Social Factors Affecting Antitransgender Sentiment in a Sample of Greek Undergraduate Students

Objectives: This study examined the attitudes of Greek undergraduate students toward transgender individuals to identify specific social variables as predictors of negative attitudes. Based on previous research, it appeared that gender, political conservatism, religiosity, and sexual prejudice are useful variables to examine in predicting attitudes toward transgender individuals. The sample (N = 238) consisted of undergraduates at various departments of major universities in Athens, Greece. Methods: The Genderism and Transphobia Scale (GTS) was used along with the Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men Scale (ATLG) and a brief demographics questionnaire. Results: Correlation analysis showed that negative attitudes toward transgender individuals were positively associated with religiosity, frequency of attendance at religious services, political designation, gender, and sexual prejudice. Regression analysis revealed mainly gender and secondly sexual prejudice (as measured by the ATLG) to be independent predictors of attitudes toward transgender individuals. Conclusions: The findings shed light on the current status of undergraduate students’ attitudes toward transgender individuals and reveal important variables that affect these attitudes in a specific sociocultural environment.     

Gone Shopping: The Commercialization of Same-Sex Desire

Marketplace phenomena, such as gay window advertising, reflect the extent to which the commercialization of same-sex desire permits marginalized or stigmatized forms of sexual behavior literally to sell their way into consumer culture. This reverse accommodation, economically managed, effectively undercuts any political gain that might arguably accrue around such increasing visibility. To the contrary, this essay argues that economic display reactivates an ancient and virulent form of prejudice, an interlacing of sexual difference, economics and social scapegoating that has a very long history. Market politics, then, dangerously reconstitutes the pre-Stonewall closet. Finally, the containment made possible by economic enthrallment is as terminal as the more traditional stigmatizing usually associated with the agencies of religion, law, and medicine. Shopping queer is only another way of redeploying very old weapons, only this time, employing them against ourselves.     

Reducing attitudes of prejudice and discrimination through literature: a quasi-experiment on the upper key-stage 2 students of the British schools in Karachi,Pakistan

This study aims to explore the efficacy of literature relating to Anne Frank to reduce children’s attitudes of prejudice and discrimination with respect to specific dimensions, including ethnicity and race, religion and gender. A quasi-experiment was employed with pre-post control design. The sample consisted of 100 students of the upper key-stage 2 (UKS2) level, recruited from the two British schools in Karachi. These schools represented an Experimental Group (EG) and a matched Comparison Group (CG). A research instrument titled ‘Muggles world of differences’ (MWD) was developed and validated. It was administered on CG and EG, both before and after intervention. The intervention plan ‘Reading of Young Anne’s Literature’ (ROYAL) was developed based on selected readings from Anne Frank related literature (AFL). Intervention was provided to EG, while CG studied similar concepts using a more standard method. Results of the pretest revealed a high level of prejudice and discrimination in both the EG and CG, with no significant difference (p > 0.05) in the overall scores, as well as in the specific content domains. However, the post-test of the two groups revealed that the students in the EG had outperformed their CG counterparts in overall MWD scores, as well as in specific content domains. The difference was found to be significant (p < 0.05) with the large effect size (r = ?0.63). Results support the efficacy of teaching Anne Frank related literature in reducing attitudes of prejudice and discrimination.     

Lesbian,Gay, and Bisexual Speaker Panels Lead to Attitude Change Among Heterosexual College Students

The contact hypothesis (Allport, 1954 Allport, G. W. 1954. The nature of prejudice, Cambridge, MA: Addison-Wesley.  [Google Scholar]) suggests that a speaker panel intervention may be effective in reducing prejudice toward sexual minorities among heterosexual individuals. Addressing methodological limitations of prior studies, the present study compared the effects of a speaker panel presentation versus a control condition in altering attitudes among 186 heterosexual university students. After controlling for context effects by collecting attitude measures presumably as part of a separate study, we found that students who received the speaker panel intervention generally demonstrated more positive attitudes afterward.     

Intergroup contact and prejudice in Moroccan and Spanish users of Spanish public libraries: mediating variables and directionality of the process / Contacto intergrupal y prejuicio en usuarios marroquíes y españoles de bibliotecas públicas españolas: variables mediadoras y direccionalidad del proceso

This study tests two serial models of intergroup contact in intergroup relations between users of Spanish public libraries and the directionality of the contact-prejudice relationship. Participants were selected in libraries that meet IFLA Guidelines in Barcelona (N_Spaniards = 138 and N_Moroccans = 89) and libraries that do not meet these guidelines in Almería (N_Spaniards = 116 and N_Moroccans = 100). They responded to a survey about the quantity of intergroup contact, anxiety, ethnocultural empathy, outgroup knowledge and prejudice. Several serial mediation analyses reveal a model where the indirect effect of quantity of contact in the library on prejudice was mediated by intergroup anxiety and ethnocultural empathy in Moroccans in Almería and Spaniards and Moroccans in Barcelona, and it found that the direction of this relationship is from contact to attitudes, but not attitudes to contact. These results show that the mediating power of affective variables is stronger than that of cognitive variables. Explanations about the absence of significant results in Spaniards in the Almería group are provided.     

The perception of realistic and symbolic threat and its influence on prejudice,ingroup favouritism and prosocial response: The native population in the face of immigration / Percepción de amenaza realista y simbólica,su influencia sobre el prejuicio,el favoritismo endogrupal y la respuesta prosocial: la población nativa ante la inmigración

In a context of inflow of immigration and economic crisis, new forms of prejudice and the activation of the perception of threat (realistic and symbolic) will determine the response to immigrant minorities (outgroups). The antecedents of threat are considered to be: the perception of the intergroup situation and the forms of affective prejudice. The outcome variables are ingroup favouritism, prosocial response, empathy and willingness to help. In a cross-sectional study based on a random survey of Basques (n = 500), structural equation modelling analyses were applied to test the differences between realistic and symbolic threat. The results indicate that when the majority group status is perceived as legitimate, the perception of realistic threat arises and this increases ingroup favouritism and decreases prosocial response to the outgroup, directly and through the expression of affective prejudice. Symbolic threat, on the other hand, plays a more limited role. Mechanisms of the perception of realistic and symbolic threat regarding attitudes of natives to immigrants are discussed.     

The Attitudes of Australian Heterosexuals Toward Same-Sex Parents

SUMMARY

This is the first study of attitudes of Australian heterosexuals toward heterosexual, gay male, and lesbian parents and the children raised by these parents. A sample of Australian heterosexual males and females read one of six vignettes describing a family situation. Participants assessed the parents' emotional stability, responsibility, and competence; how loving, sensitive, and nurturing they were; the amount of quality time they spent with their child; and their ability to be good role models. Results indicated participants held negative attitudes toward gay male and lesbian same-sex parents. Participants believed that children raised by same-sex parents are more likely to experience confusion over their sexual orientation and gender identity, more likely to be homosexual, and more likely to experience strained peer relationships as well as stigma and teasing than children raised by heterosexual parents. Level of sexual prejudice was the key predictor of attitudes toward same-sex parents and the expected outcomes for their children. Being male, older, and having fewer children were additional predictors of attitudes towards same-sex parents, whereas being older and less religious was associated with expected negative outcomes for the children. Substantial attitudinal shifts are required before gay male and lesbian parents and their children are fully accepted into Australian communities.     

A comprehensive approach to sexual and transgender prejudice

Prejudice and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals continues to have a detrimental impact on the mental health of this population. Research examining commonalities and uniqueness among negative attitudes toward specific sexual and gender minority groups is extremely limited. The authors propose that research examining sexual prejudice include attitudes toward diverse subgroups within the larger LGBTQ community in order to facilitate development of underlying constructs and identify unique contributing factors. Common and unique factors identified within existing research are organized into categorical themes, which are delineated in a conceptual factor model of sexual and transgender prejudice.     

How do others influence our attitudes? Analysis of the primus inter pares effect and mediating variables associated with this process / ¿Cómo influyen los otros en nuestras actitudes? Análisis del efecto primus inter pares y variables mediadoras asociadas a ese proceso

The study examines whether there is a primus inter pares effect in the domain of prejudiced attitudes, where there is hardly any information on this effect. It also explores the relationship between the prejudiced attitudes perceived in others and one’s own and how this relationship influences our general prejudice. To do so, we compared two opposite hypotheses in two studies. The assimilation hypothesis suggests that attitudes perceived in others influence our own attitudes and our general prejudice. The social projection hypothesis claims that our attitudes influence the attitudes we perceive in others, and consequently our prejudice. A total of 243 students in compulsory secondary education participated in the first study, in which the attitudes towards fat¹1. While ‘fat’ is generally not a socially acceptable term in English, particularly in academic discourse, the authors of this article have suggest that ‘fat’ be used in the English translation for the sake of clarity and accuracy, because in Spanish the word gordo/a (‘fat’) was used precisely because the study was on prejudices.View all notes people were measured. In the second study, 442 psychology students participated, and we measured their attitudes towards Moroccan immigrants. In both studies, participants considered themselves less prejudiced than others, and their own attitudes mediated the relationship between the attitudes perceived in others and their general prejudice.     

Sexual Harassment of Lesbians in the Workplace

Abstract

This article explores the literature addressing sexual harassment of lesbians and discusses the ways in which one form of prejudice, that against lesbians, contributes to this problem. The first section of the article discusses the lesbian experience of violence, harassment, and discrimination. In exploring the above experiences of lesbians it becomes apparent that lesbians are the victims of a specific form of prejudice–homophobia. Homophobia impacts lesbians in two ways: (1) in the form of negative attitudes and denigrating or destructive acts; and (2) by means of actual discrimination, whether overt or subtle. Unlike sexism and racism, homophobia has had little public discussion, and the article concludes with a discussion of the impact of homophobia on lesbians in the workplace.     

Development of a short version of the Aging Males’ Symptoms scale: Mokken scaling analysis and Rasch analysis

The aim of this study was to develop a psychometrically sound short version of the 17-item Aging Males’ Symptoms (AMS) scale using Mokken scale analysis (MSA) and Rasch analysis. We recruited a convenient sample of 1787 men (age: mean (SD)?=?43.8 (11.5) years) who visited a men’s health polyclinic in Taiwan and completed the AMS scale. The scale was first assessed using MSA. The remaining items were assessed using Rasch analysis. We used a stepwise approach to remove items with χ² item statistics and mean square values while monitoring unidimensionality. The item reduction process resulted in a 6-item version of the AMS scale (AMS-6). The AMS-6 scale included a 5-item psychosomatic subscale (original items 1, 4, 5, 8, and 9) and a 1-item sexual subscale (original item 16). Analyses confirmed that the 5-item psychosomatic subscale was a Rasch scale. The AMS-6 correlated well with the AMS scales: the 5-item psychosomatic subscale correlated with the AMS scale (r between 0.50 and 0.92); the 1-item sexual subscale correlated with the sexual subscale of the AMS scale (r?=?0.81). A 6-item short form of the AMS scale had satisfactory measurement properties. This version may be useful for estimating psychosomatic and sexual symptoms as well as health-related quality of life with a minimal burden on respondents.     

Sexual Frequency and the Stability of Marital and Cohabiting Unions

Prior research found that lower sexual frequency and satisfaction were associated with higher rates of divorce, but little research had examined the role of sexual activity in the dissolution of cohabiting unions. We drew upon social exchange theory to hypothesize why sexual frequency is more important in cohabitation: (a) cohabitors' lower costs of finding sexual alternatives, (b) cohabitors' lower barriers to ending the relationship in the form of union‐specific economic and noneconomic capital, and (c) cohabitors' higher expectations for sexual activity. Using the National Survey of Families and Households (N = 5,902), we examined the relationship between sexual frequency and union dissolution. Results indicated that low sexual frequency was associated with significantly higher rates of union dissolution among cohabitors than married couples.     

The Insidious Effects of Sexual Stereotypes in Clinical Practice

The present study investigated the influence of sexual stereotyping on the diagnostic impressions and treatment expectations of gay and straight male patients. Italian male, straight, licensed psychotherapists (N = 152) were presented with clinical vignettes that described a gay (versus straight) male patient reporting either a straight-stereotypical disorder (i.e., rage dyscontrol) or a gay-stereotypical disorder (i.e., sexual compulsivity). Results revealed that treatment efficacy expectations were influenced by the patient’s sexual orientation and the stereotypicality of the disorder. Specifically, psychotherapists anticipated fewer benefits from psychotherapy when gay patients reported a sexual disorder rather than a rage disorder. Furthermore, explicit and implicit levels of sexual prejudice did not play any role in driving such results. Taken together, these findings reveal that sexual stereotyping might exert its subtle effects among clinicians by influencing their clinical evaluations.     

The subtle–blatant distinction of ethnic prejudice among ethnic majority chidren

Research on ethnic prejudice among children is important for contemporary multicultural schools seeking to enhance communication among students from different ethnic groups and provide effective intercultural education. Current scientific discourse points to the appearance of new implicit forms of prejudice, witnessed in modern multicultural societies, while traditional explicit prejudice tends to decline. However, empirical studies concerning the blatant–subtle distinction of prejudice in children are scarce. This paper examines ethnic prejudice in 329 ethnic majority preadolescents (aged 10–13?years) attending 10 urban and rural schools in central Greece. Data were collected using questionnaires constructed on the basis of focus group discussions with children, in addition to sociometric tests. Findings support the subtle–blatant distinction of prejudice in children and indicate that although blatant prejudice expressed as personal rejection is indeed low, perceptions of ethnic minority groups as a ‘problem’ for school life, as well as subtle prejudice, are substantial. Ethnic minority children are less popular and stigmatizing behaviour is common. Intimacy with an ethnic minority classmate is associated with lower levels of blatant prejudice at the individual level but the other forms of prejudice are not affected.     

Reducing Prejudice Within Community-Based Organizations

ABSTRACT

Efforts to help community-based organizations (CBOs) develop interventions that reduce prejudice within the workplace and during service provision can be informed by social psychological prejudice reduction techniques, which tend to be successful in controlled laboratory settings but have limitations that inhibit utility in applied settings. Alternatively, the use of diversity training to reduce prejudice has increased within the for-profit sector, but is rarely applied to CBOs. This article discusses the overlap between the basic and applied literatures, and how community practitioners can use the information gained from both to support CBOs who encounter challenges with diversity.     

“It's Just My Job To Be ‘Out’”: Tenure Stories of Lesbian, Gay, And Bisexual Academics

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) professors who undergo the tenure review process face the possibility that homophobic prejudice and discrimination will hurt their chances of receiving promotion. In light of this potential for bias, the tenure stories of LGB academics reflect a concern for unmasking tactics of discrimination in order to dismantle institutional homophobia. The author analyzes tenure and promotion narratives of LGB professors from both sociological and folkloric perspectives, and argues that these narratives function to build solidarity within LGB communities, and provide an important means by which academics who face the potential of prejudice and retributory marginalization for their sexual orientation can expose discriminatory practices.     

Changes in Sexual Distress,Depression and Sexual Function after Clitoral Reconstruction in Women with Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting

Abstract

Background: Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) links health complications and psychological distress. However, there is scarce literature on how women with FGM/C respond to treatment interventions. Objective: In this study, we aimed to assess changes in depression symptomatology, sexual function, and distress following clitoral reconstructive surgery combined with a psychoeducational intervention. Methods: The reconstructive surgery consisted of recovering the remaining clitoris and placing it externally and as close to the vagina as possible. FGM/C patients (n?=?27) received psychological support and sexual counseling upon undergoing the surgical intervention and were further assessed at 6-month follow-up. Moreover, they completed the Beck Depression Inventory and the Female Sexual Distress Scale Revised at these two time points. Patients’ sexual dysfunction was assessed according to DSM-5 criteria. Results: Statistically significant clinical changes after FGM/C were reported. Overall, patients presented reduced depression and sexual distress levels, and decreased female sexual interest/arousal disorder prevalence. Results also revealed that sexual distress improvements were more significant in Type I FGM/C patients. Conclusions: Significant improvements in sexual distress, psychopathology, and sexual function were observed in our sample following reconstructive surgery, suggesting that combined interventions are effective for treatment.     

An examination of sexual risk behaviors in adolescent substance users

ABSTRACT. Objectives: This study examined the risk for engaging in high-risk sexual behavior associated with substance use in a sample of U.S. adolescents. Methods: The sample (N = 15,425) was obtained via the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, a survey of public high school students. Results: Substance use was associated with sexual risk behaviors, with odds ratios being greatest for adolescents who used cigarettes and illicit substances, as well as those who engaged in injection drug use. Conclusions: Results highlight the need for prevention and intervention programs targeting sexual risk behaviors in substance-using adolescents as a means to decrease the spread of sexually transmitted infections.     

Economic evaluation of brief sex counseling for sexually dysfunctional adolescents

Objectives: In a randomized controlled trial brief sex counselling (BSC), intensive sexual healthcare (ISH) and no treatment (NT) for adolescents with a sexual dysfunction were compared. The aim of this study was to assess the cost-effectiveness and cost-utility of BSC versus ISH and NT from a societal perspective. Methods: Costs, sexual functioning and quality of life were measured during 6 months. Primary outcome measures were measured with the Female Sexual Functional Index, the International Index of Erectile Function and the utilities reflecting Quality of Life based on the SF-36. Uncertainty was dealt with by using bootstrap replications and sensitivity analyses. Results: Results show that the societal costs were the highest for ISH followed by NT and BSC. The difference in costs between ISH compared to NT and BSC was significant. Furthermore, there were no significant group differences in sexual functioning or quality of life. With respect to the cost-effectiveness and cost-utility, BSC can be considered to be a suitable treatment for adolescents with a sexual dysfunction. Conclusions: Due to the lack of a significant difference in clinical effect, it can be concluded that BSC is the cheapest treatment option when implementing the intention-to-treat, besides a no treatment option, for adolescents with a sexual dysfunction.