Ashley E. Thompson

Gender Differences in Associations of Sexual and Romantic Stimuli: Do Young Men Really Prefer Sex over Romance?

Theory and research emphasize differences in men’s and women’s sexual and romantic attitudes, concluding that men have stronger preferences for sexual than romantic stimuli as compared to women. However, most of the research on gender differences have relied on self-reports, which are plagued by problems of social desirability bias. The current study assessed young men’s and women’s implicit attitudes toward sexual and romantic stimuli to test whether, in fact, men have a stronger preference for sexual over romantic stimuli compared to women. We also assessed associations between implicit and explicit attitudes, as well as sex role ideology and personality. College students (68 men and 114 women) completed an Implicit Association Test (IAT) that assessed strengths of associations of sexual and romantic stimuli to both pleasant and unpleasant conditions. Results revealed that both men and women more strongly associated romantic images to the pleasant condition than they associated the sexual images to the pleasant condition. However, as predicted, women had a stronger preference toward romantic versus sexual stimuli compared to men. Our study challenges a common assumption that men prefer sexual over romantic stimuli. The findings indicate that measures of implicit attitudes may tap preferences that are not apparent in studies relying on self-reported (explicit) attitudes.

Drawing the Line: The Development of a Comprehensive Assessment of Infidelity Judgments

Infidelity is a leading cause of relationship discord and dissolution, and couples generally report expectations to maintain monogamy. However, a majority of men and women report engaging in some form of infidelity at least once in their lives. Research assessing judgments of the behaviors that constitute infidelity is lacking. The three studies reported here advanced the literature by developing and validating the Definitions of Infidelity Questionnaire (DIQ), a comprehensive measure examining infidelity judgments. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses indicated four factors to the scale: sexual/explicit behaviors, technology/online behaviors, emotional/affectionate behaviors, and solitary behaviors. Investigation of the psychometric properties demonstrated the DIQ to be reliable and valid. Participants agreed that sexual/explicit behaviors comprised infidelity to the largest extent, whereas other types of behaviors (technology/online behaviors, emotional/affectionate behaviors, and solitary behaviors) were judged as comprising infidelity to a lesser extent. Men reported more permissive judgments than did women. This study provides insights regarding operationalizing infidelity and identifying areas of ambiguity and consensus. Implications of the findings for educators and practitioners working with individuals in intimate relationships are discussed.

Young Adults' Implicit and Explicit Attitudes towards the Sexuality of Older Adults

L’intérêt sexuel et la capacité sexuelle peut s’étendre loin dans la vie plus tard, entraînant de nombreux effets positifs sur la santé. Cependant, il y a peu de soutien pour l’expression sexuelle dans la vie plus tard, notamment chez les jeunes adultes. Cette étude a évalué et comparé les attitudes implicites et explicites de jeunes adultes face à la sexualité des adultes âgés. Un échantillon de 120 participants (18–24 ans, dont 58 pourcent femmes) ont rempli un auto-évaluation et une série de tests d’associations implicites, capturant les attitudes envers la sexualité parmi les personnes âgées. Malgré des rapports des attitudes explicites positifs, les jeunes ont révelé un biais implicite contre la vie sexuelle des personnes âgées. En particulier, les jeunes adultes ont montré des partis pris implicites favorisant les activités générales, par rapport aux activités sexuelles, et les jeunes adultes sur les adultes plus âgés. En outre, les biais favorisant les activités générales ont été amplifiées à l’égard de personnes âgées par rapport aux jeunes adultes. Nos résultats mettent en doute la validité de la recherche en s’appuyant sur les déclarations des attitudes sur la sexualité des adultes plus âgés. Sexual interest and capacity can extend far into later life and result in many positive health outcomes. Yet there is little support for sexual expression in later life, particularly among young adults. This study assessed and compared young adults’ explicit and implicit attitudes towards older adult sexuality. A sample of 120 participants (18–24 years; 58% female) completed a self-report (explicit) measure and a series of Implicit Association Tests capturing attitudes towards sexuality among older adults. Despite reporting positive explicit attitudes, young people revealed an implicit bias against the sexual lives of older adults. In particular, young adults demonstrated implicit biases favouring general, as compared to sexual, activities and young adults as compared to older adults. Moreover, the bias favouring general activities was amplified with regard to older adults as compared to younger adults. Our findings challenge the validity of research relying on self-reports of attitudes about older adult sexuality.

Can certified health professionals treat obesity in a community-based programme? A quasi-experimental study

Objective To test the effectiveness of a non-pharmaceutical programme for obese participants in a rural Eastern Canadian Province using certified health professionals. Design A prospective quasi-experimental design with repeated premeasure and postmeasure. Participants 146 participants with obesity (body mass index >30 kg/m2) from rural and urban communities in an Eastern Canadian Province were divided into four groups. Intervention A 6-month intensive active community-based lifestyle intervention (InI) delivered by Certified Exercise Physiologists, Certified Personal Trainers and Registered Dietitians, followed by 6 months of self-management. A second intervention (InII) was nested in InI and consisted of group-mediated cognitive–behavioral intervention (GMCBI) delivered by an exercise psychologist to two of the four InI groups. Outcomes (1) Improving health outcomes among the participants’ preactive and postactive 6-month intervention and self-management period, (2) Documenting the impact of InII (GMCBI) and location of the intervention (urban vs rural). Results The 6-month active InI significantly improved cardiovascular health for participants who completed the intervention. InII (GMCBI) significantly lowered the attrition rate among the participants. The self-management period was challenging for the participants and they did not make further gains; however, most were able to maintain the gains achieved during the active intervention. The location of the intervention, urban or rural, had little impact on outcomes. Conclusions A community-based programme utilising healthcare professionals other than physicians to treat obese patients was effective based on premeasure and postmeasure. During the self-management phase, the participants were able to maintain the gains. Psychological support is essential to participant retention.

Young adults’ concerns and coping strategies related to their interactions with their grandparents and great-grandparents with dementia:

Young adults’ concerns and coping strategies related to their face-to-face interactions with their grandparents/great-grandparents with dementia were explored through the lens of a solidarity-conflict conceptual framework. Participants indicated concerns about their inability to maintain the relational connection, not knowing what to say or how to behave, their lack of perspective-taking skills and emotion-regulation strategies, interacting with an ever-changing other, as well as concerns about other co-participants in the interaction. Participants’ coping strategies were driven by two interaction motives: maintaining solidarity (e.g., desire to maintain and improve the interaction with the grandparent by seeking the other’s company, loving the other, and maintaining the other’s personhood) and dealing with conflict (e.g., dealing with self-focused concerns about lack of skills and knowledge by engaging in substitute avenues for communication and down-regulating negative affect). Implications for improving interactions between young adults and their grandparents/great-grandparents with dementia are discussed.

Young men and women’s implicit attitudes towards consensually nonmonogamous relationships

ABSTRACT Recent research has revealed some inconsistencies in the traditionally negative attitudes towards consensual nonmonogamy (CNM; sexually and/or emotionally nonexclusive romantic relationships), with some adults reporting fairly neutral attitudes. These inconsistencies may be related to the effects of socially desirable responding when adopting self-report (e.g. explicit) measures. Thus, the current study assessed young men and women’s implicit attitudes towards CNM (using the Implicit Association Test) in order to bypass issues associated with social desirability bias. The results from 204 college students (81 men, 123 women) revealed that, despite reporting neutral explicit attitudes towards CNM, young men and women demonstrated a strong automatic preference for monogamy (mean D score = 0.71; SD = 0.32). Furthermore, the relationship between explicit and implicit attitudes was clarified by assessing the extent to which participants were likely to engage in socially desirable responding. Implicit and explicit attitudes towards CNM were more closely related among those less likely to evidence social desirability bias as compared to those who were more likely to fall prey to this bias. These findings highlight the importance of assessing implicit attitudes and provide evidence of the strong social stigma surrounding CNM.

Changes in Author, Editor, and Reviewer Genders Over 42 Years in Teaching of Psychology

The present study examined changes in the genders of authors, first authors, reviewers, and editorial staff over 42 years (1974–2015) in Teaching of Psychology. Over the first 6 years of the journal’s publication, 17.67% of authors and 16.5% of first authors were women, increasing to 57.83% and 44% in the most recent 6 years. From the first 6 years to the most recent 6 years, women as reviewers increased from 9.33% to 37.17% and as editorial staff from 28% to 43.5%, and the number of authors per article increased from 1.52 per article to 2.52. Percentages of women authors, first authors, editorial staff, reviewers, and PhDs earned in psychology by women over time were highly correlated.

Understanding Variations in Judgments of Infidelity: An Application of Attribution Theory

ABSTRACT The current program of research examined how the four dimensions of the attribution (locus of causality, controllability, stability, intentionality) influenced judgments of a partner’s hypothetical infidelity and actor-observer discrepancies associated with judgments of real-life infidelity. The results from Study 1 (N = 396) revealed that the dimensions of the attribution affected the extent to which adults’ judged a partner’s hypothetical behavior as indicative of infidelity differently depending on the type of behavior. When reporting on real-life behavior (Study 2, N = 802), adults attributed the cause of their partner’s infidelity as being a result of internal, controllable, stable, and intentional causes to a greater extent than when judging their own infidelity.

A kiss is worth a thousand words: the development and validation of a scale measuring motives for romantic kissing

ABSTRACT Research reveals that romantic kissing plays an integral role in relational scripts depicting the progression of intimacy and the expression of love in romantic relationships. Despite its importance, romantic kissing is rarely the primary focus of research. Thus, the three studies reported here advance the literature by developing and validating a scale measuring romantic kissing motives (the YKiss? Scale) and examining gender differences in these motives. In Study One, an exploratory factor analysis yielded a two factor solution: the Sexual/Relational Motives Subscale, which included items related to arousal, love, attraction, and relational scripts; and the Goal Attainment/Insecurity Motives Subscale, which consisted of items pertaining to attaining resources, using kissing as a means, and boosting ones self-esteem. Participants reported kissing for sexual/relational motives more frequently than goal attainment/insecurity motives. In Study Two, a confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the two factor solution resulting in a 42-item scale that demonstrated excellent psychometric properties, with men reporting goal attainment/insecurity motives more frequently than did women. In Study Three, the YKiss? Scale demonstrated adequate temporal consistency. This research provides investigators and practitioners with a useful tool and important insights when measuring the multitude of reasons why adults engage in romantic kissing.

Weaving social reality around the grandparent/great-grandparent with dementia to maintain relational presence: A verbal and non-verbal dementia interactions model

We proposed a dementia interactions model based on analyses of five focus groups with grandchildren of grandparents with dementia. Interactions with their grandparent with dementia motivate grandchildren to maintain connection with a grandparent who is relationally present. To do so, they weave a social reality around the grandparent. To help the grandparent remain connected, grandchildren engage in scripts and routines and employ three intertwined psychological processes: perspective taking, vigilance, and knowledge about the grandparents preferences, personality, state of mind, and context. Grandchildren use four relationship anchors to help the grandparent remain relationally present: family members, meaningful sensory objects and activities, physical space/context, and themselves. Implications for improving social interactions with close others with dementia are discussed.