Heterosexual, Lesbian, and Gay Adults' Reactions to Same-Gender versus Other-Gender Flirtation: Findings from a German Study.

Using a vignette methodology, this study examined reactions to same-gender versus other-gender flirtation in a sample of 445 German young adults: 320 participants with a heterosexual orientation and 125 participants with a lesbian or gay (LG) orientation. Even in LG-friendly societies as Germany, receiving advances from someone of the same gender might still evoke heterosexuals' homonegativity. Another factor that might influence heterosexuals' reactions to same-gender flirtation is the fear of being misidentified as LG (social contagion concerns). Contrary to hypothesis, results provided little evidence to classify heterosexual participants' reactions to same-gender flirters as homonegative. Firstly, heterosexual participants showed the same degree of negative affect and avoidance behavior in the same-gender flirtation condition as LG participants did in the other-gender flirtation condition. Only positive affect scores were somewhat lower for heterosexual participants in the same-gender flirtation condition compared to LG participants in the other-gender flirtation condition. Secondly, when anti-LG attitudes and social contagion concerns were considered together, only social contagion concerns contributed to explaining variance in heterosexual participants' response to same-gender flirters. Specifically, the impact of social contagion concerns on heterosexual participants' avoidance of same-gender flirters was mediated by (lacking) positive affect, but not negative affect.

Effects of an intergenerational program on adolescent self-concept clarity: A pilot study.

OBJECTIVE: This pilot study examined the effects of a newly developed intergenerational program on self-concept clarity (SCC) of adolescent participants. METHOD: In 12 encounter groups, 58 secondary school students and 50 nursing home residents shared their life stories and discussed existential questions about life (e.g., important values in life, how to deal with failure and regret). The life story encounter program (LSEP) is based on the dyadic Life Story Interview and was expanded into a group format consisting of ten 90-min sessions. SCC was measured with the SCC Scale before, shortly after, and three months after the end of the LSEP. RESULTS: Analyses suggest that adolescent LSEP participants' SCC improved compared to a control group (no LSEP participation). Findings also indicate that increases in SCC were associated with LSEP participants' extraversion and agreeableness. CONCLUSIONS: The LSEP is a promising program for fostering SCC in adolescence. Implications for the application of the LSEP are discussed.

AGA practitioner challenges: A mixed-methods pilot survey.

BACKGROUND: Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) practitioner care may be hampered by commercial biases and hair loss' omission from most medical curricula. AIM AND METHOD: Between November 2020 and September 2021, 34 AGA professionals (86% British; 62% trichologists), participated in a pilot, mixed-methods, survey. Practitioner views on: 1a-1j) AGA's commercial influences (e.g., participants were quantitatively assessed on their understanding of a popular, commercially-funded, AGA study) and 2a-2h) constraints on evidenced-based AGA responding (e.g., ethical dilemmas) were assessed. Quantitative responses are reported descriptively whilst qualitative responses are categorized alongside illustrative quotes. RESULTS: On average, (1a-1d) 42% of participants were misled by the popular AGA study and (1e) participants underestimated the extent of commercial biases in AGA research as 25%; (2a-2e). Participants also indicated that AGA treatment limitations and misinformation ethically challenged them (e.g., "[It's difficult to know when] to treat or not without being able to confirm the outcome"). (2c) Most (77%) indicated society played a powerful role in exacerbating AGA distress (e.g., "Society is hyper critical of appearance") and 30% indicated greater "treatment" accessibility was needed: (e.g., "hair loss product [should] give clear indication of what the active ingredients are and how effective they are"). CONCLUSIONS: Despite the limited sample size, these finding cohere with previous identified challenges of the AGA practitioner role. Evidence based guidance and research scrutiny tools would help practitioners overcome such challenges.

The Attribution of Parental Competence to Lesbian, Gay, and Heterosexual Couples: Experimental and Correlational Results.

This research examined the impact of sexual orientation on heterosexuals' judgment of parental competence. Using a vignette approach, Study 1 presented participants with a lesbian, gay, or heterosexual couple who desired to have a child, either as adoptive parents or, in an additional heterosexual target condition, as biological parents. Study 2 presented a lesbian, gay, or heterosexual parent couple; heterosexual targets were either adoptive parents, reflecting the LG target conditions, or biological parents. Contradicting Hypothesis 1, neither target sexual orientation nor way to parenthood (with the latter varied in the heterosexual target condition only) had an impact on parental competence attributions. Confirming Hypothesis 2, participants with personal contact with lesbian and gay (LG) people provided higher ratings of LG target parental competence, mediated by positive attitudes toward homosexuality. Importantly, this mediation did not occur in the heterosexual target condition, corroborating the specificity of the intergroup contact effect.

Associations Between Fathers' Masculinity Orientation and Anticipated Reaction Toward Their Child's Coming Out.

The present study examined associations between fathers' masculinity orientation and their anticipated reaction toward their child's coming out as lesbian or gay (LG). Participants were 134 German fathers (28 to 60years) of a minor child. They were asked how they would personally react if, one day, their child disclosed their LG identity to them. As hypothesized, fathers with a stronger masculinity orientation (i.e., adherence to traditional male gender norms, such as independence, assertiveness, and physical strength) reported that they would be more likely to reject their LG child. This association was serially mediated by two factors: fathers' general anti-LG attitudes (i.e., level of homophobia) and their emotional distress due to their child's coming out (e.g., feelings of anger, shame, or sadness). The result pattern was independent of the child's gender or age. The discussion centers on the problematic role of traditional masculinity when it comes to fathers' acceptance of their non-heterosexual child.

Changes in Age Stereotypes in Adolescent and Older Participants of an Intergenerational Encounter Program.

This intervention study explored the effects of a newly developed intergenerational encounter program on cross-generational age stereotyping (CGAS). Based on a biographical-narrative approach, participants (secondary school students and nursing home residents) were invited to share ideas about existential questions of life (e.g., about one's core experiences, future plans, and personal values). Therefore, the dyadic Life Story Interview (LSI) had been translated into a group format (the Life Story Encounter Program, LSEP), consisting of 10 90-min sessions. Analyses verified that LSEP participants of both generations showed more favorable CGAS immediately after, but also 3 months after the program end. Such change in CGAS was absent in a control group (no LSEP participation). The LSEP-driven short- and long-term effects on CGAS could be partially explained by two program benefits, the feeling of comfort with and the experience of learning from the other generation.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) fatality risk perception of US adult residents in March and April 2020.

The study compares empirical results on the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (causing COVID-19) fatality risk perception of US adult residents stratified for age, gender, and race in mid-March 2020 (N1  = 1,182) and mid-April 2020 (N2  = 953). While the fatality risk perception has increased from March 2020 to April 2020, our findings suggest that many US adult residents severely underestimated their absolute and relative fatality risk (i.e., differentiated for subgroups defined by pre-existing medical conditions and age) at both time points compared to current epidemiological figures. These results are worrying because risk perception, as our study indicates, relates to actual or intended health-protective behaviour that can reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission rates.

Bald and Bad?

According to (a) the beauty ideal of a full head of hair and (b) the physical attractiveness stereotype (PAS; "what is beautiful is good"), bald men should appear less attractive than nonbald men, not only physically but also socially. To explain inconsistent results on this prediction in previous research, we suggest two antagonistic processes: the automatic activation of the PAS at the implicit level and its suppression at the explicit level, the latter process selectively triggered by individuating information about the target person. In line with this account, we only found negative social attractiveness ratings for bald men by same-aged women when individuating target information was lacking (Experiment 1). In contrast, irrespective of whether individuating information was available or not, we reliably found evidence for the PAS in different implicit paradigms (the implicit association test in Experiment 2 and a source monitoring task in Experiment 3). We conclude that individuating information about bald men suppresses PAS application, but not PAS activation.

Desires and intentions for fatherhood: A comparison of childless gay and heterosexual men in Germany.

The present study explores the motivation for fatherhood in a sample of childless German gay and heterosexual men aged 18 to 40 years (N = 628 + 638). Referring to the theory of planned behavior (TPB), three potential predictors were considered: the individual's attitude toward having children, perceived attitudes of significant others toward fatherhood, and anticipated parental self-efficacy. Regarding fathering motivation, the general desire to become a father was differentiated from the more concrete fathering intention. Level- and structure-oriented analyses were combined in an innovative way. Consistent with previous research, gay participants reported weaker fathering desires and intentions than their heterosexual counterparts; however, there was no wider desire-intention gap among gay than among heterosexual participants (level-oriented analysis). As expected, associations between TPB predictors and fathering motivation were independent of sexual orientation (structure-oriented analysis). Participants' appreciation of children and their self-attribution of parental self-efficacy were strongly associated with fathering intentions; these associations were substantially mediated by fathering desires. However, the association between significant others' attitudes toward fatherhood and participants' fathering motivation was comparably weak. Demographics were controlled for in each analysis. Results are discussed from both an individual and a societal perspective. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Young men's coping with androgenetic alopecia: acceptance counts when hair gets thinner.

The present study examined how young men cope with balding (androgenetic alopecia). The sample consisted of 160 university students (18-30 years) with varying degrees of hair loss (stages II-VII on the Norwood-Hamilton Scale). Three ways of coping were distinguished: compensation, avoidance, and acceptance. Psychological distress due to hair loss depended neither on the age of participants nor on the stage of balding. Since compensation and avoidance were associated with high levels of distress, their functional value might be questioned. Acceptance, however, was negatively related to distress--even, or rather, especially when stage of hair loss was advanced. Furthermore, acceptance had a direct negative effect on medical consultation about hair loss. By contrast, compensation and avoidance had a positive distress-mediated effect on medical consultation. Taken together, this study underlines the adaptive role of acceptance when confronted with irreversible changes such as androgenetic alopecia.

Chronic pain acceptance and affective well-being: a coping perspective.

This study examined the relationship between chronic pain acceptance and affective well-being from a coping perspective. One hundred-fifty patients from a multidisciplinary pain centre provided self-report data including measures of pain acceptance, positive and negative affect, and accommodative flexibility. The bivariate and multiple correlation patterns were consistent with the assumption that pain willingness (the attitudinal component of pain acceptance including the recognition of the uncontrollability of pain) primarily reduces negative affect, whereas activity engagement (the behavioural component of pain acceptance including the pursuit of life activities despite pain) additionally produces positive affect. The data furthermore suggested activity engagement as a mediating link between pain willingness and positive affect. Moderation analyses showed that accommodative flexibility (the general readiness to adjust personal goals to situational constraints) facilitates both pain willingness and activity engagement--especially when average pain intensity is high. In sum, the results support the view that chronic pain patients' well-being is closely tied to the maintenance of life activities which presupposes an accepting attitude towards pain.