J Sex Marital Ther
April 2023
Infidelity has been operationalized inconsistently across studies, and measurement approaches have been employed that are not ideally suited for addressing the stigmatized and subjective nature of infidelity, thereby limiting the conclusions that can be drawn from this body of literature. In 2016, Thompson and O'Sullivan took a step toward addressing these shortcomings by implementing an indirect measurement approach. We extend their findings using a sample of 465 married and divorced individuals via MTurk.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSwinger couples-committed couples who consensually engage in extra-relational sex for recreational purposes-are difficult for researchers to access due to the social stigma associated with swinging. This study builds upon the limited research on swinger couples by examining personal experiences with swinging. Specifically, 32 semi-structured interviews with swingers (16 husband-wife dyads, interviewed separately) were analyzed using grounded theory methods to understand the process of transitioning into and maintaining marital satisfaction in the swinging lifestyle.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJudges and attorneys often request professional assessments from child custody evaluators when allegations of adult domestic violence (DV) have been made, but it is unclear whether and how evaluators' recommendations are impacted by these allegations. Custody evaluators (N = 607) in the United States responded to a multiple-segment factorial vignette designed to examine the effects of 2 key factors in DV allegations: type of alleged violence (conflict-based, control-based) and counterallegations (none, mutual, and female-initiated). Effects of control- versus conflict-based DV allegations by the mother on custody recommendations were small and the majority of evaluators recommended joint custody regardless of violence type.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSoc Sci Med
October 2014
Policy and medical decision-making has been hindered by the absence of reliable data on attitudes toward having one's own gametes retrieved posthumously and used to produce a child in the event of an untimely death. The purpose of this study is to directly and empirically examine whether the presumption against consent is justified in the case of posthumous gamete retrieval following sudden death. Respondents (N=2064) were contacted using a random-digit dialing method that gave every household telephone in the continental United States an equal probability of being contacted, and were asked: "Suppose you were to experience an early death and your spouse wanted to have a biological child with you.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe effects of relationship status, rationale for considering abortion (life circumstance versus health issue), and the male partner's wishes on abortion attitudes were examined using a multiple-segment factorial vignette with a probability sample of 532 Kentucky households. Respondents expressed strong opinions in the absence of contextual details, yet many shifted the direction of their strongly-held positions once contextual information was revealed that challenged their initial assumptions. Results confirm and extend prior research by indicating that attitudes are strongly held but are simultaneously highly responsive to context.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA multiple segment factorial vignette was used with a probability sample of 857 U.S. households to assess the effects of contextual variables on attitudes toward posthumous reproduction using the cryopreserved gametes of a deceased partner.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Law Med Ethics
September 2014
Most minor children are eligible for Social Security survivors benefits if a wage-earning parent dies, but eligibility of children not in utero at the time of death is more nuanced. The purpose of this study was to examine attitudes concerning access to Social Security survivors benefits in the context of posthumous reproduction. A probability sample of 540 Florida households responded to a multiple-segment factorial vignette designed to examine the effects of state intestacy laws and five reproductive pathways - normative, posthumous birth, cryopreserved embryo, cryopreserved gametes, and posthumous gamete retrieval - on attitudes toward eligibility for the Social Security survivors benefits.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUndergraduate students (N = 417) at a large southern university responded to open-ended questions designed to assess self-perceived origins of attitudes toward homosexuality and circumstances that may prompt a shift in attitudes. Inductively coded responses pointed to a positive correlation between attitudes toward homosexuality and experience interacting with gay men or lesbians; this is discussed in the context of Allport's (1954 ) contact hypothesis and Herek's (1984 , 1986 ) theory of functional attitudes. Implications are discussed for education and intervention efforts aimed at facilitating understanding and tolerance of gay men and lesbians.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Midwifery Womens Health
November 2011
Introduction: 'The Business of Being Born' is a documentary film that reviews the history, economics, and culture of birth in the United States, with an emphasis on viewing low-risk birth as a natural and reasonably safe experience that does not require medical intervention.
Methods: A nonequivalent control group design with 468 American university students was used to examine the potential of 'The Business of Being Born' for changing attitudes toward, and planned behavior concerning, midwife-assisted out-of-hospital childbirth.
Results: Viewing the film had a large positive effect on planned behavior concerning midwife-assisted out-of-hospital childbirth.
Context: Although partially anecdotal, some evidence suggests that oral-genital contact is increasingly excluded from young people's notions of what behaviors constitute sex. Such a shift may have implications for STD prevention.
Methods: In 2007, a convenience sample of 477 university students participated in a survey that included the question "Would you say you 'had sex' with someone if the most intimate behavior you engaged in was" each of 11 behaviors.
Approximately, 20% of divorcing couples in the United States require judicial intervention to reach a custody agreement. In such cases, courts often call on child custody evaluators to conduct comprehensive evaluations and recommend custody agreements and services that meet children's best interests. Estimates suggest that allegations of domestic violence (DV) are raised and substantiated in about 75% of these cases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAttitudes toward posthumous harvesting of reproductive material and beliefs about medical professionals' obligation to assist were examined using a multiple segment factorial vignette survey design with 407 randomly selected respondents from a southern state. Attitudes and beliefs were primarily shaped by the vignette couple's marital status, parental support, and evidence of the deceased's wishes, as well as by respondents' religiosity and level of education. Three primary groups of respondents were identified: libertarians emphasized the survivor's rights, consentualists were skeptical until hearing that the deceased approved of the procedure, and persistent dissenters retained their negative attitudes despite the deceased's known wishes in favor of posthumous harvesting.
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