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Browsing by Author "Sociology, School of Liberal Arts"
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Item Accuracy of Retrospective Reports of Family Environment(Springer Nature, 2018-04) Bell, David C.; Bell, Linda G.; Sociology, School of Liberal ArtsRetrospective reports of family environments are often the only way to collect data concerning the influence of a child's experience in the family on later development. However, the accuracy of retrospective measures can be problematic because of social desirability or potential failures of memory. The purpose of this study is to compare retrospective and prospective measures of family environment. In this unique study, 198 parents and 241 adolescent children (mean age 15.7) described their family environment, and then 25 years later completed retrospective reports. We test the effects of memory, positivity, gender, and generation on retrospective reports, as well as testing the ability of prospective and retrospective measures to predict adult well-being and adult-child/elder-parent relationships. Results show moderate correlations of .30 - .45 between prospective and retrospective measures. In examining the relative effectiveness of prospective and retrospective measures to predict later life outcomes, we find that retrospective reports of the family environment most validly capture influences on the child in domains of strong emotional content but are less successful in cognitive domains.Item Adolescent Gambling: An Update on Research Since 2010(Elsevier, 2017-05) Blinn-Pike, Lynn; Sociology, School of Liberal ArtsItem Aging With Incarceration Histories: An Intersectional Examination of Incarceration and Health Outcomes Among Older Adults(Oxford, 2023-05) Latham-Mintus, Kenzie; Deck, Monica M.; Nelson, Elizabeth; Sociology, School of Liberal ArtsObjectives Experiences with incarceration are linked to poor mental and physical health across the life course. The purpose of this research is to examine whether incarceration histories are associated with worse physical and mental health among older adults. We apply an intersectionality framework and consider how the intersection of sexism and racism leads to unequal health outcomes following incarceration among women and people of color. Methods We employ 2 measures of health (i.e., number of depressive symptoms and physical limitations) to broadly capture mental and physical health. Using data from Waves 11 and 12 of the Health and Retirement Study, we estimated a series of general linear models to analyze differences in health by incarceration history, gender/sex, and race/ethnicity. Results Findings suggest that experiences with incarceration are associated with a greater number of physical limitations and more depressive symptoms among older men and women, net of sociodemographic characteristics, early-life conditions, and lifetime stressful events. Formerly incarcerated women, particularly women of color, had more physical limitations and depressive symptoms relative to other groups. Discussion These findings suggest that incarceration histories have far-reaching health implications. Older women of color with incarceration histories experience markedly high levels of physical limitations and depressive symptoms in later life.Item Childhood Conditions and Multimorbidity Among Older Adults(Oxford University Press, 2016-09) Pavela, Gregory; Latham, Kenzie; Sociology, School of Liberal ArtsObjectives: This research tests whether childhood conditions are associated with trajectories of chronic conditions among older adults. Methods: Using data from the Health and Retirement Study (1992–2008), a series of hierarchical linear models are used to estimate number of chronic conditions at survey midpoint and the rate of increase in chronic conditions across 18 years of data. Results: Results suggest that lower childhood socioeconomic status (SES) and poor childhood health are associated with increased number of chronic conditions; however, childhood SES is no longer associated with chronic conditions after adjustment for adult SES and adult health. Poor childhood health continues to be associated with total number of chronic conditions after adjustment for adult SES and health. Rate of change in chronic conditions was not associated with childhood conditions. Results from a multinomial logistic regression model further indicated that the association between childhood conditions and adult multimorbidity increased at higher levels of multimorbidity. Discussion: This research adds to the evidence that early life conditions have a lasting influence on adult health, and that their influence may be independent of adult health and SES.Item Crusading for Moral Authority: Christian Nationalism and Opposition to Science(Wiley, 2020-09) Baker, Joseph O.; Perry, Samuel L.; Whitehead, Andrew L.; Sociology, School of Liberal ArtsNumerous studies show biblicist Christianity, religiosity, and conservative political identity are strong predictors of Americans holding skeptical attitudes toward publicly controversial aspects of science, such as human evolution. We show that Christian nationalism—meaning the desire to see particularistic and exclusivist versions of Christian symbols, values, and policies enshrined as the established religion of the United States—is a strong and consistent predictor of Americans’ attitudes about science above and beyond other religious and political characteristics. Further, a majority of the overall effect of political ideology on skepticism about the moral authority of science is mediated through Christian nationalism, indicating that political conservatives are more likely to be concerned with particular aspects of science primarily because they are more likely to be Christian nationalists. Likewise, substantial proportions of the well-documented associations between religiosity and biblical “literalism” with views of science are mediated through Christian nationalism. Because Christian nationalism seeks to establish a particular and exclusivist vision of Christianity as the dominant moral order, adherents feel threatened by challenges to the epistemic authority undergirding that order, including by aspects of science perceived as challenging the supremacy of biblicist authority.Item Culture Wars and COVID-19 Conduct: Christian Nationalism, Religiosity, and Americans’ Behavior During the Coronavirus Pandemic(Wiley, 2020-07-26) Perry, Samuel L.; Whitehead, Andrew L.; Grubbs, Joshua B.; Sociology, School of Liberal ArtsDuring the COVID‐19 pandemic, Americans’ behavioral responses were quickly politicized. Those on the left stressed precautionary behaviors, while those on the (religious) right were more likely to disregard recommended precautions. We propose the far right response was driven less by partisanship or religiosity per se, but rather by an ideology that connects disregard for scientific expertise; a conception of Americans as God's chosen and protected people; distrust for news media; and allegiance to Trump―Christian nationalism. Analyzing panel data collected in the thick of the COVID‐19 crisis, we find Christian nationalism was the leading predictor that Americans engaged in incautious behavior like eating in restaurants, visiting family/friends, or gathering with 10+ persons (though not attending church), and was the second strongest predictor that Americans took fewer precautions like wearing a mask or sanitizing/washing one's hands. Religiosity, in contrast, was the leading predictor that Americans engaged in more frequent precautionary behaviors. Findings document that Christian nationalism, not religious commitment per se, undergirded the far‐right response to COVID‐19 that disregarded precautionary recommendations, thus potentially worsening the pandemic.Item Disney and Disability: Media Representations of Disability in Disney and Pixar Animated Films(Society for Disability Studies, 2022-08-18) Holcomb, Jeanne; Latham-Mintus, Kenzie; Sociology, School of Liberal ArtsSince the merger of Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios, Disney has been lauded for creating more progressive content that includes representations of main characters from diverse backgrounds. However, progressive representations of disability (both physical and mental disability) have been slow to emerge in most mediums. The objective of this research is to examine whether portrayals of illness and disability in recent animated feature films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios or Pixar Animation Studios depict progressive (or multicultural) narratives of disability versus traditional narratives of disability. We analyzed 20 of the most recent (i.e., 2008-2018) animated films from both studios with 9 films from Walt Disney Animation and 11 films from Pixar Animation Studios. Using thematic content analysis, a combination of pre-identified and emergent disability- and illness-related themes are described. Overwhelmingly, disability portrayals were traditional, with disability used to elicit pity or humor from the viewer and to indicate that characters were evil or old. Out of the 20 films, few progressive portrayals of disability were observed. Although Disney has been lauded for being more inclusive in their representations of characters, disability representations continue to perpetuate and reaffirm the stigmatization of disability.Item Diversity Discourses: Moral, Ethical and Pragmatic Reasoning in the Swedish Immigration and Integration Debate, 1968-1975 and 1991-1995(Springer, 2020) Schall, Carly Elizabeth; Sociology, School of Liberal ArtsThis article seeks to understand how values enter into political discourse via justification and how those values are negotiated over time. The article maps out the terrain of diversity discourses, both as a specific type of discourse and as an example of ethical, moral and pragmatic modes of argumentation. The author examines Swedish “diversity discourses” in the periods of 1968–1975 and 1991–1995 in an effort to tease out the pragmatic, moral and ethical aspects of these discourses. Diversity discourses are defined as discourses regarding how much and what kind of diversity is acceptable or desirable in a society, as well as how such diversity should be handled. I find that values, both contextually-dependent ethical values and universal moral values, rather than being “prior” to politics, arise out of the intersection of pragmatic, ethical and moral discourses. What is moral and ethical, then is colored by the particular nexus of moral, ethical and pragmatic concerns such that what is acceptable at one particular time and location, may be unacceptable in another, even coming from the same actors with the same ideological commitments. Shifts in the ethical/moral modes of justification, then, lead to shifts in who is included in a democratic community.Item Do Discrimination and Negative Interactions with Family Explain the Relationship between Interracial Relationship Status and Mental Disorder?(Sage, 2022) Irby-Shasanmi, Amy; Erving, Christy L.; Sociology, School of Liberal ArtsUsing the stress process model, the authors investigate whether individuals in interracial relationships experience greater risk for past-year mood and anxiety disorder compared with their same-race relationship counterparts. The authors also assess interracial relationship status differences in external stressors (i.e., discrimination and negative interactions with family) and whether stress exposure explains mental disorder differences between individuals in interracial versus same-race romantic partnerships. Data are from the National Survey of American Life (2001-2003). Results show that individuals in interracial relationships are at greater risk for anxiety disorder (but not mood disorder) relative to those in same-race relationships. Interracially partnered individuals also report more discrimination from the public and greater negative interactions with family. External stressors partially explain the higher risk for anxiety disorder among individuals in interracial partnerships. This study addresses a void in the literature on discrimination, family relationships, and health for the growing population of individuals in interracial unions.Item Do People in Conservative States Really Watch More Porn? A Hierarchical Analysis(Sage, 2020-01) Perry, Samuel L.; Whitehead, Andrew L.; Sociology, School of Liberal ArtsRecent studies have found that state-level religious and political conservatism is positively associated with various aggregate indicators of interest in pornography. Such studies have been limited, however, in that they either did not include data measuring actual consumption patterns and/or did not include data on individuals (risking the ecological fallacy). This study overcomes both limitations by incorporating state-level data with individual-level data and a measure of pornography consumption from a large nationally representative survey. Hierarchical linear regression analyses show that, in the main, state-level religious and political characteristics do not predict individual-level pornography consumption, and individual-level religiosity and political conservatism predict less recent pornography consumption. However, interactions between individual-level evangelical identity and state-level political conservatism indicate that evangelicals who live in more politically conservative states report the highest rates of pornography consumption. These findings thus provide more nuanced support for previous research linking religious and political conservatism with greater pornography consumption.