Beyond Thinness: The Influence of a Curvaceous Body Ideal on Body Dissatisfaction in Black and White Women

This study examined whether a curvaceous body ideal differentially influenced sources of body dissatisfaction in 116 Black and 222 White women at a northeastern U.S. university. We measured idealization of and dissatisfaction with three components of a curvaceous ideal: breast size, buttock size, and weight. Although most women preferred a curvaceous body shape, more White women preferred this ideal to be slender with medium breasts whereas more Black women preferred this ideal to be curvier with medium breasts and large buttocks. Women discrepant from these ideals reported more dissatisfaction. Dissatisfaction with the curvaceous ideal predicted appearance concerns. Findings highlight the need to consider valued body ideals other than thinness as potential sources of dissatisfaction among women of different racial/ethnic backgrounds.     

Self-regulation and STEM persistence in minority and non-minority students across the first year of college

Social Psychology of Education - Psychological factors have been implicated in STEM persistence but remain poorly understood. In particular, the role of self-regulation—the cognitive,...     

Motivational pathways to alcohol use and abuse among Black and White adolescents

Using data from a biracial community sample of adolescents, the present study examined trajectories of alcohol use and abuse over a 15-year period, from adolescence into young adulthood, as well as the extent to which these trajectories were differentially predicted by coping and enhancement motives for alcohol use among the 2 groups. Coping and enhancement motivations (M. L. Cooper, 1994) refer to the strategic use of alcohol to regulate negative and positive emotions, respectively. Results showed that Black and White youth follow distinct alcohol trajectories from adolescence into young adulthood and that these trajectories are differentially rooted in the regulation of negative and positive emotions. Among Black drinkers, coping motives assessed in adolescence more strongly forecast differences in alcohol involvement into their early 30s, whereas enhancement motives more strongly forecast differences among White drinkers. Results of the present study suggest that different models may be needed to account for drinking behavior among Blacks and Whites and that different approaches may prove maximally effective in reducing heavy or problem drinking among the 2 groups.     

A motivational perspective on risky behaviors: the role of personality and affect regulatory processes

The present study tested a motivational model in which personality influences on risky behaviors were hypothesized to be primarily indirectly mediated, by shaping the nature and quality of emotional experience as well as characteristic styles of coping with these emotions. This model was tested in a representative community sample of 1,666 young adults, aged 18 to 25 years old. Results revealed strong support for the model, indicating that broad traits related to neuroticism and extraversion promote involvement in alcohol use and risky sex via distinct pathways. Neurotic individuals were prone to engage in risky behaviors as a way to cope with aversive mood states, whereas extraverted individuals were more likely to engage in risky behaviors as a way to enhance positive affective experience. In contrast, impulsivity directly predicted some forms of risk taking, and interacted with extraversion and neuroticism to predict motives for risky behaviors. The model provides a highly general though not complete account of risky behaviors.     

Motivations for condom use: do pregnancy prevention goals undermine disease prevention among heterosexual young adults?

Differences in motives for condom use and their implications for understanding frequency of use were investigated in a random, biracial (Black, White) sample of heterosexuals, aged 17 to 25 years (n = 902). Results indicated that sexually active young adults-regardless of race, age, gender, or relationship status-were more likely to use condoms to prevent pregnancy than to prevent disease. Reasons for use mediated the effects of relationship status on condom use per se and moderated the effects of attitudinal and perceptual variables on condom use. Finally, comparisons among condom users motivated by different prevention goals and nonusers (n = 388) revealed that differences among user subgroups were nearly as numerous and, in some cases, more robust than differences between users and nonusers. These findings indicate that condom users comprise distinct subgroups, defined in part by their underlying motives for use, and highlight important conceptual and empirical reasons to distinguish among them.