Published: October 11, 2012
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Reducing Sexual Prejudice: The Role of Coming Out
Psychological research, especially the work of social psychologist Gregory Herek, has concluded that active sharing by Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people of what their lives are like with people they know — whether in their families, communities or workplaces and schools — is very likely to reduce others’ prejudice against LGBT people and increase their support for social and political equality.
National Coming Out Day and Tell 3 are grassroots efforts to encourage and facilitate the sort of intergroup contact between LGBT people and non-LGBT people that will reduce the latter’s prejudice and promote their active opposition to discrimination.
Disclosure of Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity
The disclosure of sexual orientation and gender identity is stressful for a number of reasons. One, people “coming out” do not know how others will react. Two, helping others to overcome their lack of knowledge, reduce their discomfort and increase their empathy is not easy, and this may stir up negative feelings in the person who is coming out because of earlier prejudice or discrimination they have experienced.
The Know Us Project: Reducing Prejudice
The Know Us Project (KUP) uses mental health providers to provide facilitation and support to LGBT people who want to engage in the kind of intergroup contact that reduces prejudice. In the KUP workshops, participants learn to evaluate whether they are ready to act in this way, how to identify people to speak with, and how to reduce the listener’s anxiety in a personal conversation about LGBT issues and use words and body language that will make a conversation more effective. They also learn to address negative feelings they may experience during and after their intergroup contact and learn to cope with those feelings through self-care, stress management and professional help, if needed.
ᔥAmerican Psychological Association
Published: February 20, 2012
Cyclical relationships — is the term used for a couple who breaks up and then gets back together. Amber Vennum, assistant professor of family studies and human services at Kansas State University, looking at why couples reunite and how it affects the relationship.
“There has been very little research on this topic, but it turns out that cyclical relationships are quite prevalent,” Vennum said. “With college-age kids, about 40 percent are currently in a relationship where they have broken up and then have gotten back together. That’s shocking, especially when you factor in the outcomes of being in a cyclical relationship.”
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For her research, Vennum analyzed information that cyclical and noncyclical couples gave about their relationship and its characteristics. The information was evaluated using the relationship deciding scale, or RDS, which assesses relationship qualities and accurately predicts what the relationship will be like 14 weeks into the future.
While movies, books and TV shows may portray rekindling a relationship as romantic, Vennum found that the results of getting back together were less than desirable.
Findings showed that couples in a cyclical relationship tended to be more impulsive about major relationship transitions — like moving in together, buying a pet together or having a child together — than those not in a cyclical relationship. As a result, the couples in cyclical relationships tended to be less satisfied with their partner; had worse communication; made more decisions that negatively affected the relationship; had lower self-esteem; and had a higher uncertainty about their future together. [continue reading…]
Published: January 5, 2012
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oday, one-in-five Americans finds his or her spouse via online dating websites, but according to Drexel researchers, marriage isn’t the only measure of success among people looking for love in cyberspace.
Rachel Magee and Christopher Mascaro, both second-year Ph.D students in The iSchool at Drexel, College of Information Science and Technology, and their advisor Dr. Sean P. Goggins, completed a study that takes a closer look at the success stories of online daters. Their results point toward a more accurate interpretation of why people decide to use online dating technology, why they choose a specific site and what they consider a successful online dating experience.
“We each had used online dating sites, and were both fascinated with how and why people use these services,” Magee said “We started to look at the research out there, and realized that what was missing was research into what constitutes successful online dating experiences. This is an extremely important part of most people’s lives, and we wanted to look at the big picture.” [continue reading…]
Published: December 8, 2011
Parenthood has been and remains a central aspiration among Americans. In surveys, most young Americans still say they would like to have two or more children. At the same time, a growing share of young women and men believe that a good marriage is personally unattainable, and more are raising children outside of marriage. As a culture, we remain certain about parenthood, but not so sure about marriage.
Is it emotionally easier to parent alone in a world in which a good marriage seems increasingly out of reach?- Do married parents report more meaningful lives than their childless peers?
- Is parenthood itself an obstacle to a good marriage?
- What are the social, cultural, and relational sources of marital success among today’s parents?
Raising kids is a challenge, from the stresses of sleepless nights and toddler tantrums to teenage sullenness. Plenty of research has found that the arrival of a baby is associated with declines in self-reported happiness and marital satisfaction for many, and increases in depression for some.
However, more than one-third of married couples continue to thrive even after a baby comes along.
So what is the secret of their success?
According to a new “State of Our Unions” report from the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, in partnership with the Center for Marriage and Families, 10 aspects of contemporary social life and relationships – from sexual satisfaction to marital generosity to religious faith to shared housework – boost the odds of successfully combining marriage and parenthood.
The 2011 issue of “The State of Our Unions” is titled “When Baby Makes Three: How Parenthood Makes Life Meaningful and How Marriage Makes Parenthood Bearable.” Based on a new survey of 2,870 married men and women (ages 18 to 46), it examines the critical link between parenthood and marriage. The report is co-authored by W. Bradford Wilcox, an associate professor of sociology in the U.Va. College of Arts & Sciences and director of the National Marriage Project, and Elizabeth Marquardt, director of the Center for Marriage and Families. [continue reading…]
