“Dude,I’m Seventeen … It’s Okay Not to Have Sex by This Age”: Feelings,Reasons, Pressures,and Intentions Reported by Adolescents Who Have Not Had Sexual Intercourse

This study investigated feelings, reasons, pressures, and previous sexual experiences reported by students who have not had sexual intercourse and how these factors are associated with self-rated likelihood of having sex during the next year. Using data from the Fifth National Survey of Australian Secondary Students and Sexual Health (n = 783), this study found, in general, students had positive feelings about not having sex. Reasons for not having sex such as being proud to say no and not being ready were rated higher in importance than fear of potential outcomes or religious/cultural beliefs. Students reported limited pressure from parents and friends and, despite not having sexual intercourse, more than half of the sample had experienced some form of sexual activity. Stronger likelihoods of having sex during the next year were reported by students who had previously engaged in other sexual practices, reported more pressure from friends to have sex, and had negative feelings about not having sex. Sexuality educators can use these findings to guide approaches to sex education, emphasizing feelings, intentions, and reasoning over fear tactics. Discussion of a range of sexual practices will address more closely the experiences of young students as they begin their sexual lives.     

Self‐actualization and sexual permissiveness,satisfaction, prudishness,and drive among female undergraduates

The relationship between self‐actualization and aspects of female sexuality was examined. Ninety‐five white, single female undergraduates from a regional southeastern state university volunteered as subjects. Three questionnaires were administered: the Personal Orientation Inventory (POI), Eysenck's Inventory of Attitudes to Sex, and a two‐item religiosity measure. The data were analyzed via correlation and hierarchical multiple regression analysis which employed religiosity, age, major, grade, residence (on/off campus), and the order of test presentation as covariates. The results indicated that, when the effects of the covariates were controlled, there was a significant relationship between self‐actualization and sexual permissiveness, sexual satisfaction and prudishness. Although self‐actualization and sexual libido were significantly correlated, self‐actualization did not account for a significant portion of the variance in sexual libido after the effects of the covariates were controlled. Implications for future research include using different populations to investigate the relationship between self‐actualization and sexual attitudes and behaviors, using different measures of self‐actualization to investigate its relationship to sexual attitudes and behaviors, and examining the relationship between self‐actualization and other aspects of sexuality.     

Certainty Broadcasts Risk Preferences: Verbal and Nonverbal Cues to Risk-Taking

People often attempt to ascertain how risky another person is willing to be. Even when this information is not purposely divulged, people may unwittingly broadcast their willingness to take risks by displaying cues to their level of certainty. Because subjective reports of feeling certain predict risk behavior, we examined whether targets’ certainty could be discerned unobtrusively and be used to predict their risky decision-making. In small groups, participants discussed two risk problems, made risk decisions, and then wrote an essay about their decision-making process. Participants’ nonverbal behavior and speech content during the group interaction, and their subsequent essay content were assessed by naïve coders and objective word-count software for cues to certainty. Subjective assessments of nonverbal behavior and objective assessments of language content revealed that certainty cues predicted greater risk propensity. Therefore, across the three communication modalities of nonverbal behavior, speech, and text, more certainty cues revealed risky behavior.     

The Meaning of a Livable Community for Older Adults in the United States and Korea

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the meaning of livability from the perspectives of policymakers and practitioners engaged in creating livable communities for older adults. In a comparison of two regions, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, United States, and Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, Korea, 4 themes emerged—affordability, safety, accessibility, and active engagement. In both regions, the research participants recognized that the core of creating a livable community was a consumer-driven approach and collaborations with various community partners. Although the themes were similar, the interpretation and emphasis were different in the two regions.     

Implementing Evidence‐Based Parenting Programmes in a Small Sample of English Urban Local Authorities: Eligibility,Fidelity and Intensity

This article focuses on the implementation of evidence‐based parenting programmes (EBPPs) in a small sample of urban local authorities in England. The first part discusses the development of government policy, guidance and implementation issues. The second part presents findings from an exploratory study, which focused on the implementation of EBPPs in terms of programme eligibility, fidelity and intensity in six urban local authorities. Implementation was not necessarily in line with policy or guidance. Issues associated with programme fidelity along with concerns about sustainability as a result of cuts in funding are discussed and implications for policy and future research considered.     

The Power of a 😉: Emojis Reducing Ambiguity in Digitally Mediated Romantic Encounters

Digital technology has long provided new ways of initiating romantic relationships as people communicate through text messages, social media, and dating applications. Emojis have been widely adopted as a means of conveying nonverbal cues in digital communication. However, what role do platform-provided social cues, such as emojis, play in fostering or impeding clear communication and shared romantic expectations from a flirtatious text message conversation? In this study, 713 college students were randomly assigned to read a Snapchat conversation with or without emojis and, they were subsequently asked to infer the characters' thoughts and feelings, clarity of the characters' intentions, and indicate their own discomfort with receiving a similar Snapchat message. The results showed that emojis increase the clarity of the main character's intentions. Moreover, the participants' cognitive efforts, the extent to which they were emotionally affected by the conversation, and the presence of emojis reduced comfort level with receiving a similar Snapchat message. These findings suggest that emojis provide clarity to romantic conversations, which can amplify the interpersonal discomfort of receiving text-based sexual overtures.     

Sexual Misconduct by Clergy in the Episcopal Church

This article discusses the ordination selection process in both the Roman Catholic Church and the Episcopal Church. Exploring the current sexual abuse crisis in the Roman Church, it focuses on possible roots of that crisis in f laws in the selection process and its theological underpinnings. It also explores what constitutes healthy priestly functioning and how misconduct occurs when healthy functioning breaks down.     

Tying the Acquirer's Human Resource Management Quality to Cross‐Border Acquisition Divestment Probability: Curvilinear Connection with Slacklining

Cross‐border acquisitions are growing in volume and global economic importance, yet a considerable number end in failure. Many of these failures may be linked to people management‐related issues. We extend this stream of research by investigating the impact of the acquirer's aggregate human resource management (HRM) quality on cross‐border acquisition divestment. Our empirical analysis uses a panel database of 4128 cross‐border acquisition/year observations and an event history design. The findings confirm a curvilinear relationship and suggest that acquisition failures are not merely associated with poor HRM quality, but also with very high levels of HRM quality, that is, with both extremes. Moreover, our results show that financial slack has a significant moderating effect on the curvilinear relationship between HRM quality and the likelihood of acquisition divestment. Overall, our study reveals boundary conditions for the widely demonstrated positive relationship between HRM quality and organizational performance in an acquisition context.