Implicit and Explicit Sexual Attitudes: How Are They Related to Sexual Desire and Sexual Satisfaction in Men and Women?

This article examines individual variability in sexual desire and sexual satisfaction by exploring the relation between these sexual aspects and sexual attitudes (implicit and explicit) and by taking gender into account, as this has been shown to be an influential factor. A total of 28 men and 33 women living in heterosexual relationships completed questionnaires assessing sexual desire (dyadic, solitary), sexual satisfaction, and explicit sexual attitudes. An adapted version of the Affect Misattribution Procedure was used to assess implicit sexual attitudes. Results showed higher levels of dyadic and solitary sexual desire in men than in women. No gender differences were found regarding sexual satisfaction or sexual attitudes. High dyadic sexual desire was associated with positive implicit and explicit sexual attitudes, regardless of gender. However, solitary sexual desire was significantly higher in men than women and was associated, in women only, with positive implicit sexual attitudes, suggesting that solitary sexual desire may fulfill different functions in men and women. Finally, sexual satisfaction depended on the combination of explicit and implicit sexual attitudes in both men and women. This study highlights the importance of considering both implicit and explicit sexual attitudes to better understand the mechanisms underlying individual variability in sexual desire and satisfaction.     

What Does it Take for a Canadian Political Scientist to be Cited?*

Objectives. The article examines the factors that influence the frequency whereby scholarly articles published by Canadian political scientists are cited. Method. We collected data on 1,860 journal articles published between 1985 and 2005 by 758 Canadian political scientists and listed in the Social Science Citation Index. Using these data, we performed OLS and tobit estimations to identify factors influencing citation frequency. Results. The regressions show that the reputation of the journal in which the article is published, though important, does not explain everything. The gender of the author(s), the number of authors, the geographical focus of the article, the field, and the methodology also matter. Conclusion. An article is more likely to be widely cited if it is published in a prestigious journal, if it is written by several authors, if it applies quantitative methods, if it compares countries, and if it deals with administration and public policy or elections and political parties. Faculty members who belong to larger departments and those who are women are more cited.     

Nouvelles guerres justes et nouvelles guerres saintes: la rhétorique du bellicisme

From Cicero to St. Thomas, from Erasmus of Rotterdam to Grotius and Pufendorf, the concept of ‘just war’ is used to state the conditions under which the rhetoric of belligerence can meet the standards of both rationality and morality to justify going to war. The classical humanism and the philosophy of law will try in the Renaissance, especially with the beginning of a retreat of the divine in public affairs, to formalize and even humanize the war. Not only does the ideal of justice require honorable motives (jus ad bellum) for the use of weapons to be acceptable, but also how to behave in hostilities should also observe a certain restraint inspired by morality (jus in bello). Even Erasmus, the pacifist par excellence, admits that one must defend oneself against the Turks. On the other hand, the concept of ‘holy war’, used in the three major monotheistic religions, offers a different sound when going to war. Then the reference becomes abstract and absolute, so no argument can occur, no debate can be tolerated, because we face the divine plan. People of Yahweh, the disciples of Allah or the Children of the victorious Jesus Christ, all are refusing the opportunity to discuss the foundations of the war, hence an intangible reality which is conducive to a total violence. However, these two types of war are not reducible to one another, because one is based on a reasonable discussion, the other on the basis of Revelation on which nothing can be said. However, the boundaries between them become blurred when the stronger pretends to be the defender of a just cause and wants to impose its law over all opposing voices. In this case, the discourses of legitimacy become unbearable and confusing.     

Cortisol on Sunday as indicator of recovery from work: Prediction by observer ratings of job demands and control

Several considerations guided the research reported in this paper. First, recovery is pivotal for preventing stressful experiences from inducing long-term consequences. Second, cortisol levels under relaxed conditions constitute a good baseline measure. Third, there are many calls to avoid common method problems. Therefore, the Job Demands–Control (JDS) model, one of the most prominent models in occupational stress, should be tested by a combination of observation, self-report, and physiological data in terms of predicting recovery-related variables. In a sample of 53 Swiss employees, we assessed the JDS variables, demands and control, by systematic observation, fatigue at the end of work as an indicator of short-term recovery by questionnaire, and delayed recovery by baseline levels of cortisol on a Sunday under relaxing conditions. In line with expectations, regression analyses showed an impact of job demands and control on Sunday cortisol levels, and this effect was fully mediated by after work fatigue. Contrary to expectations, there was no significant interaction between job demands and control. Demonstrating that job demands and control predict after-work fatigue as well as a delayed physiological marker of recovery, these findings suggest that high after-work fatigue may entail costs to the individual’s physiological systems.     

Body Image in Dyadic and Solitary Sexual Desire: The Role of Encoding Style and Distracting Thoughts

This study explored the link between body image and desire to engage in sexual activity (dyadic and solitary desire) in adult women living in a long-term couple relationship. Moreover, it considered two psychological factors that may underlie such a link: the occurrence of body-related distracting thoughts during sexual activity and encoding style (i.e., the tendency to rely on preexisting internal schemata versus external information at encoding). A total of 53 women (29 to 47 years old) in heterosexual relationships completed questionnaires assessing sexual desire (dyadic, solitary), body image, body-related distracting thoughts during sexual activity, and encoding style. Results showed that poor body image was associated with low dyadic and solitary sexual desire. Body-related distracting thoughts during sexual activity mediated the link between body image and solitary (but not dyadic) sexual desire. Finally, the mediation of body-related distracting thoughts between body image and solitary sexual desire was moderated by encoding style. A negative body image promoted the occurrence of body-related distracting thoughts during sexual activity, especially in internal encoders. Our study highlights the importance of body image, distracting thoughts, and encoding style in women’s solitary sexuality and suggests possible factors that may reduce the impact of those body-related factors in dyadic sexual desire.     

The lottery player in Cameroon: An exploratory study

We report on an ongoing survey of attitudes toward gambling in the two main cities of Cameroon, Douala and Yaounde. From the data it appears that lottery playing in Cameroon is an answer to the economic crisis that has plagued the country for some years. The results are similar to the ones obtained in previous Canadian, American and other studies in various countries.We thank Alain Njoh Soppo and Martin Tiako, students at the business school of the University of Douala (ESSEC) who collected the data for their Mémoire de fin d'études. We also thank our research assistant, Alain Tremblay, for his help and CIDA, ESSEC and Loto-Québec for their financial help. All remaining errors are solely our own.