“Not Getting Any Because of Jesus”: The Centrality of Desire Management to the Identity Work of Gay,Celibate Christians

Drawing from semistructured interviews with gay, celibate Christians or “Side B” individuals, I explore the emotion of desire. I specifically attend to these questions: How do Side Bs interpret and communicate feeling rules connected to desire? How do these individuals manage desire? How might feeling rules and conceptualizations of this feeling serve as an important source of boundary heightening? Finally, how might shared feeling rules create connection with others who do not identify as Side B? By attending to these questions, I illustrate the relationship between the conceptualization of an emotion and a set of feeling rules and emotion management strategies. I also highlight how such rules and strategies can serve as a source of boundary heightening, or alternatively, as a bridge between seemingly disparate groups.     

“I Was There for the Free Food”: Accidental Conversions in College

How and why do some college students have conversion experiences, while others do not? To answer this question, we inductively analyzed in‐depth interviews with 30 students at a residential college in the southeast who had varying conversion experiences: some never began a conversion (n = 16), some started toward conversion but ultimately did not convert (n = 4), and some completed a religious (n = 5) or nonreligious conversion (n = 5). We conceptualize conversion as socialization into new beliefs and practices, as evidenced by reorganizing daily behaviors. We extend conversion to experiences not generally understood as such. We find religious and nonreligious conversions follow the same process during college, facilitated by student organizations, demonstrating that religious conversions are not a unique transformation. Furthermore, we find that organizational context matters in conversion processes: the structural context of college allows some students, who share biographical ability, a desire to make new friends, and openness to new groups, to unintentionally join student organizations that seek to change their daily practices and worldviews. However, many students face constrained choices or structural barriers that prevent the conversion from being completed. Our research has important implications for conceptualizing conversion and for understanding the role of organizational context in conversions.     

Coupling Processes and Experiences of Never Married Heterosexual Black Men and Women: A Phenomenological Study

Over the past decades, the decline in Black marriages and the upsurge of never‐married Blacks have stimulated much theoretical focus, but researchers conducted few studies on never‐married heterosexual Black adults' coupling unions. Guided by an integrated framework of Africana womanism and symbolic interactionism, this qualitative hermeneutic phenomenological study used comprehensive individual interviews to explore the experiences of 26 never‐married heterosexual Black men and women between the ages 25 and 35 about their attempts to cultivate and maintain intimate romantic relationships as well as their desire for marriage. Findings revealed mixed emotions from participants' lived experiences in developing and sustaining romantic relationships. Clinical implications highlighted the need to effectively attend to Black romantic relationships and experiences in their sociohistorical and sociocultural contexts.     

Introduction: The aging workforce: challenges for societies, employers, and older workers

The aging of the baby boom cohorts poses challenges for societies, employers, and the baby boomers themselves: Will societies be able to sustain an exponentially increasing number of retirees and older workers? Will employers be prepared to accommodate an aging workforce, especially in times of economic recession? Will aging baby boomers desire and be able to postpone retirement and remain in their career jobs or seek bridge employment or be forced to do so out of financial necessity?     

Different Ways to Get There: Evidence of a Variable Female Sexual Response Cycle

Research has suggested women’s sexual response cycle may vary more than previously thought. We asked 769 sexually active women between the ages of 18–70 to report on their sexual desire and arousal patterns during their last sexual experience. Using a latent class mixture model from retrospective sexual response data, we found six classes of desire and arousal patterns (Low, Middle Steady, High Fluctuation, Low Fluctuation, Upper Steady, High). We examined how these patterns were related to demographics, outcomes during the sexual experience, and outcomes for the global relationship. The Low sexual response class (8% of women) was significantly different from other classes in duration of the sexual experience, orgasms, and overall satisfaction with the sexual experience. Most sexual response patterns were associated with healthy relational and sexual outcomes. All classes except for the Low arousal and desire class showed associations with a neutral or positive sexual satisfaction evaluation. The non-problematic variation of women’s sexual experience is an important concept to consider as it impacts determinations of dysfunction and women’s self-evaluations. Not all women need to experience high levels of arousal throughout the sexual experience or to have desire at the outset in order to have positive sexual experiences and sexual outcomes.     

Internet lives: social context and moral domain in adolescent development

The author examines the thinking and behavior of adolescents within the digital world. What does all this instant messaging and blogging outside school hours mean? Why do adolescents do it? How much time do they spend doing it? How does it shape their social, emotional, and moral development? Bradley describes the phenomenon and explores some moral development ramifications of a new context of social experience for adolescents. It proposes that the digital world creates its own social context, with a different set of social conventions from the adult-mediated "real" world that adolescents also inhabit. It is a social context that most adults are aware of but do not understand. Adolescents' experiences in the online world influence their experiences in the face-to-face world and play an important role in the development of their social and moral knowledge. This chapter places the discussion within the context of literature on youth ethics that has been developed based on more traditional settings.     

Prevalence of Sexually Abusive Experiences in Childhood and Adolescence Among a Community Sample of Latinas: A Descriptive Study

This study examined the prevalence, severity, and circumstances of self-reported sexually coercive and abusive experiences in childhood and adolescence in a community sample of Latina women (N?=?204) ages 18 to 34 years. Results from structured phone interviews indicated that 35%?of the women reported experiencing some form of sexual abuse, 31%?of the reported perpetrators were family members, and 52%?were boyfriends, friends, or acquaintances. Of those who reported an abusive experience, 44%?had not disclosed the abuse to anyone; for those who did disclose, 74%?reported feeling supported. Findings highlight the importance of including peer and dating-partner abuse in the assessment of CSA and the necessity for outreach to Latina women who may have never disclosed their experiences of abuse.     

Sexual Desire Inventory: Two or Three Dimensions?

The Sexual Desire Inventory (SDI), developed by Spector, Carey, and Steinberg in 1996, has been widely used to assess sexual desire in men and women throughout the world. This questionnaire categorizes sexual desire in two dimensions: dyadic sexual desire and solitary sexual desire. Our study addressed the factorial structure of the SDI, an aspect that until now has been largely neglected. We recruited two samples of Spanish men and women involved in stable heterosexual relationships. The first sample consisted of 3,417 subjects (1,600 males and 1,817 females), ages 18 to 84; the second sample consisted of 677 subjects (285 males and 392 females), ages 18 to 50. The results of an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) showed that instead of two dimensions the SDI should have three: (1) partner-focused dyadic sexual desire, (2) general dyadic sexual desire for an attractive person, and (3) solitary sexual desire. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) supported the robustness of this new three-factor structure. No gender differences were revealed, except for dyadic sexual desire for an attractive person, for which men reported higher scores. Good validity and reliability values were obtained. Moreover, standard scores for men and women by different age groups were developed.     

‘I know,I can,I will try’: youths and adults with intellectual disabilities in Sweden using information and communication technology in their everyday life

This study introduces how technology and humans are part of relationships that influence agency among people with disabilities. It aims to focus attention on the use of, and access to, information and communication technology (ICT), and agency among youths and adults with intellectual disabilities. The study draws on empirical research conducted with youths and adults with intellectual disabilities, as well as staff at a day centre. It shows that by drawing upon interests, previous experiences, and cooperating in ICT activities the participants’ agency changed. Also, it shows how disability is relational and how it can be influenced by ICT. An interdisciplinary approach is adopted to interpret the findings and to explore: How do people of different ages with intellectual disabilities experience the use of ICT in their everyday lives? Are people with intellectual disabilities able to influence their level of activity by using ICT? And if so, in what ways?     

Confessions of a baseball mom: the impact of youth sports on parents' feelings and behaviors

To explore parents' emotional investment in and behaviors in response to youth sports, the author conducted a mixed-methods investigation to answer four research questions: (1)How do parents feel about their children's participation in organized youth team sports? (2) Which situations trigger which feelings? (3) How do parents' feelings influence their behaviors? (4) What parental characteristics (such as personal histories or demographics) are linked to different feelings and behaviors? The research indicated that many parents' feelings are triggered by their children's sports experiences and that adults must learn how to translate these feelings into productive behaviors.     

The Abject Embodiment of Cancer Patients: Dignity,Selfhood, and the Grotesque Body

The body is the empirical quintessence of the self. Because selfhood is symbolic, embodiment represents the personification and materialization of otherwise invisible qualities of personhood. The body and experiences of embodiment are central to our sense of being, who we think we are, and what others attribute to us. What happens, then, when one's body is humiliating? How does the self handle the implications of a gruesome body? How do people manage selfhood in light of grotesque physical appearances? This study explores these questions in the experiences of dying cancer patients and seeks to better understand relationships among body, self, and situated social interaction.     

The experience of sexual desire: Psychological correlates in a college sample

In order to elaborate on available models of sexual desire, we administered a sexual desire questionnaire to 144 college students, ages 18 to 54. Included in this measure were questions concerning the frequency of sexual desire, whether the respondent had participated in sexual activity without desire, or vice versa, experienced desire without sexual behavior, and a question assessing which cues are used by the subject to gauge sexual desire (e.g., frequency of intercourse, sexual dreams). Subjects also completed the Passionate Love Scale, Sexual Arousal Inventory, and Crowne‐Marlowe Social Desirability Scale. The results indicate that as a group, males report experiencing sexual desire more frequently than females. Males appeared to rely on similar indicators of desire as females, specifically genital arousal and sexual daydreams. For both males and females, sexual desire was significantly correlated with sexual arousal (r = 0.50, females; r = 0.44, males) while the correlation of desire and love was nonsignificant for both sexes. However, desire and sexual behavior did not necessarily co‐occur, as both males and females reported engaging in sexual behavior without desire. These data suggest that greater attention be paid to the definitional features of sexual desire in nonclinical samples, in an effort to clarify current diagnostic categories and to provide population base rates.     

Public social science in Norway: Migration research in the public debate

How do Norwegian migration and diversity researchers experience and maneuver participation in public debate? And do their experiences and strategies fit with Michael Burawoy's image of Norwegian social science and with his model of public sociology? In this article, the concept of public sociology is expanded to public social science, encompassing communication of research not just from sociology but social science in general. Semi-structured interviews with 31 Norwegian migration and diversity scholars from 10 academic institutions about their experiences of, and views on, public research communication constitute the empirical material. The article concludes that Burawoy is right about the relatively high participation in public debate among social scientists in Norway. And his ideal-typical distinction between four types of sociology is helpful in analyzing how researchers relate differently to the science-public interface. Yet the results indicate that his perspective on public sociology is overly optimistic and not sufficiently attuned to the normativity already attached to highly politicized issues in public debate.     

The material and immaterial in conflict: Spirituality reduces conspicuous consumption

Many spiritual leaders have argued that materialistic pursuits are incompatible with following a spiritual life. Consistent with this view, we found that higher levels of spirituality correspond to a decreased desire to consume material goods in a conspicuous manner. Study 1 was correlational, and found that people who reported having spiritual experiences reported a decreased desire to spend lavishly for visible consumer goods, such as a cell phone. Study 2 was experimental, and found that participants assigned to recall a spiritual event also demonstrated a decreased desire to consume conspicuously, relative to participants assigned to recall an enjoyable event.     

Lying through others: Does delegation promote deception?

How do agency relationships affect an individual’s willingness to lie for monetary advantage? Does lie aversion decline if a lie (or truth) is sent through an agent, rather than sent directly by the individual? In a recent paper, Erat (2013) shows that a significant proportion of his subjects prefer to delegate a deception decision. We present experiments designed to focus on one of several possible explanations for this intriguing behavior – that delegation reduces lie aversion. The experiments reveal that subjects are more willing to lie through a delegate than to lie directly despite controlling for potential effects of delegated decision-making on preferences over payoffs, probabilities of actions, and/or the desire to avoid taking a decision.     

“Teachers think the kids around here,don't really want to learn”: Street-identified black men and women's attitudes toward teachers and schooling

This street participatory action research project explored the reflective schooling experiences of street identified Black men and women (ages 18–35) in two small low-income neighborhoods. Secondary analysis of survey (N = 520) and interview (N = 46) data examined: (1) How are attitudes toward schooling and teachers affected by race, gender and age?; and (2) How do students utilize a street-identity as a site of resilience inside schools? Overall, street-identified study participants held positive attitudes toward schooling, but generally performed poorly in schools and had negative experiences with educators. No significance was found as a function of gender and age regarding attitudes toward schooling and attitudes toward teachers. Also, interview results, across gender and age, suggest school-related structural challenges and poor teacher-student relationships contributed to severe conflict between students and teachers; and between students. Interviewees argued some Black students internalized a street identity or became disruptive and even engaged in school violence as a protective mechanism to endure hostile schooling environments. Moreover, Street PAR is discussed as a method and intervention to improve student performance and resolve concerns between students and educators.     

Migrant Women’s Transnationalism: Family Patterns and Policies

Whereas current policies on migration and integration are beginning to recognise family reunion as one of the most legitimate reasons for acceptance by a host society, they in most cases still do not account for the growing trend of feminisation of migration, and even rarely do they address specific migrants’ needs. As currently constituted, the integration bills envision a one‐way process that places migrants into a position where they cannot question, but only accept and fulfil the predetermined requirements of integration plans. But who are the women that migrate, what influence do their transnational experiences have on their families, and how do migration policies envision the reality of increasing transnationalism? This paper focuses on biographical interviews with migrant women in Slovenia as a valuable method to question current integration measurements, applied here to explore female migrants’ experiences in transnational family life and social networks. A gender sensitive approach is applied that critically evaluates the specificities of family reunification policies, which define women migrants as dependent family members. We discuss life trajectories of women migrants, focusing the debate on their own experiences in and with family life. This new empirical material is used to theorise gaps in contemporary migration research. Women migrants’ own reflections of transnational family ties show a great variety of experiences and their narratives are a unique window into motivational, political, as well as legal dimensions of migration.     

Managing everyday (in)securities: Normative values,emotional security and symbolic recognition in the lives of Russian rural elders

Qualitative studies of ageing have called for attention to be paid to the diverse experiences of older people and to their agency in negotiating opportunities and constraints. A lack of research into the experiences and subjectivities of rural elders has been noted. Yet, the majority of research concerning elderly people in contemporary Russia continues to treat old age as a category and focus on particular practical and material forms of assistance available to pensioners. This article, aims to contribute to the small but growing body of ethnographic studies which shed light on the lives of elderly people in Russia as subjects in their own right. Based on ethnographic fieldwork from rural Siberia, the article explores the ways in which elderly people experience and interpret day-to-day (in)securities, forms of care and social support. In doing so the article explores three key questions: Firstly, how do lived realities, both past and present, and normative values of rural life intersect in elderly people's experiences of (in)security in post-socialist contexts?; Secondly, what forms of assistance do older people view as legitimate in their everyday lives? In particular, how are emotional exchanges and interpersonal connections interpreted and what securities do they bring?; Thirdly, what is the significance of symbolic support and recognition for elderly people and how do these draw on practices and frameworks from the socialist past?