Asexual Identity, Personality, and Social Motivations in a New Zealand National Sample.

Growing research interest in asexuality has led to several notable findings around the differences between asexual people and those with other sexual orientations. These findings have recently extended to personality, but questions remain around differences in personality between asexual people and others. Furthermore, qualitative and quantitative research disagrees about whether asexual people are less interested in close relationships than others. This paper used data from a nationally representative sample of self-identified asexual participants (Analysis 1: nwomen = 216, nmen = 54, ngender diverse = 13; Analysis 2: nwomen = 53, nmen = 19, ngender diverse = 3) and matched samples of heterosexual and lesbian, gay, and bisexual/plurisexual (LGB) participants (N's = 75-283) drawn from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study (Ns = 19,396-54,183) to explore personality (Analysis 1) and approach and avoidance social motivations (Analysis 2). Compared to heterosexuals, asexual participants reported significantly lower extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, and higher emotionality, openness, and honesty-humility. Compared to those who identified as LGB, asexual participants reported significantly lower extraversion and agreeableness and higher honesty-humility. In addition, asexual participants scored significantly lower on approach (but not avoidance) social motivation than both heterosexual and LGB participants, indicating that they are less motivated to enhance positive experiences and behavior in their social relationships. These results help to clarify how personality and social motivations covary with sexual identity.

Cyberbullying Toward Maori Is Rife in New Zealand: Incidences and Demographic Differences in Experiences of Cyberbullying Among Maori.

Previous research on cyberbullying has focused almost entirely on examining its prevalence among dominant ethnic populations, leaving it unclear how common cyberbullying is among indigenous peoples. Our study draws on a large sample of Maori adults aged 18-83 years (n = 6,529) who completed the questionnaire-based Maori Identity and Financial Attitudes Study in 2017. We analyzed reports of cyberbullying according to demographic characteristics, namely gender, age, sexual orientation, and multiple ethnic affiliations. On average, 19.3 percent of participants reported ever experiencing cyberbullying, and 4.1 percent reported experiencing cyberbullying within the past month. Young adults (aged 18-25) experienced the most, and incidences progressively declined among older cohorts. Women and those identifying as a minority sexual orientation reported higher rates of cyberbullying than men and heterosexuals. Those identifying as Maori as one of their multiple ethnicities reported higher rates of cyberbullying than those who identified as Maori only. Together, these findings provide a detailed investigation of the prevalence of cyberbullying in a large national indigenous sample. Previous data show that cyberbullying is common among adolescents and adults in New Zealand; however, our data indicate an even higher prevalence among the Maori. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed in light of Maori mental health outcomes.

Cultural efficacy predicts body satisfaction for Maori.

This paper examines the relationship between body mass index (BMI), self-esteem and self-reported confidence and capability in expressing oneself culturally as Maori (cultural efficacy) for 5,470 Maori who participated in Te Rangahau o Te Tuakiri Maori me Nga Waiaro a-Putea | The Maori Identity and Financial Attitudes Study (MIFAS) in 2017. Adjusting for demographics, self-reported health, education and socio-economic status, we found that a higher BMI was associated with lower body satisfaction and self-esteem. However, higher scores on cultural efficacy were associated with higher levels of body satisfaction and self-esteem for respondents. Furthermore, the negative association between BMI and both body satisfaction and self-esteem was weaker for those with higher cultural efficacy. This held for BMI scores of 25, 30, and 35+. While our data suggest higher cultural efficacy may directly or interactively shield Maori from developing lowered self-esteem typically associated with higher BMI in Western populations, further research, using more comprehensive measures of body satisfaction should explore the extent to which Maori may find the Western "thin ideal" personally desirable for their own bodies.

Social Media Use Is (Weakly) Related to Psychological Distress.

Although the growing prevalence of social media usage raises concerns about its potentially negative impact on mental health and distress, research has found mixed results. This study resolves these inconsistencies by examining the association between hours of time spent on social media use and psychological distress in a sample of New Zealand adults (N = 19,075). After adjusting for demographics and time spent on various other activities (e.g., exercise, sleep, and housework), social media use correlated positively with psychological distress. Although social media use had one of the largest per-hour unit associations with psychological distress compared with time spent engaging in other habitual activities, the association was very weak. Thus, only excessive amounts of social media usage would result in practical changes in distress. These findings provide robust data from a large-scale national probability sample of adults, demonstrating that social media use is typically not a serious risk factor for psychological distress.

Gender differences in the associations between relationship status, social support, and wellbeing.

Extant research suggests that having a romantic partner has more benefits, in terms of higher subjective wellbeing, for men compared to women. The primary theoretical explanation for these wellbeing differences is that men's romantic partners tend to be their primary source of perceived social support. Yet, there is surprisingly little empirical evidence that perceived social support accounts for these gender differences. The current research used a national panel study in New Zealand (N = 20,774) to test whether perceived social support mediated the relationship between having a romantic partner and wellbeing and whether these associations were noninvariant across gender. Perceived social support partially mediated the association between having a romantic partner and higher wellbeing (life satisfaction and self-esteem), and this pathway was stronger for men than it was for women. These results extend previous research by using large-scale national panel survey data to show that the stronger association between men's relationship status and wellbeing is partially due to men's stronger connection between relationship status and perceived social support. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Social connectedness improves public mental health: Investigating bidirectional relationships in the New Zealand attitudes and values survey.

BACKGROUND: The importance of social connectedness in supporting public mental health is well established. However, the reverse causal pathway (that psychological ill-health leads to reduced social connectedness) remains a dominant perspective among mental health practitioners. Our analysis aimed to provide a rigorous test of the directionality of this relationship. METHOD: A cross-lagged panel analysis of a large longitudinal national probability sample ( N ≈ 21,227), the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Survey, was used to assess the bidirectional longitudinal relationship between social connectedness and mental health, controlling for baseline levels of both variables and demographics. RESULTS: Social connectedness was found to be a stronger and more consistent predictor of mental health year-on-year than mental health was of social connectedness. CONCLUSION: These results further demonstrate how the psychological resources conferred by social connectedness can act as a 'social cure' for psychological ill-health, and provide the strongest evidence to date for the direction of this relationship in the general community.

Are People Becoming More Entitled Over Time? Not in New Zealand.

It is a common conception that entitlement is increasing among younger generations over time. However, although there is some evidence for this trend, other findings are less conclusive. The current research investigated change in psychological entitlement across the adult lifespan for men and women (ages 19-74), using six annual waves of data (2009-2014) from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study ( N = 10,412). We employed Cohort-Sequential Latent Growth Modeling to assess mean-level change in entitlement. Entitlement was found to be generally unchanging over time for both men and women, with only those aged 65 and above showing increasing entitlement. Entitlement showed a steady downward trend across age. These findings from a large national probability sample suggest that change in entitlement may follow a decreasing developmental trend across the lifespan. In New Zealand, at least, there is no evidence for a narcissism epidemic.

Asexual Identity in a New Zealand National Sample: Demographics, Well-Being, and Health.

Academic interest in asexuality has increased in recent years; however, there is yet to be a national probability study exploring the correlates of self-identifying as asexual. Here, we utilized data from the 2014/15 New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study. Past research has typically used attraction-based measures; however, we asked participants to describe their sexual orientation using a self-generated, open-ended item, and 0.4% (n = 44) self-identified as asexual. We then compared self-identified asexual participants with a heterosexual reference group (n = 11,822) across a large number of demographic, psychological, and health variables. Relative to heterosexuals, self-identified asexual participants were (1) more likely to be women, and (2) substantially less likely to be cisgender, (3) in a serious romantic relationship, or (4) a parent. No deleterious mental or physical health effects were associated with asexuality when compared to heterosexuality. This study provides the first attempt at measuring self-identification as asexual in a national sample and highlights core similarities and differences between those who identify as asexual and heterosexual.

The Diversity and Prevalence of Sexual Orientation Self-Labels in a New Zealand National Sample.

In this study, we asked participants to "describe their sexual orientation" in an open-ended measure of self-generated sexual orientation. The question was included as part of the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study (N = 18,261) 2013/2014 wave, a national probability survey conducted shortly after the first legal same-sex marriages in New Zealand. We present a two-level classification scheme to address questions about the prevalence of, and demographic differences between, sexual orientations. At the most detailed level of the coding scheme, 49 unique categories were generated by participant responses. Of those who responded with the following, significantly more were women: bisexual (2.1 % of women, compared to 1.5 % of men), bicurious (0.7 % of women, 0.4 % of men), and asexual (0.4 % of women and less than 0.1 % of men). However, significantly fewer women than men reported being lesbian or gay (1.8 % of women, compared to 3.5 % of men). Those openly identifying as bicurious, bisexual, or lesbian/gay were significantly younger than those with a heterosexual orientation. This study shows diversity in the terms used in self-generated sexual orientations, and provides up-to-date gender, age, and prevalence estimates for the New Zealand population. Finally, results reveal that a substantial minority of participants may not have understood the question about sexual orientation.

Perceived discrimination predicts increased support for political rights and life satisfaction mediated by ethnic identity: A longitudinal analysis.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the current research is to test predictions derived from the rejection-identification model and research on collective action using cross-sectional (Study 1) and longitudinal (Study 2) methods. Specifically, an integration of these 2 literatures suggests that recognition of discrimination can have simultaneous positive relationships with well-being and engagement in collective action via the formation of a strong ingroup identity. METHOD: We test these predictions in 2 studies using data from a large national probability sample of Maori (the indigenous peoples of New Zealand), collected as part of the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study (Ns for Study 1 and 2 were 1,981 and 1,373, respectively). RESULTS: Consistent with the extant research, Study 1 showed that perceived discrimination was directly linked with decreased life satisfaction, but indirectly linked with increased life satisfaction through higher levels of ethnic identification. Perceived discrimination was also directly linked with increased support for Maori rights and indirectly linked with increased support for Maori rights through higher levels of ethnic identification. Study 2 replicated these findings using longitudinal data and identified multiple bidirectional paths between perceived discrimination, ethnic identity, well-being, and support for collective action. CONCLUSION: These findings replicate and extend the rejection-identification model in a novel cultural context by demonstrating via cross-sectional (Study 1) and longitudinal (Study 2) analyses that the recognition of discrimination can both motivate support for political rights and increase well-being by strengthening ingroup identity. (PsycINFO Database Record

Regional differences in the psychological recovery of Christchurch residents following the 2010/2011 earthquakes: a longitudinal study.

We examined changes in psychological distress experienced by residents of Christchurch following two catastrophic earthquakes in late 2010 and early 2011, using data from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study (NZAVS), a national probability panel study of New Zealand adults. Analyses focused on the 267 participants (172 women, 95 men) who were living in central Christchurch in 2009 (i.e., before the Christchurch earthquakes), and who also provided complete responses to our yearly panel questionnaire conducted in late 2010 (largely between the two major earthquakes), late 2011, and late 2012. Levels of psychological distress were similar across the different regions of central Christchurch immediately following the September 2010 earthquake, and remained comparable across regions in 2011. By late 2012, however, average levels of psychological distress in the regions had diverged as a function of the amount of property damage experienced within each given region. Specifically, participants in the least damaged region (i.e., the Fendalton-Waimairi and Riccarton-Wigram wards) experienced greater drops in psychological distress than did those in the moderately damaged region (i.e., across the Spreydon-Heathcote and Hagley-Ferrymead wards). However, the level of psychological distress reported by participants in the most damaged region (i.e., across Shirley-Papanui and Burwood-Pegasus) were not significantly different to those in the least damaged region of central Christchurch. These findings suggest that different patterns of psychological recovery emerged across the different regions of Christchurch, with the moderately damaged region faring the worst, but only after the initial shock of the destruction had passed.