Parenting Practices and Adolescent Sexual Behavior: A Longitudinal Study

The effects of parental attitudes, practices, and television mediation on adolescent sexual behaviors were investigated in a study of adolescent sexuality and media (N = 887). Confirmatory factor analyses supported an eight‐factor parenting model with television mediation factors as constructs distinct from general parenting practices. Logistic regressions indicated that adolescents reporting greater parental disapproval and limits on viewing at Wave 1 were less likely to initiate oral sex between Waves 1 and 2. Adolescents who reported more sexual communication with parents were more likely to initiate oral sex. Results for vaginal intercourse were similar to those for oral sex. Coviewing was a significant negative predictor of initiation of sexual behavior. Parental attitudes and television mediation can delay potentially risky adolescent sexual behaviors.     

Aesthetic Capital: A Research Review on Beauty Perks and Penalties

The presence of aesthetically based cultural goods and their ever-increasing influence in modern society may pose a new conceptual opportunity to sociology. Specifically, how can the discipline forge an understanding of how value associated with beauty returns forms of individual wealth? A new term, i.e. aesthetic capital, might be an answer. Such a concept, we maintain, covers the privileges and wealth people receive from aesthetic traits, such as their face, hair, body, clothes, grooming habits and other markers of beauty. The purpose of our paper is to review the kinds of perks, and penalties, people receive from being deemed beautiful. Our review shows that visually appealing traits greatly impact our lives, in matters of modest importance (friend selection) to great importance (e.g. getting a job and career mobility). Thus, the promise of an aesthetic capital concept lies in enabling sociology to better understand inequality and the socially based forms of wealth available to individuals in modern society.     

The psychology of AMBER Alert: Unresolved issues and implications

The AMBER alert system is likely affected by a number of psychological processes, yet remains understudied. The system assumes people will remember Alert information accurately and notify police, but psychological research on related phenomena (e.g., memory, willingness to help) indicates that people may not be able or willing to act in ways the promote the success of the system. In addition, the system is intended to deter child abductions, however, the system could prompt copycat crimes from perpetrators seeking publicity. The system could also cause a precipitation effect in which a perpetrator who sees the Alert could decide to murder the child immediately to avoid capture. Policy recommendations are made based on psychological research and theory, although more research is needed to develop the most effective system possible.     

The Flip Side of Holland Type Congruence: Incongruence and Job Satisfaction

This study examined the relationship between Holland type (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional; Holland, 1959, 1997) congruence and incongruence (i.e., lack of fit between an occupation's 3‐letter Holland code and a person's lowest 3 Holland interest types) and tested whether incongruence predicts unique variance in satisfaction beyond congruence. Results from an employee sample suggest that incongruence and congruence are distinct constructs (in that they correlated r = ‐.32) and that beyond congruence, incongruence did not predict variance in overall or intrinsic job satisfaction. Counselors are urged to assess both congruence and incongruence, but to focus on helping clients to identify best‐fitting occupations when possible, rather than to merely avoid incongruent occupations.     

The Interplay between Online and Offline Explorations of Identity,Relationships, and Sex: A Mixed-Methods Study with LGBT Youth

Although the Internet is commonly used by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth to explore aspects of sexual health, little is known about how this usage relates to offline explorations and experiences. This study used a mixed-methods approach to investigate the interplay between online and offline explorations of multiple dimensions of sexual health, which include sexually transmitted infections, sexual identities, romantic relationships, and sexual behaviors. A diverse community sample of 32 LGBT youth (ages 16–24) completed semi-structured interviews, which were transcribed and then qualitatively coded to identify themes. Results indicated that, although many participants evaluated online sexual health resources with caution, they frequently used the Internet to compensate for perceived limitations in offline resources and relationships. Some participants turned to the Internet to find friends and romantic partners, citing the relative difficulty of establishing offline contact with LGBT peers. Further, participants perceived the Internet as an efficient way to discover offline LGBT events and services relevant to sexual health. These results suggest that LGBT youth are motivated to fill gaps in their offline sexual health resources (e.g., books and personal communications) with online information. The Internet is a setting that can be harnessed to provide support for the successful development of sexual health.     

‘They are working every angle’. A qualitative study of Australian adults' attitudes towards,and interactions with,gambling industry marketing strategies

As gambling products have diversified so too have the ways in which the gambling industry has been able to target, reach and engage different sectors of the community. Limited research has explored the ways in which individuals conceptualize and respond to gambling marketing strategies. Semi-structured, qualitative interviews were conducted with 100 adults in Victoria, Australia, who had gambled at least once during the previous year. Participants described the multi-layered ways in which gambling was marketed and were concerned about the role of marketing in ‘normalizing’ gambling for some groups. Male participants felt ‘bombarded’ and ‘targeted’ by sports bet marketing. Most women and older men actively resisted gambling marketing strategies. Older women, younger men, moderate and high risk gamblers and those from low socio-economic backgrounds were particularly influenced by incentivization to gambling. This study highlights the complex ways in which different individuals interpret and respond to gambling industry marketing strategies.     

Biological Determinism and Symbolic Interaction: Hereditary Streams and Cultural Roads

This article discusses current claims to have demonstrated a biological basis for elements of human behavior. It argues that many of these are seriously flawed by their misunderstandings of the nature of culture and social interaction, which leads to the adoption of an inappropriate realist epistemology. These issues were extensively debated during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century when the intellectual and institutional boundaries between the social and biological sciences were more fluid. The arguments of that period about the role of “instinct” in human behavior are important resources for responding to the recent revival of biological determinism. As defined by Blumer and Strauss, however, symbolic interactionism has moved away from its engagement with biology. This article argues for reengagement and for a reappraisal of the historical resources available to sociologists in sifting the “imperialist” claims of biology while acknowledging the importance of embodiment as a constraint on social constructionism.