Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons^™

Objecting Objectification: Finding The Links Between Self-Objectification, Views On Harassment, And Agreement With Traditional Sex Roles, Amy M. Bishop

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationships between self-objectification levels, opinions on the impact of non-violent stranger sexual harassment on a personal and societal level, and agreement with traditional gender roles in college women. College women at Western Kentucky University were surveyed using the Objectified Body Consciousness Scale, the Social Roles Questionnaire, and original scales to measure views of street harassment. The hypotheses that viewing stranger harassment as both individually direct and complimentary would be positively correlated with self- objectification, and viewing it as innocuous in society were supported with correlation coefficients of r(103) = .211, p …

Expanding A Model Of Female Heterosexual Coercion: Are Sexually Coercive Women Hyperfeminine?, Elizabeth Anne Schatzel-Murphy

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The present study aimed to replicate a preliminary model of female heterosexual coercion and subsequently expand the model with gender- and race-related variables. The preliminary model, which specified sexual compulsivity, sexual dominance, sociosexuality, and prior sexual abuse, as predictors of female heterosexual coercion, was sufficiently replicated with a racially diverse sample of college women. The model was then successfully expanded by adding rape myth acceptance and hyperfemininity to the model. Hyperfemininity was found to be a core predictor of female heterosexual coercion, challenging the notion that sexual coercion is an inherently "masculine" behavior. Actual minority status, perceived minority status, and …

Holding My Breath: The Experience Of Being Sikh After 9/11, Muninder Kaur Ahluwalia

Department of Counseling Scholarship and Creative Works

This article is based on the author’s experiences after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City and the impact of the attacks on her life as a New Yorker, an academic, and a member of a Sikh family and community. To position the author’s narrative, her reflection integrates race-based traumatic stress (Carter, 2007), a model suggesting that individuals who are targets of racism experience harm or injury. The author outlines lessons learned that affect her both personally and professionally, including (a) Paralysis can happen but advocacy and allies are healing, (b) Trauma changes the work, and (c) …

Perceptions Of Beauty Among Female Chinese Students In The United States And China, Carly R. Staley, Ginny Qin Zhan

The Kennesaw Journal of Undergraduate Research

This pilot study compared the perceptions of beauty among Chinese women who were exchange students in the United States with Chinese women who were students in their homeland. We interviewed 19 women in China and 19 women in the United States to determine differences in responses. In accordance with the sociocultural approach and the social comparison approach, we expected Chinese women in the United States to have a be more acculturate, more frequently conclude that American women were more beautiful than Chinese women, be more likely than those studying in China to report body dissatisfaction, be more likely to dislike …

The Effects Of Rumination, Hostility, And Distraction On Cardiovascular Reactivity And Recovery From Anger Recall In Healthy Women, Meghan K. Mclain

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Cardiovascular reactivity and recovery following an emotional stressor may play a crucial role in mediating the relation between psychosocial factors (e.g. hostility and anger) and cardiovascular disease. Hostility has been associated with trait rumination. Trait rumination, a tendency to focus attention on negative thoughts and emotions and be prone to feelings of revenge, is not adequately captured in current measures of hostility. The current study examined whether trait rumination, indexed by the Dissipation-Rumination Scale, has an independent effect of increasing cardiovascular reactivity and prolonging cardiovascular recovery from angry events above and beyond hostility as measured by the Cook-Medley Hostility Scale. …

Menstrual Expressions And Menstrual Attitudes, Terence Hays

Terence Hays

Women's responses to a questionnaire survery in a Northeastern U.S. college community are examined to determine whether usage preferences in menstrual expressions are systematically related to reported attitudes towards menstruation. While those women who use expressions with negative connotations tend to report negative attitudes, the converse is not true. A striking contrast is noted between familiarity and use of menstrual expressions and, in general, menstrual expressions are not consistently associated with or reflective of menstrual attitudes.

Examining Child Sexual Abuse And Future Parenting: An Application Of Latent Class Modeling, Kimberly W. D'Zatko

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study was designed to empirically derive latent classes of mothers who were sexually abused during childhood and to assess the association between depression, alcohol/drug use, supportive intimate partner, and specific classes.

One hundred six women between the ages of 20 and 44 years (M = 27) who reported having been sexually abused during childhood (CSA) and 158 non-CSA mothers between the ages of 20 and 43 years (M = 23) were interviewed and assessed along six parenting dimensions. Logistic regression models evaluated the association between psychoemotional variables and specific classes.

The final model consisted of three classes—53.2%, …

An Empirical Investigation Of Emotional Reactivity And Elevated Mental Contamination: A Comparison Of Sexual And Physical Assault, Christal Badour

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although evidence suggests that disgust and disgust-related phenomena such as mental contamination should be associated with the experience of sexual assault, there has been relatively little direct examination of this relation. Consequently, the primary aim of the current study was to conduct a multimodal assessment of disgust and mental contamination-based reactivity to an individualized script-driven imagery procedure. Participants included 27 sexually assaulted, 25 physically assaulted, and 30 non-traumatized control female adults. Subjective reactivity (i.e., ratings of disgust, anxiety, feelings of dirtiness, and urges to wash), physiological reactivity (i.e., electromyogram activity of the right levator labii superioris and medial frontalis regions) …

Predicting Dating Violence Victimization Among College Women: The Role Of Previous Exposure To Violence And Acceptance Of Dating Violence, Marie Elisabeth Karlsson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Dating violence is a worldwide problem (Straus, 2004). The majority of empirical studies and conceptual models of dating violence have focused on perpetration, and examined the impact of prior exposure, positing an intergenerational transmission model. More recently, researchers have examined the influence of other moderating and mediating variables and hypothesized that attitudes, such as acceptance of dating violence, are an important variable to examine (Flynn & Graham, 2010; Lichter & McCloskey, 2004). Focusing on victimization, this study attempted to assess the applicability of the intergenerational hypothesis (previous exposure to violence, such as witnessing interparental abuse and childhood abuse) as well …

Can Female Genital Mutilation Victims Benefit From Corrective Surgery: To Regain Sexual Pleasure And Be “Whole” Once Again?, Monique Sulls

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is defined by the World Health Organization, (WHO), as the removal or cutting of the external female genitalia. WHO estimates between 100 and 140 million girls and women worldwide currently live with the consequences of FGM. The study finds that through corrective surgery, pre/post therapy, counseling, and sexual education victims to FGM can regain sexual pleasure providing them a chance to be “Whole” once again.

Coping With Customer Sexual Harassment: Examining Retaliation As A Coping Strategy And Testing A Contextual Model, Valerie J. Morganson

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Research has established that customer sexual harassment (CSH) is a widespread and harmful workplace phenomenon. This dissertation consists of two studies on the topic. The first sought to operationalize a measure of coping with customer sexual harassment. In addition to three traditional factors of sexual harassment coping (i.e., external, internal, and social), Study 1 predicted that worker retaliation toward the customer would constitute an additional form of coping with CSH. The measure of coping was tested using a sample of 200 women customer service workers. Data were analyzed using factor analysis. As expected, retaliation was supported as a coping strategy, …

Female Leaders: Injurious Or Inspiring Role Models For Women?, Crystal L. Hoyt, Stefanie Simon

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

The impact of female role models on women’s leadership aspirations and self-perceptions after a leadership task were assessed across two laboratory studies. These studies tested the prediction that upward social comparisons to high-level female leaders will have a relatively detrimental impact on women’s self-perceptions and leadership aspirations compared to male and less elite female leaders. In Study 1 (N = 60), women were presented with both female and male leaders before serving as leaders of ostensible three-person groups in an immersive virtual environment. This study established the relatively deflating impact of high-level female leaders, compared to high-level male leaders and …

Taking A Turn Toward The Masculine: The Impact Of Mortality Salience On Implicit Leadership Theories, Crystal L. Hoyt, Stefanie Simon, Audrey N. Innella

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

The present research investigates the influence of subtle death-related thoughts (i.e., mortality salience), on people’s images of effective leaders (i.e., their implicit leadership theories). We test the prediction that mortality salience will change the content of these implicit theories to be more gender stereotypical such that individuals will conceive of effective leaders in a significantly more masculine, or agentic, manner. To test this prediction, we assessed participants’ communal and agentic implicit leadership theories after they were presented with a mortality salience or control manipulation. Results show that priming individuals to think about their mortality with two open-ended questions resulted in …

Sparkle Of Existential Time As A Sanctuary In Marital Counselling, Seyed Mohammad Kalantarkousheh, دکتر سید محمد کلانتر کوشه

Seyed Mohammad Kalantarkousheh

Nowadays, Existential thought is considered to be a practical approach among psychologists and counsellors . Nevertheless, what seems to be ignored is paying thoughtful attention to all dimensions of Existential thought which is an essential matter among counsellors and psychologists. Moreover, some issues in Existential thought such as time are disregarded among marital counsellors as well as individual counsellors. The goal of this article is to allocate exhausting existential time to benefit marital counsellors. Findings show that existential time has full potential to be applied for marital counselling. Furthermore, review of the related literature demonstrates that there is not enough …

The German Discovery Of Sex (Spring 2011), Robert D. Tobin

Syllabi

In this course, we will use the tools of literary and cultural analysis, studying fictional, political, psychoanalytic and scientific works to investigate the emergence of modern sexual discourses in the German-speaking world. The Greek term “homo” (same) and the Latinate “sex” (sex) were first combined to describe someone with a sexual interest in members of their own sex in 1869 in the German-speaking world. Similar observations can be made about terms such as “heterosexual,” “masochist,” and “transvestite.” There was apparently an intense interest in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century German-speaking central Europe in reconfiguring and reconsidering sexuality. Out of this …

Studying Rape Through A Theorectical Lens: The Development Of A Serial Rape Model Using Fbi Data, Brooke Smith

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The current study assessed whether there is an empirical foundation for different theories of rape including the feminist, evolutionary, social disorganization, psychopathy, and rapist type theories. Using a data set from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on serial rapists collected in the early 1990's, the study included two phases. The first phase assessed whether FBI data supported the previously mentioned theories of rape by analyzing associations between individual variables that are thought to support each theory. Support was demonstrated for the evolutionary and psychopathy theories. Using MPlus statistical software to accommodate the multi-level nature of the data, the second …

A Preliminary Investigation Of Worry Content In Sexual Minorities, Brandon J. Weiss, Debra A. Hope

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

This preliminary study examined the nature of worry content of lesbians, gay men, and bisexual individuals and the relationship between worry related to sexual orientation and mental health. A community sample of 54 individuals identifying as sexual minorities was recruited from two cities in the Great Plains to complete a packet of questionaires, including a modified Worry Domains Questionnaire (WDQ; Tallis, Eysenck, & Mathews, 1992) with additional items constructed to assess worry over discrimination related to sexual orientation, and participate in a worry induction and verbalization task. The content of self-reported worries was consistent with those reported in prior investigations …

Selfobject Needs, Homophobia, Heterosexism, Among Gay Men During Emerging Adulthood, Kenneth D. Allen

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study was conducted to determine the associations between homophobia and heterosexism, psychodynamics of the subconscious mind, and life satisfaction among gay men during emerging adulthood. Although researchers have reported on the psychological distress associated with antigay oppression, limited research is available on the psychodynamics of young gay men in the United States, a place known for prevalent homophobia and heterosexism. Kohut's theory of self psychology and self object needs served as the theoretical foundation for the study. Selfobject needs, perceived homophobic and heterosexist discrimination, and life satisfaction were explored in a national sample of 118 gay men aged 18-25 …

Faithful Allies: The Experiences Of Lgb-Affirming Christian Clergy, J.Jane H. Dewey

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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“I Would Feel Uncomfortable If My Child’S Teacher Were Gay”: Examining The Role Of Symbolic Homophobia And Political Affiliation, Michael Moore, Amy C. Moors

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Symbolic homophobia is a general negative disposition towards lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals, which is demonstrated in symbolic forms of prejudice rather than overt actions. Stigma towards lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals has transformed from overt forms of prejudice to slightly less blatant more subtle forms in recent years (Schafer & Shaw, 2009). Based on previous research, it is has also been shown that conservatives will have higher levels of symbolic homophobia. (Linneman, 2004), Thus, in order to assess the more nuanced forms of prejudice in relation to political affiliation, Study 1 created a scale to assess symbolic homophobia. …

Experiences Of The White Gay Male: An Investigation Of The Relationship Between Factors Of Being Gay, Heterosexism, And The Stress Response System, Peter J. Economou

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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The Experiences Of Legally Married Same-Sex Couples In California, Erin Christine Falvey

CGU Theses & Dissertations

With the aim of increasing practitioner competence, this dissertation provides marriage and family therapists and mental health service providers with insight into the experiences of legally married same-sex couples. Specifically, the inquiry's objective was to elicit narratives of strength and agency from these couples who navigated the oppressive circumstances of an anti-gay amendment campaign situated within the debate over the extension of marriage rights to same-sex couples. Fourteen couples were interviewed in order to respond to the dissertation's overriding question: How do the lesbian and gay couples and families who are among those who were legally married in California before …

Suicide And Suicide Risk In Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, And Transgender Populations: Review And Recommendations, Ann P. Haas, Mickey Eliason, Vickie M. Mays, Robin M. Mathy, Susan D. Cochran, Anthony R. D'Augelli, Morton M. Silverman, Prudence W. Fisher, Tonda Hughes, Margaret Rosario, Stephen T. Russell, Effie Malley, Jerry Reed, David A. Litts, Ellen Haller, Randall L. Sell, Gary Remafedi, Judith Bradford, Annette L. Beautrais, Gregory K. Brown, Gary M. Diamond, Mark S. Friedman, Robert Garofalo, Mason S. Turner, Amber Hollibaugh, Paula J. Clayton

Publications and Research

Despite strong indications of elevated risk of suicidal behavior in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, limited attention has been given to research, interventions or suicide prevention programs targeting these populations. This article is a culmination of a three-year effort by an expert panel to address the need for better understanding of suicidal behavior and suicide risk in sexual minority populations, and stimulate the development of needed prevention strategies, interventions and policy changes. This article summarizes existing research findings, and makes recommendations for addressing knowledge gaps and applying current knowledge to relevant areas of suicide prevention practice.

Socio-Economic Stability And Independence Of Appalachian Women, Michele Dawn Kegley

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study researched Appalachian women who were in emotional, social, or economic reliant relationships with male spouses and became socio-economically stable and independent. This effort is to give Appalachian women voice and learn from their accounts of how they led change by financially, physically, and socially providing for themselves and their dependent children. Research is limited to a particular group of white middle class Appalachian women in the North-Central sub-region of Appalachia. This group was chosen because they have been largely overlooked in the literature. However, this study does not answer questions of all women‘s experiences and barriers in Appalachia. …

Stories Of Resistance: Black Women Corporate Executives Opposing Gendered (Everyday) Racism, Cheryl D. Jordan

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

For this research, I explored contemporary resistance strategies that Black women executives in the corporate world use to oppose negative behaviors by others associated with their race and gender. The dissertation reviews scholarship about the major role the convergence of race and gender play in the day-to-day existence of Black women. Historically, negative images and beliefs have influenced the treatment of Black women in society. These same thoughts and images affect Black women executives in today’s workplace. African-American women continue to see limited advancement to senior levels within the corporate organization, even though diversity programs abound. As leaders in the …

Dual Consciousness: Identity Construction Among Appalachian Professional Women In Southern Ohio, Rebecca Nicole Roades

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study examined identity construction among a purposeful sample of professional women of Appalachian origin with particular regard to the blending of their cultural heritage in a society in which they are often marginalized. The questions guiding the research were grounded in a conceptual framework encompassing elements of culture, gender, leadership, and identity theories specifically using internal colonization, social cognitive, and social identity theories. They included the following: How do these women identify with their Appalachian heritage? How has their Appalachian heritage influenced real or perceived feelings of marginalization and how has that shaped their identity? Do they perceive themselves …

Eating Disorder Metaphors: A Qualitative Meta-Synthesis Of Women's Experiences, Rachael Brooke Goren-Watts

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Eating disorders have reached epidemic levels in the United States and cause immense pain and suffering. Given the high fatality and relapse rates of eating disorders, as well as the numerous medical complications associated with them, it is useful to know more about how individuals view their eating disorder, and the meaning making during the recovery process in order to better understand the experience. Narrative theory, and specifically the metaphors women use to story their experience, enrich our understanding of eating disorders within a social constructionist lens. This qualitative meta-synthesis utilizes hermeneutics and identifies and describes the metaphors that women …

Beyond Tolerance: Consciously Using Universal Energy Laws, Discernment, And Harmonious Relationship Principles, Carroy U. Ferguson

Carroy U "Cuf" Ferguson, Ph.D.

Every day we, as human beings, maneuver through a myriad of circumstances in our individual and collective life spaces. Central to our experiences is the nature, kind, and quality of our relationships. When we encounter differences (racial, ethnic, cultural, religious, economic, sexual orientation, the mentally and physically challenged), a common issue that often emerges in our experiences is the extent to which we use tolerance in relating to other people and circumstances. For this reason, I want to discuss the nature of tolerance and its limitations, and how to move beyond tolerance by consciously using Universal Energy Laws, discernment, and …