Jessica M. McCutcheon

Psychometric properties of the Revised Male Body Attitudes Scale among Irish men.

The psychometric properties of a revised version of the Male Body Attitudes Scale (Tylka, Bergeron, & Schwartz, 2005) were investigated using two independent online samples of Irish men (ns=241 and 253, respectively). Exploratory factor analyses suggested that a 15-item, 3-factor solution representing mens attitudes toward their body fat, muscularity, and height best described the data. The internal consistency and construct validity of scores on the Revised Male Body Attitudes Scale suggest that this measure holds promise as an indicant of mens attitudes toward their physical appearance. Limitations and strengths associated with the current research are discussed and directions for future research are outlined.

The Effect of Parental Gender Roles on Students' Attitudes Toward Lesbian, Gay, and Heterosexual Adoptive Couples

All of Canadas provinces and territories legally recognize the right of gay and lesbian couples to adopt children; however, widespread acceptance of this practice has not been documented. Using an experimental design, with 506 university students, the present study assessed (1) attitudes toward gay, lesbian, and heterosexual adoptive couples; (2) the sex of the child to be adopted; (3) gender role characteristics of the adoptive couple; and (4) predictors of attitudes toward adoption by same-sex couples. Using vignettes describing potential adoptive couples, the results revealed that gay and lesbian couples were rated significantly less favorably than heterosexual couples when asked about outcomes for the adoptive child. Participants were more likely to approve of child placements with lesbian adoptive couples whose gender role characteristics emulated the traditional masculine/feminine dyad as compared to lesbian couples in which both partners displayed feminine characteristics. Statistically significant predictors of negative attitudes toward adoption by lesbian couples were religiosity and non-essentialist beliefs about homosexuality as well as endorsement of modern homonegative attitudes predicted negative attitudes toward adoption by gay male couples. Targeted education for social workers and adoption agency workers should be developed to ensure objective assessments of prospective same-sex adoptive couples regardless of their gender role characteristics.

An erotic alternative? Women’s perception of gay pornography

Little research has been conducted examining women’s perceptions of pornography, with the few studies available focusing almost exclusively on heterosexual and lesbian pornography. While these studies are valuable, anecdotal arguments suggest that gay male pornography may offer women an erotic alternative. This assertion was explored through a series of personal interviews conducted with women (n = 14) who perceive this type of pornography to be erotic. Three brief sequences, extracted from popular titles (i.e., Doing it Together: The Peters Twins, Folsom Filth, Miles and Ashton: Bareback), were reviewed and discussed. The data were thematically analysed with three overarching themes emerging: reasons for watching gay pornography, the importance of pornography being ‘believable,’ and homonegative and femi-negative reactions to the medium. Interviewees cited specific positive and negative qualities, unique to gay pornography. These distinguishing properties are highlighted and differences potentially attributable to participants’ sexual orientation are explored. The results suggest that women’s perception of gay pornography is multidimensional and that this medium may offer women a type of sexually explicit material that overcomes some of the disadvantages perceived as intrinsic to heterosexual pornography.

Injecting on the Island: a qualitative exploration of the service needs of persons who inject drugs in Prince Edward Island, Canada

BackgroundFew studies have investigated the service needs of persons who inject drugs (PWID) who live in less populated regions of Canada. With access to fewer treatment and harm reduction services than those in more urban environments, the needs of PWID in smaller centres may be distinct. As such, the present study examined the needs of PWID in Prince Edward Island (PEI), the smallest of Canadas provinces.MethodsEight PWID were interviewed about the services they have accessed, barriers they faced when attempting to access these services, and what services they need that they are not currently receiving.ResultsParticipants encountered considerable barriers when accessing harm reduction and treatment services due to the limited hours of services, lengthy wait times for treatment, and shortage of health care practitioners. They also reported experiencing considerable negativity from health care practitioners. Participants cited incidences of stigmatisation, and they perceived that health care practitioners received insufficient training related to drug use. Recommendations for the improvement of services are outlined.ConclusionsThe findings indicate that initiatives should be developed to improve PWIDs access to harm reduction and treatment services in PEI. Additionally, health care practitioners should be offered sensitisation training and improved education on providing services to PWID. The findings highlight the importance of considering innovative alternatives for service provision in regions with limited resources.

Reviewing pronatalism: a summary and critical analysis of prior research examining attitudes towards women without children

ABSTRACT This review article examines prior research on attitudes towards women without children. The progression of pronatalist values and theories within Western societies are delineated and a critical review of the research that examines attitudes towards women without children is presented. Empirical studies have consistently found that women without children are perceived more negatively than mothers. However, the existing research predominantly uses vignettes to assess attitudes, allowing for little variability in the type of questions that can be asked and the conclusions that can be drawn. Further, this research rarely adopts a theoretical approach to data collection or analysis. The methodological and theoretical limitations of this research will be discussed and avenues for future studies that can address these limitations will be outlined. Finally, the policy implications that novel research on pronatalist attitudes could have for non-mothers will be explored.

It’s “like walking on broken glass”: Pan-Canadian reflections on work–family conflict from psychology women faculty and graduate students:

Studies on work–family conflict amongst university faculty members indicate that women experience significantly more conflict in balancing their dual roles than their male counterparts. Research suggests that female faculty may be disadvantaged because of the norms structuring academic environments, which seemingly accommodate the life courses of men. Interestingly, the experience of work–family conflict for graduate students, who are besieged by many of the same environmental forces as female faculty, has been largely ignored within the scholarly literature. In the present study, qualitative responses regarding work–family conflict from 65 academic women (32 faculty; 33 graduate students) from universities and colleges across Canada were submitted to thematic analysis. Results revealed three interconnected themes: masculine workplace norms, the need to choose between work and family, and consequences of work–family conflict. The findings point to the need for academic institutions to critically examine their cultures surrounding motherhood in an effort to provide hospitable environments for faculty and graduate students who are, or who will become, parents.