Objectification in Heterosexual Romantic Relationships: Examining Relationship Satisfaction of Female Objectification Recipients and Male Objectifying Perpetrators Abstract Sexual objectification is one of most the common manifestations of discrimination against women in Western societies; however, few studies have examined objectification in the context of romantic relationships. The primary aim of the present research was to bring the study of objectification phenomena into the setting of heterosexual romantic relationships. The present set of studies examined the relation between sexual objectification and relationship satisfaction for both the sexual objectification recipient (Study 1) and the sexual objectification perpetrator (Study 2). The results of the first study with 206 U.S. undergraduate female students in committed romantic relationships replicated a previously identified negative association between feeling dehumanized by one’s partner and intimate relationship satisfaction. Moreover, this link was mediated by greater body dissatisfaction and decreased sexual satisfaction. The second study with 94 U.S. undergraduate male students in committed romantic relationships demonstrated a negative association between sexual objectification perpetration and relationship satisfaction. Furthermore, this negative relation was mediated by greater partner objectification and lower sexual satisfaction. Results of both studies demonstrated the effect of sexual objectification (as recipient or perpetrator) on global intimate relationship health. Additionally, the results highlight poor sexual satisfaction as a key dyadic mechanism linking objectification processes to intimate relationship outcomes.

Housework Allocation, Negotiation Strategies, and Relationship Satisfaction in Cohabiting Emerging Adult Heterosexual Couples Abstract The purpose of the current study was twofold; first, to examine the association between equity and equality by comparing heterosexual romantic partners’ distribution of time as a function of their perceptions of equity and second, to investigate the antecedents of the housework negotiation process, its dyadic nature, and its influence on relationship satisfaction. Data from 204 newly cohabiting Canadian heterosexual couples indicated that men and women perceived inequity to self and equity to self, respectively, when the distribution of time was equal at home, yet men spent more time on paid work or academics than their partners did. Moreover, men and women perceived equity to self and inequity to self, respectively, when women did the bulk of the housework and men spent more time on paid work or academics than their partners did. Results also revealed that women’s personal contribution is linked to their relationship satisfaction through self-use of equity-restoring strategies when their partners’ use of equity-resisting strategies is high. For men, the conditional indirect effect of personal contribution on relationship satisfaction was significant when their attempts to restore equity were met with low resistance from their partners. Overall, our results highlight gender differences that could help raise awareness around issues of housework inequality and inform the development of educational programs for romantic partners who face ongoing challenges of housework allocation.

Body Surveillance on Instagram: Examining the Role of Selfie Feedback Investment in Young Adult Women’s Body Image Concerns Abstract Selfies are self-taken self-portrait photographs captured with mobile phones, and they are among the most common forms of self-expression on the photo-based social network Instagram. Selfies display their subject’s face or body to social media followers and friends, making them particularly appearance-oriented images. As with other social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, Instagram posts garner feedback in the form of “likes” and comments from online audiences. When applied to selfies, such feedback can be interpreted as aggregated evaluations of their subject’s physical appearance. We employ objectification theory to explore how value placed on selfie feedback among young women relates to markers of body image disturbance, including body dissatisfaction, drive for thinness, and bulimia action tendencies. We conducted an online survey of 177 English-speaking young adult (18–30 years-old) female Instagram users who were recruited through MTurk and who post selfies to examine the relationship between investment in selfie feedback and body image disturbance. We found that women who reported higher investment in selfie feedback were more likely to express body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness through the indirect influence of body surveillance, but this effect did not extend to bulimic tendencies. Our findings suggest that young adult female Instagram users who value audience responses to their selfies are more likely to exhibit disordered eating attitudes and intentions.

The Power of Sisterhood: The Moderating Role of Womanism in the Discrimination-Distress Link among Women of Color in the United States Abstract Sexism and racism play an important role in the psychological well-being of Women of Color (WOC). It is important to understand how protective factors, such as womanism (an outgrowth of Black feminist thought focused on the intersectional concerns of WOC), might disrupt the link between discrimination and psychological distress. With a sample of 204 U.S. heterosexual WOC, we examined (a) the links between perceived lifetime and recent sexist events and psychological distress and (b) the potential moderating role in these relations of womanism (an intersectional feminist perspective). Further, we conducted exploratory analysis on (c) the potential moderating role of womanism in the association between racism and distress. Findings indicated that all measured forms of discrimination were significantly and positively related to psychological distress. Womanism was found to moderate the relationship between each form of discrimination and psychological distress. The links between each form of discrimination and psychological distress were significant and positive for WOC with lower levels of womanism and not significant for those with higher levels. As one of the first known studies to investigate womanism as a protective factor, and the first known to explore its role in buffering experiences of racism, findings suggest that placing discrimination experiences within a larger sociocultural context of oppression may reduce distress for WOC.

A Qualitative Multiple Case Study of the Division of Labor across the Transition to Parenthood in South-Brazilian Families Abstract Family roles tend to become more traditional across the transition to parenthood, which may affect satisfaction with the division of labor and the well-being and relationships of new parents. We employed a qualitative, longitudinal, multiple case study to investigate the division of labor across the transition to parenthood in South-Brazilian families with different childcare arrangements (i.e., maternal care, nanny care, and daycare center). Data were collected through semi-structured, face-to-face interviews conducted with 12 first-time mothers and fathers (six families) at 6, 12, and 18 months postpartum. Using deductive thematic analysis, we found greater sharing of childcare tasks during the first few days postpartum, followed by a decrease in fathers’ contributions across the first few months. This more unequal division of labor shifted toward greater subsequent father involvement for families with nanny care and daycare arrangements, although it remained stable for families with maternal care arrangement. Parental satisfaction regarding the division of labor remained relatively high over time only for families with nanny care arrangements. Findings are discussed in the light of the roles that instrumental and social support, as well as Brazilian gender norms, play in the division of labor for new parents. Implications for practice and policy are presented.

Paternity Leave-Taking and Father Involvement among Socioeconomically Disadvantaged U.S. Fathers Abstract In the present study, we examine the associations between the amount of time that U.S. employed fathers took off from work after the birth of a child (i.e., paternity leave-taking) and trajectories of how frequently fathers engage with their children and take responsibility for them. To do so, we analyze longitudinal data on 2109 fathers from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a data set that contains information from disproportionately socioeconomically disadvantaged families from large urban areas. The results indicate that, 1 year after birth, paternity leave-taking and lengths of leave are positively associated with fathers’ engagement and responsibility. In addition, paternity leave-taking is positively associated with trajectories of fathers’ responsibility over the first 5 years after birth. Lengths of paternity leave are positively associated with trajectories of fathers’ engagement. Finally, there is evidence that paternity leave-taking and lengths of leave-taking are especially likely to boost fathers’ engagement and responsibility among nonresident fathers. Overall, the findings from the present study suggest that an expansion of paternity leave-taking may encourage higher subsequent levels of father involvement—especially among nonresident fathers.

Gender Typicality of Faces Affects Children’s Categorization and Judgments of Women More than of Men Abstract Most infants display more perceptual knowledge of female than male faces, which is related to their predominant experience with women. If disparities in social experience persist beyond infancy, children should have a better developed sense of what typifies female than male faces. Gender typicality of faces should therefore more often impact their cognitive decisions for female than male targets. To test this possibility, we assessed U.S. 5- to 9-year-olds’ (n = 81) responses when making similarity judgments, spontaneous gender references, and typicality decisions for female and male targets whose faces were gender typical or atypical. Parental reports confirmed most children had predominant experience with female caregivers. Consistent with predictions, gender typicality of faces differentially influenced children’s similarity and typicality judgments for female, but not male, targets. It did not influence their spontaneous gender references, perhaps due to the task being more cognitively demanding. Results show children more reliably detect the gender typicality of female than male faces, which affects their social groupings and decisions about what constitutes a good example of a face more so for female than male targets. Findings might help explain the origins of women being judged by their facial appearance more so than men. Moreover, high feminine-looking women seem to elicit the female category more than low feminine-looking women do, which could elicit greater gender-role expectations for women with high feminine faces.

Transnormativity and Transgender Identity Development: A Master Narrative Approach Abstract Despite rapidly shifting social dynamics and the recent increase in scholarship on transgender identity development, existing research on transgender identity has been theoretically isolated from the broader study of identity. This study involved a series of 4 qualitative focus groups (n = 15 participants), conducted in the United States, to identify master and alternative narratives guiding transgender identity development and explore the mechanisms by which transgender individuals navigate and negotiate with these narrative constraints. Results suggest that (a) transnormativity is best conceptualized as a hegemonic alternative narrative that resists the master narrative of cisnormativity, which asserts that cisgender identities are “normal” or “standard”; (b) the components of transnormativity go beyond those which have been previously described in the literature; (c) individuals negotiate with transnormativity through both resisting transnormativity and conceding to transnormativity; and (d) border wars within the trans community form on the basis of these opposing and contradictory processes of resisting and conceding. Results demonstrate the applicability of the Master Narrative framework for studying transgender identity development and the important role of master and alternative narratives of in shaping the lives and experiences of transpeople. Psychotherapists can use these findings to engage clients in re-authoring conversations to affirm the legitimacy of clients’ unique identity experiences.

Men Pursuing an Undergraduate Psychology Degree: What’s Masculinity Got to Do with It? Abstract Using discursive psychology as its theoretical and methodological framework, the present study explored male Canadian undergraduate students’ accounts of their reasons for studying psychology, their experiences of being male undergraduate psychology students, and their anticipated future careers. Ten men (19–29 years-old) who were at least in their second year of study in the psychology major program were interviewed. Contrary to survey research concluding that men who make gender-atypical vocational choices conform less to masculine norms than do men who make typical academic and career choices, our participants produced contradictory accounts. On the one hand, in talking about their experiences as psychology students in the context of the gender gap, they argued that gender does not matter. On the other hand, they showed that gender does matter in brief “boy moments” when they shared tacit gender knowledge with the interviewer and in justifying their academic paths toward futures that involved leaving psychology for a male-concentrated field. Thus, gender-does-not matter was the preferred argument when gender was an explicit topic of conversation, and the doing of gender occurred in unacknowledged ways.

Keeping Ourselves Sane: A Qualitative Exploration of Black Women’s Coping Strategies for Gendered Racism Abstract Black women in the United States have historically overcome extreme hardships and continue to do so. They have survived unthinkable bouts of trauma due to their subordinate racial and gender statuses. Black women’s attempts to navigate these circumstances present them with a distinct set of dilemmas, yet existing research gives little attention to how Black women manage adversities associated with navigating entangled systems of oppression. The present study aimed to gain a better understanding of how Black women cope with gendered racism. Individual interviews were conducted with 22 Black women between the ages of 18–69 years-old. We applied a thematic analysis approach for data collection and data analysis. Through in-depth interviews, we identified four themes that underline how Black women manage racialized and gendered status: (a) by redefining Black womanhood; (b) by employing overt and covert forms of resistance; (c) by relying on faith, prayer, and the pursuit of balance; and (d) by expressing their thoughts and feelings in safe spaces. Our study contributes to the larger body of literature by highlighting the complexity of living at the intersection of multiple marginalized identities. Further, our study includes Black women’s perceptions of their lived experiences and examines multiple modes of resistance to gendered, racist stereotypes. Findings can be used to shape programs, interventions, assessments, and tailored messages that provide awareness among Black women and healthcare professionals to promote positive and healthy coping strategies.