Be like et al. beyond America: The quotative system in British and Canadian youth

In this paper we study the quotative system of contemporary British and Canadian youth. Multivariate analysis of nearly 1300 quotative verbs demonstrates that the innovative form belike is productive in both Canada and Britain. Traditional quotatives such as say, go,think, are used according to somewhat different patterns in the two corpora. We suggest that this is the result of differing narrative styles across varieties. However, the linguistic trajectory of the innovative form belike is remarkably parallel, not only across the British and Canadian corpora, but is also comparable with previous reports of this form in the United States. This finding provides evidence for a systematic global diffusion of belike across geographically separated speech communities and calls for further research into the social and linguistic mechanisms underlying such internationally circumscribed linguistic change.     

Dyadic Adjustment and Community Involvement in Same-Sex Couples

This study examines the effects of age and involvement in the gay, lesbian, and bisexual community on dyadic adjustment in 62 male and 54 female same-sex couples. Participants completed the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (Spanier, 1976) and scales of political and social involvement in the gay, lesbian, and bisexual community based on Peplau and Cochran (1981). Those in midlife (35 years and older) had significantly lower conflict in matters of affection and sex than those younger (less than 35 years old). Political involvement interacted significantly with gender and age in predicting dyadic consensus scores: Among younger women, greater political involvement was associated with higher dyadic consensus. Inter-partner differences in social involvement were significantly associated with greater dyadic conflict in sex and affection. Inter-partner dyadic adjustment and community involvement scores were positively correlated, in general. Findings support the importance of age in the study of same-sex couples. The implications for conceptualizations of the gay, lesbian, and bisexual communities and dyadic adjustment are discussed.     

Mapping the two levels of digital divide: Internet access and social network site adoption among older adults in the USA

Older adults have increasingly adopted Internet and social network sites (SNSs), but little communication scholarship has explored systematic differences in access within this population. Using a nationally representative sample of Americans over the age of 50 years from the 2012 Health and Retirement Study, we examine Internet access (N?=?18,851) and SNS adoption patterns (N?=?869) among this sample and explore how these patterns vary by age. Regarding Internet access, results suggest that while the gender divide has reversed in favor of women, older adults who are economically, socioculturally, or physically disadvantaged are less likely to have reliable Internet access. In addition, the view that the various divides in Internet access are less of a concern for those who are younger is only partially supported, as some access-related divides do not vary by age or even decrease with age. For SNS adoption, we found that access to technological resources (diversity of online activities) positively predicts SNS use. Moreover, SNS users are more likely to be younger, female, widowed, and homemakers, perhaps because these individuals are more motivated to use SNSs to complement or compensate for their existing social status. These findings reveal unique challenges and motivations in relation to Internet access and SNS adoption patterns across the later life span.     

Swear(ING) ain't play(ING): The interaction of taboo language and the sociolinguistic variable

Swearwords influence social evaluation of a speaker in a variety of ways depending on social context (Jay & Janschewitz (2008), The pragmatics of swearing. Journal of Politeness Research. Language, Behaviour, Culture, 4(2), 267–288). Little attention has been paid to the role of linguistic variation in social perceptions of swearing, however. This paper presents two experiments that test the role of sociolinguistic variation in the social evaluation of swearing. Experiment 1 is a variant categorization task, in which participants categorized acoustically ambiguous swearwords and phonetically matching neutral and nonwords as ending in either “-ing” or “-in.” Results suggest that swearwords led participants to hear “-ing” on ambiguous items. Experiment 2 is a matched-guise task in which listeners heard a passage featuring a mix of swearwords and neutral “-ing” words in one of four conditions: fully velar (All-ing), fully alveolar (All-in), only swearwords as velar (Swear-ing), or only neutral words as velar (Swear-in). Participants rated speakers on Likert scales (Schleef et al. (2017), Regional diversity in social perceptions of (ING). Language Variation and Change, 29(1), 29–56). Participants again displayed a tendency towards hearing “-ing” on swearwords. As a result, responses to the Swear-in guises were similar to those for the All-ing guises. The consequences for our understanding of swearing, sociolinguistic perception and cognition, and style, are discussed.     

Diagnostics of age‐graded linguistic behaviour: The case of the quotative system1

This article presents a cross‐variety investigation of quotatives be like and go in apparent and real time. Distributional and attitudinal evidence points to a change in progress as the underlying process for the distribution of be like. However, there is also evidence of life‐span change (Sankoff to appear). The patterning of go across age is much less clear‐cut. It could be interpreted as age grading or as a change in progress. This paper discusses seemingly contradictory findings from U.S. and British English. It will be suggested that the distribution of go is due to unstable behaviour at both the individual and the community level. Furthermore, there is evidence that go has a latent presence in the linguistic repertoire and was picked up again after its frequency dipped due to the introduction of be like. This finding ties in with other reported cases of recycling of variables ( Dubois and Horvath 1999 ).     

The Role of Perceived Racial Discrimination in the Marriage Gap Between Black and White People

Abstract

Many explanations offered for the gap in marriage rates between Black and White people are economic and cultural. Less often considered are how racial social psychological factors influence marriage rates. In this study, we use critical race theory and the life course perspective to investigate how perceived racial discrimination impacts the likelihood of marriage for Black and White people. Data for the study are taken from the Portraits of American Life Study (N?=?678). The results of logistic regression analyses show that among people who report perceived racial discrimination, White people generally have a higher probability of being married compared to Black people. Analyses by age demonstrate that among younger adults, Black people who perceive racial discrimination are equally likely to be married as White people and have a higher probability of being married than Black people who do not report perceptions of racial discrimination. A negative influence on the odds of marriage related to perceived racial discrimination for Black people becomes clearer as respondents age. The findings highlight the importance of considering perceptions of racial discrimination to better understand the marriage gap between Black and White people across the life course.     

Practising Gender at Work: Further Thoughts on Reflexivity

In an effort to make visible the subtle and seldom acknowledged aspects of gendering dynamics, Martin focuses on unreflexive practices that both communicate and constitute gender in paid work settings. She reviews the distinction between practices that are culturally available to ‘do gender’ and the literal practising of gender that is constituted through interaction. While acknowledging that agency is involved in any practicing of gender, she considers how intentionality and agency intersect, arguing that people in powerful positions routinely practise gender without being reflexive about it. Defining practising as emergent, directional, temporal, rapid, immediate and indeterminate, Martin shows how these qualities affect men as well as women in unexpected and often harmful ways. She concludes with a call for innovative ways to ‘catch gender in practice’ and for attention to reflexivity's role in the ongoing constitution of gender at work.     

Masculinity and Tom Identity in Thailand

Abstract

Thai lesbian women engage local cultural meanings of masculinity in the creation of personal identities. Lesbian identity in Thailand is largely framed in terms of “butch-femme” gender role-playing, with the masculine woman referred to as tom and the feminine woman dee. According to informants, the dynamics between toms and dees differ from the normative expectations and experiences of hetero-sexuality for Thai women. Although Thai toms express their identity in terms of being “like men,” they often differ from typical Thai male attitudes in terms of attitudes towards female sexuality, masculine sensitivity, and expectations from women in terms of long-term relationships. I conclude that Thai tom-identity is positioned against both normative Thai femininity and masculinity. This paper addresses the feelings towards sexuality and self-identity of many Thai lesbians, and seeks to help health and welfare professionals be sensitive to cultural nuances of gender identity, and attitudes towards relationships and sex among lesbian Thai women.     

Career Patterns and Family Status of Women and Men Artists

These observations are often made about women's career outcomes: (a) women, as compared to men, do not experience career outcomes that are consistent with their training and abilities, and (b) interruptions in women's careers are linked to marriage and children. The current study examined whether these patterns applied to women in art who may have more flexible paid work schedules. Women (N = 109), who trained in art, were compared to their male classmates (N = 99) 18 years after art school. Career patterns, midlife occupations, marital status, and number of children were examined. No gender differences were noted in midlife occupations, however, women experienced significantly more career discontinuity than men, and women with discontinuous careers had significantly more children than women in continuous patterns.     

Discourse variation,grammaticalisation and stuff like that1

General extenders (such as and stuff) are analysed here in the speech of adolescents from three English towns. There were no consistent patterns of gender or social class variation in their use, but a clear social class difference in the use of certain forms, with and that favoured by the working‐class speakers and and stuff and and things preferred by the middle‐class adolescents. The most frequent forms were analysed in terms of phonetic reduction, decategorisation, semantic change and pragmatic shift, changes that together make up the process of grammaticalisation. And that and and everything were the most grammaticalised, followed by or something, with and stuff and and things lagging behind. The multifunctionality of the general extenders caused problems for a rigorous analysis of their pragmatic functions. The paper argues that we must consider their functions within the local contexts in which they occur, to take account of their interaction with other linguistic forms. It is also important to avoid generalising about their functions and, instead, to prioritise the fact that as pragmatic particles they are multifunctional. In this data the general extenders had functions in every communicative domain, often simultaneously. The implications for the quantitative analysis of discourse forms are also considered.     

The Interactive Effects of Marital Conflict and Divorce on Parent – Adult Children's Relationships

This study examines main effect and interactive models of the relations between marital conflict, divorce, and parent – adult child relationships and gender differences in these relations. Data were drawn from a longitudinal study of a community sample (N = 585). Parental marital conflict and divorce were measured from age 5 through age 17 years. Mother‐child and father‐child relationship quality at age 22 years was assessed in terms of closeness‐support and conflict‐control. Results indicated that both marital conflict and divorce are associated with poorer quality parent – adult child relationships. Divorce moderated the link between marital conflict and subsequent negativity in mother‐child relationships, with the estimated effects being stronger in continuously married families than in divorced families, especially for women.     

Equality and Illusion: Gender and Tenure in Art History Careers

Using a national survey of 508 art history Ph.D.s including data on graduate school performance and careers 10 – 15 years post‐Ph.D., this study investigates gender, family, and academic tenure in art history, the humanities field with the highest proportion of women. Alternative hypotheses derived from three perspectives—termed here clockwork, two‐body, and synergy—are evaluated with multivariate logistic regression. Analysis finds that marriage increases men’s tenure odds and decreases women’s, but that some types of marriages do not decrease women’s odds, and some types dramatically increase men’s. This study calls attention to male advantage in female‐dominated academic disciplines and demonstrates the potential to better understand the interactions of gender, marriage, and careers by conceptualizing different types of marriages.     

Factors that Influence Body Dissatisfaction: Comparisons across Culture and Gender

This study examined the relationship between attachment style, differentiation of self, and body dissatisfaction across culture and gender. The sample consisted of 115 Caucasians (85 females, 29 males) with a mean age of 22.2 years (SD = 5.81) and 119 Chinese individuals (93 females, 26 males) with a mean age of 22.8 years (SD = 2.35). Participants completed online self-report measures of body satisfaction, attachment style, and differentiation of self. Results indicated that high attachment anxiety and less differentiation of self were associated with lower body satisfaction for women but not for men of either cultural group. There were no significant cultural or gender differences in terms of overall body satisfaction; however, there were differences with regard to preoccupation with weight and self-perceived weight. It was concluded that culture had little impact on body dissatisfaction in the present sample but that the factors that shape body dissatisfaction differed by gender.     

Gender orientation and alcohol-related weight control behavior among male and female college students

Objective: We examine weight control behavior used to (a) compensate for caloric content of heavy alcohol use; and (b) enhance the psychoactive effects of alcohol among college students. We evaluate the role of gender orientation and sex. Participants: Participants completed an online survey (N = 651; 59.9% women; 40.1% men). Method: Weight control behavior was assessed via the Compensatory-Eating-and-Behaviors-in Response-to-Alcohol-Consumption-Scale. Control variables included sex, race/ethnicity, age, and depressive symptoms. Gender orientation was measured by the Bem Sex Role Inventory. The prevalence and probability of alcohol-related weight control behavior using ordinal logistic regression are reported. Results: Men and women do not significantly differ in compensatory-weight-control-behavior. However, regression models suggest that recent binge drinking, other substance use, and masculine orientation are positively associated with alcohol-related weight control behavior. Conclusions: Sex was not a robust predictor of weight control behavior. Masculine orientation should be considered a possible risk factor for these behaviors and considered when designing prevention and intervention strategies.     

“Beware of the estrogen assault”: Ideals of old manhood in anti-aging advertisements

Previous studies have demonstrated the tendency of recent medical, therapeutic, and pharmacologic discourses on sexuality to advocate a “resexing” of old age, in which aging men purchase means to bolster erections [Marshall, Barbara L. and Stephen Katz. 2006. “From androgyny to androgens: Re-sexing the aging body.” Pp. 75–97 in Age Matters: Realigning feminist thinking, edited by T. M. Calasanti and K. F. Slevin. New York: Routledge.]. This study examines the links between masculinity and age in anti-aging advertisements. Analysis of ninety-six anti-aging websites reveals a vision of manhood as: based on hormones, opposing womanhood, forestalling aging, competing and performing in sexual and employment realms, allowing men to dominate those around them. Rather than challenge ageism, this construction reinforces both age and gender inequalities. It defines men as dominant and defines women in terms of men’s desires. It defines prosperity in old age in terms of younger experiences, and defines aging itself as a sickness that results from a loss of masculinity (testosterone), which only aggressive consumption of anti-aging products can heal.     

What do Stakeholders Like on Facebook? Examining Public Reactions to Nonprofit Organizations’ Informational,Promotional, and Community-Building Messages

Although public relations scholarship has often discussed the possibilities of dialogue and engagement using social media, research has not truly explored this dynamic. Instead, research on social media platforms has focused on measuring the content and structure of organizational profiles. This study seeks to enhance the field's discussion about social media engagement by determining what organizational content individual stakeholders prefer on Facebook in terms of liking, commenting, and sharing. A content analysis of 1,000 updates from organizations on the Nonprofit Times 100 list indicates that, based on what they comment on and like, individuals prefer dialogic, as well as certain forms of mobilizational, messages; however, they are more likely to share one-way informational messages with their own networks. These findings are interpreted using practical and theoretical implications for the practice of public relations.     

Brief Communications: Gender Differences in Gambling Progression

The authors compared 39 women and 38 men entering an outpatient treatment program for pathological gambling. They were diagnosed according to DSM-IV and selected by SOGS, followed by a semi-structured interview for demography and progression of the gambling behavior prior to treatment. Women were more often single (59% vs. 26%; p = .005) and started gambling significantly later than men (34.2 vs. 20.4 years; p < .001). The progression of the disorder was more than 2 times faster in women than in men. There was no difference in the age of seeking treatment (44.7 vs. 42.3 years). Findings from this study resemble gender differences in other addictions—in particular the faster progression among women—challenge pharmacodynamic hypotheses for this phenomenon, and suggest gender into account when devising treatment strategies for pathological gambling.     

The use of mental health care,psychotropic drugs and social services by divorced people: does informal support matter?

This study compares the mental health care, psychotropic drugs and social service use of divorced people (re-partnered or single) with that of married people. This paper questions whether the availability of informal support facilitates or substitutes for formal care seeking. Data from the Divorce in Flanders survey of 2009–2010 are used. Logistic regression analyses are performed separately for women (N = 3450) and men (N = 3020). Greater use of mental health care, psychotropic drugs and social services by single divorced men is explained by their higher need for care, while divorced women (especially single divorced) more frequently contact a general practitioner (GP), a psychiatrist, or a psychologist, regardless of their mental health, socio-economic background and informal support. Women who have support from non-family members are more inclined to use social services and to contact a GP, while support from family members is only positively related to GP consultations. With regard to men, informal support from non-family members positively influences each type of formal care seeking. Our results suggest that non-family members (and only among women, family members as well) can provide help and advice about seeking professional mental health care and social services, but they do not have an influence on psychotropic drug use.     

Young Children's Perception of the Elderly

Abstract

Young children's perceptions of the elderly were examined using Child-Adolescent Facts on Aging Quiz in order to assess what relationships exist between perception and contact with the elderly, gender, and age. Comparisons were also made between the findings in this study and a previous one in the United States of America. One hundred and twenty respondents comprising fifty males and seventy females from two primary schools answered the questionnaire. The mean age of the respondents was 10.6 years and about 63% had at least a living grandparent. The results revealed that the mean percentage error was 47%. Item 6-“most older workers do not work as well as younger workers” had the highest error rate of 83% while item 4-“old people are not as strong as younger people” had the lowest error rate of 16%. All the three variables were found not to have any influence on the respondent's perception of the elderly. Some similarities and differences in perception of the elderly were found in the Nigerian and American samples. The implications of these findings are discussed and further areas of research suggested.