Sexual Orientation

Author(s):  
Bonnie Moradi ◽  
Stephanie L. Budge

The clinical need for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ+) affirmative psychotherapies has been widely recognized; however, empirical research on the outcomes of such psychotherapies is limited. This chapter begins by offering definitions and delineating four key themes of LGBQ+ affirmative psychotherapies. The authors conceptualize LGBQ+ affirmative psychotherapies not as sexual orientation group specific but rather as considerations and practices that can be applied with all clients. The chapter then summarizes a search for studies to attempt a meta-analysis and discusses limitations and directions for research based on this search. The chapter ends by delineating diversity considerations and recommending therapeutic practices for advancing affirmative psychotherapy with clients of all sexual orientations.

2019 ◽  
Vol 227 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Voracek ◽  
Michael Kossmeier ◽  
Ulrich S. Tran

Abstract. Which data to analyze, and how, are fundamental questions of all empirical research. As there are always numerous flexibilities in data-analytic decisions (a “garden of forking paths”), this poses perennial problems to all empirical research. Specification-curve analysis and multiverse analysis have recently been proposed as solutions to these issues. Building on the structural analogies between primary data analysis and meta-analysis, we transform and adapt these approaches to the meta-analytic level, in tandem with combinatorial meta-analysis. We explain the rationale of this idea, suggest descriptive and inferential statistical procedures, as well as graphical displays, provide code for meta-analytic practitioners to generate and use these, and present a fully worked real example from digit ratio (2D:4D) research, totaling 1,592 meta-analytic specifications. Specification-curve and multiverse meta-analysis holds promise to resolve conflicting meta-analyses, contested evidence, controversial empirical literatures, and polarized research, and to mitigate the associated detrimental effects of these phenomena on research progress.


Author(s):  
Alexandra D. Kaplan ◽  
Theresa T. Kessler ◽  
J. Christopher Brill ◽  
P. A. Hancock

Objective The present meta-analysis sought to determine significant factors that predict trust in artificial intelligence (AI). Such factors were divided into those relating to (a) the human trustor, (b) the AI trustee, and (c) the shared context of their interaction. Background There are many factors influencing trust in robots, automation, and technology in general, and there have been several meta-analytic attempts to understand the antecedents of trust in these areas. However, no targeted meta-analysis has been performed examining the antecedents of trust in AI. Method Data from 65 articles examined the three predicted categories, as well as the subcategories of human characteristics and abilities, AI performance and attributes, and contextual tasking. Lastly, four common uses for AI (i.e., chatbots, robots, automated vehicles, and nonembodied, plain algorithms) were examined as further potential moderating factors. Results Results showed that all of the examined categories were significant predictors of trust in AI as well as many individual antecedents such as AI reliability and anthropomorphism, among many others. Conclusion Overall, the results of this meta-analysis determined several factors that influence trust, including some that have no bearing on AI performance. Additionally, we highlight the areas where there is currently no empirical research. Application Findings from this analysis will allow designers to build systems that elicit higher or lower levels of trust, as they require.


2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-129
Author(s):  
Damaris Seleina Parsitau

AbstractIn Kenya, debates about sexual orientation have assumed center stage at several points in recent years, but particularly before and after the promulgation of the Constitution of Kenya in 2010. These debates have been fueled by religious clergy and by politicians who want to align themselves with religious organizations for respectability and legitimation, particularly by seeking to influence the nation's legal norms around sexuality. I argue that through their responses and attempts to influence legal norms, the religious and political leaders are not only responsible for the nonacceptance of same-sex relationships in Africa, but have also ensured that sexuality and embodiment have become a cultural and religious battleground. These same clergy and politicians seek to frame homosexuality as un-African, unacceptable, a threat to African moral and cultural sensibilities and sensitivities, and an affront to African moral and family values. Consequently, the perception is that homosexuals do not belong in Africa—that they cannot be entertained, accommodated, tolerated, or even understood. Ultimately, I argue that the politicization and religionization of same-sex relationships in Kenya, as elsewhere in Africa, has masked human rights debates and stifled serious academic and pragmatic engagements with important issues around sexual difference and sexual orientation while fueling negative attitudes toward people with different sexual orientations.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes K Vilsmeier ◽  
Michael Kossmeier ◽  
Martin Voracek ◽  
Ulrich S. Tran

For a quarter of a century researchers investigating the origins of sexual orientation have largely ascribed to the fraternal birth order effect (FBOE) as a fact, holding that older brothers increase the odds of homosexual orientation among men through an immunoreactivity process. Here, we triangulate the empirical foundations of the FBOE from three distinct, informative perspectives: First, drawing on basic probability calculus, we deduce mathematically that the body of statistical evidence of the FBOE rests on the false assumptions that effects of family size should be controlled for and that this could be achieved through the use of ratio variables. Second, using a data-simulation approach, we demonstrate that by using ratio variables, researchers are bound to falsely declare corroborating evidence of an excess of older brothers at a rate of up to 100%, and that valid approaches attempting to quantify a potential excess of older brothers among homosexual men must control for the confounding effects of the number of older siblings. And third, we re-examine the empirical evidence of the FBOE by using a novel specification-curve and multiverse approach to meta-analysis. This yielded highly inconsistent and moreover similarly-sized effects across 64 male and 17 female samples (N = 2,778,998), compatible with an excess as well as with a lack of older brothers in both groups, thus, suggesting that almost no variation in the number of older brothers in men is attributable to sexual orientation.


Author(s):  
Despina A. Tziola

In this chapter, the authors examine the matter of sexual orientation as a human right. Human rights violations take many forms, from denials of the rights to life to discrimination in accessing economic, social, and cultural rights. More than 80 countries still maintain laws that make same-sex consensual relations between adults a criminal offence. Those seeking to peaceably affirm diverse sexual orientations or gender identities have also experienced violence and discrimination. A gay man was entitled to live freely and openly in accordance with his sexual identity under the Refugee Convention (“the Convention”) and it was no answer to the claim for asylum that he would conceal his sexual identity in order to avoid the persecution that would follow if he did not do so. The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom had to solve this complex problem as many issues were raised in the hearing.


Author(s):  
Noémie Laurens

This chapter illustrates meta-analysis, which is a specific type of literature review, and more precisely a type of research synthesis, alongside traditional narrative reviews. Unlike in primary research, the unit of analysis of a meta-analysis is the results of individual studies. And unlike traditional reviews, meta-analysis only applies to: empirical research studies with quantitative findings hat are conceptually comparable and configured in similar statistical forms. What further distinguishes meta-analysis from other research syntheses is the method of synthesizing the results of studies — i.e. the use of statistics and, in particular, of effect sizes. An effect size represents the degree to which the phenomenon under study exists.


Author(s):  
Charles J. Gelso ◽  
Dennis M. Kivlighan ◽  
Rayna D. Markin

Although writing about the real relationship has existed from the beginnings of the talking cure,” it is only in recent years that empirical research has focused on this phenomenon. The real relationship is the personal relationship between patient and therapist marked by the extent to which each is genuine with the other and perceives/experiences the other in ways that are realistic. The strength of the real relationship is determined by both the extent to which it exists and the degree to which it is positive or favorable. In this chapter, a meta-analysis is presented on the association between the real relationship and the outcome of psychotherapy. Summed across 16 studies, this meta-analysis revealed a moderate association with outcome (r =.38, 95% confidence interval [.30, .47], p<.001, d = 0.80, N = 1,502 participants). This real relationship–outcome association was independent of the type of outcome studies and of the source of the measure. We also present frequent measures of the real relationship, limitations of the research, and patient contributions. The chapter concludes with diversity considerations and practice recommendations for developing and strengthening the real relationship.


2020 ◽  
pp. tobaccocontrol-2020-055747
Author(s):  
Mostafa Shokoohi ◽  
Travis Salway ◽  
Benjamin Ahn ◽  
Lori E Ross

ObjectiveTo review the bisexual-specific prevalence and likelihood of cigarette smoking relative to lesbian/gay and heterosexual individuals.Data sourcesWe searched MEDLINE, PsycInfo, CINAHL, Scopus and LGBT Life databases (from 1995 to September 2019) for studies reporting cigarette smoking among bisexuals versus their comparators.Study selectionObservational, quantitative, peer-reviewed studies providing estimates for lifetime, past 30 days or current cigarette smoking among bisexuals and any of the two comparators were selected.Data extractionData on sexual orientation groups, cigarette smoking, sample type and mechanism, data collection mode, country and median year, as well as gender and age groups were extracted.Data synthesisRandom-effects meta-analysis was used to estimate the pooled OR (95% CIs) of cigarette smoking. Meta-regression was used to examine the difference in the prevalence of cigarette smoking by study and sample characteristics. Of 4663 unduplicated records, 47 unique studies were included (14, 23 and 22 studies on lifetime, past 30 days and current cigarette smoking, respectively). Compared with lesbians/gays and heterosexuals, bisexuals were 1.25 (1.15 to 1.37) and 2.18 (1.84 to 2.59) times more likely to report lifetime smoking, 1.17 (1.08 to 1.27) and 2.49 (2.20 to 2.83) times more likely to report past 30 days smoking and 1.19 (1.00 to 1.43) and 2.26 (1.97 to 2.59) times more likely to report current smoking. Gender was a significant covariate in the meta-regression models.ConclusionsCigarette smoking was more prevalent among bisexuals than lesbians/gays and heterosexuals, with the estimates showing a greater magnitude among bisexual women relative to all other sexual orientation/gender subgroups.


Author(s):  
Manoj Kumar Honaryar ◽  
Yelena Tarasenko ◽  
Maribel Almonte ◽  
Vitaly Smelov

While earlier studies on men having sex with men (MSM) tended to examine infection-related cancers, an increasing number of studies have been focusing on effects of sexual orientation on other cancers and social and cultural causes for cancer disparities. As a type of tertiary research, this umbrella review (UR) aims to synthesize findings from existing review studies on the effects of sexual orientation on cancer. Relevant peer-reviewed systematic reviews (SRs) will be identified without date or language restrictions using MEDLINE, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and the International Prospective Register for Systematic Reviews, among others. The research team members will prepare the data extraction forms. Two reviewers will independently assess extracted SRs using the Assessment of Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews. A third reviewer will weigh in to resolve discrepancies. The reviewers will be blinded to publisher, journal, and authors, making their judgements on the title, year, and abstract. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis checklist will guide data synthesis. By collating evidence from multiple reviews into one accessible and usable document, our first UR on global epidemiology of malignancies among MSM would serve as an evidence-based decision-making tool for the public health community.


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