Lauri L. Hyers

Everyday Sexism: Evidence for Its Incidence, Nature, and Psychological Impact From Three Daily Diary Studies

Three daily diary studies were conducted to examine the incidence, nature, and impact of everyday sexism as reported by college women and men. Women experienced about one to two impactful sexist incidents per week, consisting of traditional gender role stereotypes and prejudice, demeaning and degrading comments and behaviors, and sexual objectification. These incidents affected womens psychological well-being by decreasing their comfort, increasing their feelings of anger and depression, and decreasing their state self-esteem. Although the experiences had similar effects on mens anger, depression, and state self-esteem, men reported relatively fewer sexist incidents, suggesting less overall impact on men. The results provide evidence for the phenomena of everyday prejudice and enlighten our understanding of the experience of prejudice in interpersonal encounters from the perspective of the target.

African American College Students’ Experiences With Everyday Racism: Characteristics of and Responses to These Incidents:

African American college students reported their experiences with everyday forms of racism at a predominantly European American university using a daily diary format. Their reported incidents represented verbal expressions of prejudice, bad service, staring or glaring, and difficulties in interpersonal exchanges (e.g., rudeness or awkward and nervous behavior). Both women’s and men’s experiences with interpersonal forms of prejudice were common, often occurred with friends and in intimate situations, and had significant emotional impact on them in terms of decreasing their comfort and increasing their feelings of threat during the interaction. Moreover, anger was the most frequently reported emotional reaction to these events. Participants were not passive targets, however, with many responding either directly or indirectly to the incidents. Findings from this study converged upon patterns of results found in in-depth interviews and surveys while also adding information to a growing body of literature on everyday experiences with racism.

Experiencing Everyday Prejudice and Discrimination

Publisher Summary An individuals actions and efforts to fight against prejudice and discrimination that he may encounter in everyday life depends on how both the blatant and subtle forms of prejudice may have affected the lifestyle and thought process. In order to understand the entire reaction process, it is very important to study the everyday incidents in the life of an individual who has been the target of prejudice. This chapter aims to study how these individuals or even communities manage their own social worlds, keeping the factors of prejudice and discrimination aside. As has been highlighted in the studies of Simpson and Yinger, avoidance gradually becomes the obvious response to prejudice when subjected to it continuously. Avoidance can also be classified into psychological or behavioral, based on the reactions of the individual or the community that has been the target of prejudice. The responses demonstrated by targets of prejudice and discrimination have also been elaborately described in this chapter. An in-depth understanding of people and their experiences with prejudice and discrimination helps us learn a lot about these behaviors in general.

The Relationship Among Ethnic Identity, Psychological Well-Being, and Intergroup Competence: An Investigation of Two Biracial Groups.

This study examined the ethnic identification, psychological well-being, and intergroup competence of biracial individuals. Using a self-identification measure, the authors explored whether biracial individuals would identify with one, both, or none of their ethnic heritages and the implications of these orientations on psychological well-being and intergroup competence. Sixty-six Black/White and Asian/White individuals were included. Not differing between the 2 biracial groups, results revealed that participants were most likely to be biculturally identified, followed by minority identified and then nonidentified. Furthermore, psychological well-being and intergroup anxiety varied as a function of identity. Suggestions for future research with biracial identity are discussed.

A Secondary Survey Analysis Study of African American Ethnic Identity Orientations in Two National Samples

This study used secondary survey analysis to explore the national variability in the ethnic identity orientations of African Americans, making use of Cross’s racial identity model as a framework. Respondents to two national panel surveys (the National Black Election Panel Study and the National Survey of Black Americans) were classified into one of three racial identity profiles (preencounter, immersion, and internalization). Based on the classification procedure used here, these three racial identity types represent substantial proportions of the African American community, how they differ in important ways in terms of their demographic backgrounds, their reported experiences with racism, their psychological well-being, and in the stability of their racial identity orientations.

Mentoring in Higher Education Should be the Norm to Assure Success: Lessons Learned from the Faculty Mentoring Program, West Chester University, 2008–2011

Despite a wealth of qualitative and quantitative data regarding the positive effects of higher education mentoring programs on faculty satisfaction, retention, tenure, and promotion, mentoring programs are not widespread. The authors examine evaluative data from the first four years of the Faculty Mentoring Program at West Chester University. Of the mentors and mentees who filled out evaluation surveys, 100% recommend the program to colleagues and the majority felt the program should become part of the culture and expectations at the university. Common themes emerged from content analysis of qualitative data: (a) centrality of relationship; (b) mentoring for planning and prioritizing career goals; (c) acquiring new skills; and (d) time and scheduling challenges.

Building a Solid Foundation for our Majors with the Introductory Psychology Course

To envision the introductory psychology course as a foundational part of the major curriculum, priority should be placed on its relevance to the subsequent coursework in the major and its responsiveness to evolving regional, national, and global standards. In this article the authors describe their own strategy for gathering information from multiple sources to explore the foundational potential of the introductory psychology course taught in their department at a medium-sized public university in the USA. They administered surveys to their psychology faculty and students, considered department characteristics and resources, and reviewed national and international professional standards. They conclude that their strategy may be useful for psychology departments at other institutions interested in considering the role their introductory course plays within the context of their undergraduate major curriculum.

Health literacy: a cross-disciplinary study in American undergraduate college students

Our research aims to assess the health literacy of undergraduate college students. Past research on the health literacy of undergraduate students has revealed some gaps in the undergraduate health literacy. In this study, we employed the Newest Vital Sign Test to measure health literacy. We interviewed 235 undergraduate students from health majors (nursing and other health) and non-health majors. We hypothesised that due to the specificity of a health-related curriculum, nursing and other health-related majors would score higher in health literacy than non-health-related majors, and that nursing majors in particular would score higher than other health-related majors and non-health-related majors. We found support for our hypothesis, as nursing majors had a mean score of 3.57, while health and non-health majors had a mean score of 3.24 and 2.88 respectively when assessing their health literacy levels. We discuss our results with regard to the strategies for improving health literacy skills.

Female Disempowerment Disguised as a Halloween Costume

Objective :We explore the relationship between gender stereotypes and North American Halloween costumes. Method (Study 1): Extending Nelsons analysis of gender-markers in mass-produced children’s Halloween costumes, Study 1 explored gender-typing in children’s costumes (n = 428), also adding a sample of adult’s costumes (n = 428) from major retailers, coding for character archetypes (heroes, villains, and fools), active-masculinity/passive-femininity, and for degree of disguise. Results (Study 1): Compared to boys’/men’s costumes, girls’/women’s costumes represented more ornamental feminine-passivity. Method (Study 2): Ornamental feminine-passivity was explored in an additional sample of baby girls’ (n = 161), child girls’ (n = 189), teen girls’ (n = 167), and women’s (n = 301) costumes, coded for character archetypes and markers of infantilization and sexualization. Results (Study 2): In addition to age differences in character archetypes, women’s costumes were most likely to be sexualized (especially heroes), girls’ and teenage young women’s costumes were most likely to combine both infantilization and sexualization, and baby girls’ costumes were least likely to incorporate either gender-markers. Conclusion : Costumes reinforce gender stereotypes differentiating boys/men and girls/women and the ways in which girls/women are stereotyped varies across the lifespan. Patterns are discussed with regard to how gender stereotypes embedded in holiday traditions reinforce messages of disempowerment for women and girls.

Fundamentalist Demonstrations on the Liberal Arts Campus: Observations and Recommendations

This article explores the impact on students when non–university-affiliated conservative fundamentalist Christian groups conduct provocative demonstrations on campus. As university administrators work to balance free speech rights with missions of civility and pluralism, there is a need to assess and address potential adverse impacts of these sensational events. Based on a survey of 97 public university students after a controversial demonstration, we found the most adverse impact to be on students’ emotions, followed by disruption to their routines, changes to their feelings of safety, and minor consequences on academic activities. Those closer in proximity to the demonstration reported more adverse effects, and there were small differences in effects as a function of student gender, sexual orientation, and Christian identity. Counter to the ostensibly conservative aims of the demonstration, students typically reported it had little affect on their attitudes or that the demonstration made them more in favor of abortion rights, more supportive of homosexuality, and more anti-Christian. In addition, the demonstration caused many to question free speech and First Amendment rights. Results are discussed with regard to minimizing negative effects on our campus communities through the intentional involvement of faculty, campus police, and mental health service providers.