激表现出加工偏向,但是女性对其加工的时间比男性更长。这可能与女性容易对显著性(salient)的刺激进行沉思(rumination)相关。