Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Life “With” Or “Without”? An Empirical Study Of Homicide Sentencing, Michael M. O'Hear, Darren Wheelock

Social and Cultural Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

The number of Americans serving sentences of life without the possibility of parole ("LWOP") has grown rapidly over the past generation and now exceeds 50,000. Yet, little empirical research has been conducted on the determinants of LWOP sentences. The dearth of research on LWOP sentencing stands in sharp contrast to the many dozens of studies that have been conducted on the determinants of death sentences–studies that have consistently found that race, gender, and other questionable factors may influence sentencing outcomes. The present study is the first to employ a similar methodology to identify both case‐ and county‐level variables that are …

Alpha, Omega, And The Letters In Between: Lgbtqi Conservative Christians Undoing Gender, Dawne Moon, Theresa Weynand Tobin, J. E. Sumerau

Social and Cultural Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Sociologists studying gender have debated West and Zimmerman’s premise that “doing gender is unavoidable,” seeking to ascertain whether people can “undo” or only “redo” gender. While sociologists have been correct to focus on the interactional accomplishment of gender, they have neglected one of Garfinkel’s key insights about interaction: that people hold each other accountable to particular narratives. Neglecting the narrative aspect of doing—and undoing—gender impedes our ability to recognize processes of social change. Based on a qualitative study, we show how the movement for LGBTQI acceptance within U.S. conservative Protestant churches works to make gender not “omnirelevant” by challenging conservative …

Black Masculinities And The Media: An Interview With Filmmaker And Activist Byron Hurt, Kevin D. Thomas

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

In this interview, Byron Hurt reflects on his career and how he has become a prominent activist, speaker, filmmaker, and writer about media's roles in shaping Black identities and culture, especially constructions of Black masculinity. In addition to detailing his career trajectory, Hurt discusses many important topics: his inspiration to make films, the power of filmmaking to make cultural change, the filmmaker's place within a documentary, changing notions of Black masculinity, the constraints advertising and media place on Black men and boys to define their manhood, Black men's assertion of power over Black women, intersectionality, digital media's possibilities for more …

Visible/Invisible: Female Astronauts And Technology In Star Trek: Discovery And National Geographic’S Mars, Amanda R. Keeler

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

This article examines the newest television programme in the Star Trek franchise, Star Trek: Discovery (2017–) and National Geographic’s part-documentary, part-fictional series Mars (2016–). I argue that Discovery and Mars make visible the depiction of developing technology and a breadth and depth of female astronaut characters, two elements that have been historically marginalised in sf narratives such as Star Trek: The Original Series (1966–9). Discovery and Mars both emphasise the purposeful centrality of female characters and their positions of authority as female astronauts and ship leaders. Each programme also foregrounds the representation and framing of technology, emphasising the not-yet-perfect science …

Women Creatives And Machismo In Mexican Advertising: Challenging Barriers To Success, Marta Mensa Torra, Jean Grow

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

This study explores the experiences of women working as creatives in Mexican advertising creative departments. It is based on 22 in-depth interviews and suggests that these women face significant challenges within the machismo culture, which permeates Mexican advertising creative departments. Mexico plays an important role in global advertising, particularly in Latin America, but in this country female workers only represent five per cent of those working in creative departments. This is the first study focused on Mexican women creatives in advertising, highlighting the confluence of advertising women creatives and Mexican culture. Analysis reveals ten subcategories which articulate the horizontal and …

Generation-Z Enters The Advertising Workplace: Expectations Through A Gendered Lens, Jean Grow, Shiyu Yang

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

Generation-Z (Gen-Z) is entering the workforce with differing personal and professional expectations from previous generations. Further, those expectations tend to vary by gender. At the same time, workplace environments, and the social structures that underpin the workplace, are slow to change. Advertising is no exception.

As educators, we are just beginning our encounter with Gen-Z and their differing habits and expectations. Further, while these young women and men share many common experiences and expectations, their expectations are also influenced by their gendered experiences. Social capital theory helps us make sense of the findings as we explore the gaps between the …

Do College Admissions Counselors Discriminate? Evidence From A Correspondence-Based Field Experiment, Andrew Hanson

Economics Faculty Research and Publications

I design and implement a correspondence based field experiment to test for race and gender discrimination among college admissions counselors in the student information gathering stage. The experiment uses names to identify student race and gender, and student grade, SAT score, and writing differences to reflect varying levels of applicant quality. I find that counselors do not respond differently by race in most cases, but there are measurable differences in response/non-response and in the type of correspondence sent that favor female students. I also find that the quality of the student induces large differences in the type of response.

Gay-Straight Alliances As Settings To Discuss Health Topics: Individual And Group Factors Associated With Substance Use, Mental Health, And Sexual Health Discussions, V. P. Poteat, Nicholas C. Heck, H. Yoshikawa, J. P. Calzo

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Sexual minority (e.g. lesbian, gay, bisexual, questioning; LGBQ) and gender minority (e.g. transgender) youth experience myriad health risks. Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) are school-based settings where they may have opportunities to discuss substance use, mental health, and sexual health issues in ways that are safe and tailored to their experiences. Attention to these topics in GSAs could aid in developing programming for these settings. Among 295 youth from 33 Massachusetts high-school GSAs (69% LGBQ, 68% cisgender female, 68% White, M_age = 16.06), we examined how often youth discussed these topics within their GSA and identified factors associated with having more …

Creative Women In Peru: Outliers In A Machismo World, Marta Mensa Torra, Jean M. Grow

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

Gender segregation begins early and is reinforced within the workplace. Advertising creative departments appear to have extreme gender segregation with women representing just 20% of all those working within creative departments worldwide. Yet, creativity does not depend on gender. Thus, the underrepresentation of women is particularly troubling. In Peru women comprise 3% to 10.4% of all people working in advertising creative, which suggests the situation for creative women in Peru is dire. In order to understand this phenomenon, and with the hope of finding solutions, this study uses in-depth interviews to explore the experiences of Peruvian women working in advertising …

Stressor-Induced Increase In Muscle Fatigability Of Young Men And Women Is Predicted By Strength But Not Voluntary Activation, Manda L. Keller-Ross, Hugo M. Pereira, Jaclyn Pruse, Tejin Yoon, Bonnie A. Schlinder-Delap, Kristy A. Nielson, Sandra Hunter

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

This study investigated mechanisms for the stressor-induced changes in muscle fatigability in men and women. Participants performed an isometric-fatiguing contraction at 20% maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) until failure with the elbow flexor muscles. Study one (n = 55; 29 women) involved two experimental sessions: 1) a high-stressor session that required a difficult mental-math task before and during a fatiguing contraction and 2) a control session with no mental math. For some participants (n = 28; 14 women), cortical stimulation was used to examine mechanisms that contributed to muscle fatigability during the high-stressor and control sessions. Study two …

Learning To Be Muslim—Transnationally, Louise Cainkar

Social and Cultural Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

This essay discusses the religious upbringing experiences and reflections upon them articulated by 53 Muslim American youth who were interviewed as part of a larger sociological study of Arab American teenagers living transnationally. On extended sojourns in their parents’ homelands, these youth—most were born in the US although some migrated to the US at a young age—were taken “back home” to Palestine and Jordan by their parents so they could learn “their language, culture, and religion." They were asked about learning to be Muslim in the US and overseas in the context of a much larger set of questions about …

Race, Gender, And Tokenism In Policing: An Empirical Elaboration, Meghan S. Stroshine, Steven G. Brandl

Social and Cultural Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

According to tokenism theory, “tokens” (those who comprise less than 15% of a group’s total) are expected to experience a variety of hardships in the workplace, such as feelings of heightened visibility, isolation, and limited opportunities for advancement. In the policing literature, most previous studies have defined tokenism narrowly in terms of gender. The current research extends prior research by examining tokenism as a function of gender and race, with an examination of racial/ethnic subgroups. Particular attention is paid to Latino officers as this study represents the first known study of tokenism and Latino police officers. Quantitative analyses reveal that, …

Selective Self-Stereotyping And Women’S Self-Esteem Maintenance, Debra Oswald, Kristine M. Chapleau

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

The process and implications of gender-based self-stereotyping are examined in this paper. Women displayed a tendency to selectively self-stereotype for personality and physical traits such that they endorsed positive stereotypic traits and denied negative traits as descriptive of the self and closest women friends. However, negative traits were endorsed as descriptive of women in general. Cognitive stereotypes were endorsed as more descriptive of all women than of the general university student. The tendency to selectively self-stereotype on physical traits was positively associated with appearance, social, and performance self-esteem. The results are discussed for their theoretical and practical implications.