Social Desirability Effects and Support for a Female American President

Public opinion polls show consistently that a substantial portionof the American public would vote for a qualified female presidentialcandidate. Because of the controversial nature of such questions,however, the responses may suffer from social desirability effects.In other words, respondents may be purposely giving false answersas not to violate societal norms. Using an unobtrusive measurecalled the "list experiment," we find that public opinion pollsare indeed exaggerating support for a female president. Roughly26 percent of the public is "angry or upset" about the prospectof a female president. Moreover, this level of dissatisfactionis constant across several demographic groups. Received for publication June 5, 2006. Revision received September 11, 2006. Accepted for publication October 25, 2006.     

Motivational interviewing as a mechanism for change in men who batter: a randomized controlled trial

The present study reports on the potential effectiveness of motivational interviewing (MI) in changing the way batterers think about their violent behavior. Thirty-three domestic violence offenders who were court-mandated to treatment were randomly assigned to MI or a control condition before attending their first mandated treatment group. Consistent with predictions, the MI group demonstrated generally more improvement on stages of change subscales than the control group. Further, the MI group demonstrated a significantly greater decrease in the extent to which they blamed their violence on external factors. Current data indicate that MI has the potential to increase batterers' motivation to change, although validation trials with larger sample sizes and more refined measures are required.     

Veiled Threats: Decentering and unification in transnational news coverage of the French veil ban

In October 2010, France approved a law banning the Islamic veil in all public areas, asserting the republican principle of laicité. This cross-cultural analysis applies Muhlmann's theoretical framework to French and US news coverage from March 2004 to October 2010 in order to discern whether coverage featured unifying frames invoking shared values; or decentering frames challenging consensual views and presenting alternative contexts.     

Predictors of female nocturnal orgasms: A multivariate analysis

Variables predicting the reported occurrence and frequency of nocturnal orgasms among women are reported. Undergraduate and graduate women (N = 245) from a large midwestern university volunteered to complete nine self‐report scales and inventories. Thirty‐seven percent of the sample reported they had experienced nocturnal orgasm, and 30% reported having had the experience in the past year. The predictors accounted for a statistically significant amount of variation in each of the dependent variables: 33% of “ever experienced nocturnal orgasm,” 44% of “experienced nocturnal orgasm in the past year,” and 27% in the case of “frequency of nocturnal orgasm in the past year.” Positive attitudes toward and knowledge of nocturnal orgasms, sexual liberalism, and waking sexually excited from sleep (without experiencing orgasm) were the most important predictors of nocturnal orgasm experience. The reported incidence of nocturnal orgasms in this sample is higher than in comparative samples of previous studies.     

Partizipative Modellierung. Beteiligungsexperimente in der sozial?kologischen Forschung

Results of contemporary sociological studies suggest an on-going revaluation of the idea of participation in different areas of society. We argue that in environmental issues public participation increasingly becomes experimental. This means that actors mainly from science initiate and organise participation. These new forms of participation evolve in addition to traditional calls for participation which sometimes take on the form of protest by ecologically moved citizens. For socio-ecological research, experiments in participation are useful to develop concrete and applicable solutions in the field of sustainable development. Based on empirical research we show that the hoped-for gains in rationality attached to lay people participation materialises if the citizens?? self-interest is touched, if problems immediately afflict their life-world, and if participants can contribute special knowledge.