Sexuality, Gender, and Religious Attendance

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Wilcox
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Sexual Identity ◽  
Gay Men ◽  
Race And Ethnicity ◽  
Religious Involvement ◽  
Religious Practice ◽  
Religious Attendance ◽  
Transgendered People ◽  
Nuanced Understanding ◽  
The Life Course

Existing research on religious organizations serving lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgendered people has noted a dearth of women in such congregations but has offered little explanation for this phenomenon. Working from a study conducted with 29 lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered women in the greater Los Angeles area, this paper demonstrates that race and ethnicity, feminism, a concern for LGBT rights, and interaction between the life-course patterns of religion and sexual identity influenced participants’ decisions about religious involvement. These results, while not generalizable, indicate the need for a nuanced understanding of both religious practice and identity in larger studies of gender, sexuality, and religious attendance.

Religious Attendance and Physical Health in Later Life: A Life Course Approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 486-502
Author(s):  
Laura Upenieks ◽  
Markus H. Schafer
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Physical Health ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Religious Practice ◽  
Religious Attendance ◽  
Protective Effects ◽  
Adult Health ◽  
Mediation Analyses ◽  
Composite Scores ◽  
The Life Course

Existing research on the life course origins of adult health has extensively examined the influence of childhood socioeconomic conditions, family structure, and exposure to trauma. Left unexplored are the potential long-term health effects of sociocultural exposures, such as religiosity at earlier phases of the life course. Integrating life course models of health with literature on the health-protective effects of adult religiosity, we consider how adolescent and midlife religiosity combine to structure the physical health profiles of adults past age 50. Using more than 35 years of representative data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 79 (NLSY79), we found that the stability of frequent religious practice over time was associated with better health composite scores and lower disease burden. Causal mediation analyses revealed that part of this association is driven by a lower risk of smoking for consistent, frequent attenders. Adulthood religiosity also mediated the relationship between frequent early-life religious attendance and health.

Qualitative Exploration of Sexual Identity Development of Korean Gay Men

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Young Seok Seo ◽  
Mina Cho ◽  
Juno Park ◽  
Min-Sun Kim ◽  
Dongil Kim
Keyword(s):  
Identity Development ◽  
Sexual Identity ◽  
Gay Men ◽  
Sexual Identity Development ◽  
Qualitative Exploration

Out in Time

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Perry N. Halkitis
Keyword(s):  
Identity Development ◽  
Identity Formation ◽  
Sexual Identity ◽  
Gay Men ◽  
Coming Out ◽  
Generational Differences ◽  
Life Experiences ◽  
Sexual Identity Development ◽  
Three Generations ◽  
American Society

The life experiences and sexual identity development of three generations of gay men, the Stonewall, AIDS, and Queer generations, are explored. While there are generational differences in the lived experiences of young gay men shaped by the sociopolitical contexts of the historical epoch in which they emerged into adulthood, and a crisis that has come to define each generation, there also are consistencies across generations and across time in the psychological process of coming out that defines identity formation of gay men, as these individuals transition from a period of sexual identity awareness to sexual identity integration. The life experiences are also shaped by conceptions of hypermasculinity, racism and discrimination, substance use, and adventurous sexuality. Despite the many challenges that have defined the lives of gay men across time and that are informed by the homophobia of American society, the vast majority of the population also has demonstrated resilience and fortitude in achieving both pride and dignity. These ideas are explored through the life narratives of fifteen diverse gay men, across the three generations.

scholarly journals A Faith to Move Mountains? Childhood Abuse, Religious Change, and Mental Health at Midlife

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 461-461
Author(s):  
Laura Upenieks
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Childhood Abuse ◽  
Childhood Maltreatment ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Religious Attendance ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Religious Importance ◽  
The Life Course

Abstract Of all the various forms of adversity experienced during childhood, childhood maltreatment (emotional and physical abuse) is shown to have the largest impacts on mental health and well-being. Yet we still have a limited understanding of why some victims of early maltreatment suffer immense mental health consequences later on in the life course, while others are able to cushion the blow of these early insults. Using two waves of data from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS), this study considers change in religiosity as a buffer across three dimensions for victims of childhood abuse: religious importance, attendance, and the specific act of seeking comfort through religion. Results suggest that increases in religious comfort during adulthood are positively associated with adult mental health for victims of abuse, while decreases in religious comfort over time were associated with worse mental health. Changes in religious attendance and religious importance were not significant associated with mental health for victims of abuse. Taken together, my results show that the stress-moderating effects of religion for victims of childhood maltreatment are contingent on the stability or increases or decreases in religiosity over the life course, which has been overlooked in previous work.

Aspiring to Do All Things Through Him Who Strengthens? Quixotic Hope, Religiosity, and Mental Health in Emerging Adulthood

2021 ◽  
pp. 215686932110085
Author(s):  
Laura Upenieks
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Educational Expectations ◽  
Religious Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Religious Attendance ◽  
National Study ◽  
Health Consequences

Beliefs about the probability of educational success tend to be very optimistic in the United States. However, scholars are beginning to uncover mental health consequences associated with quixotic hope—the unrealistic outstripping of expectation by aspiration. Using longitudinal data from Waves 1 and 3 of the National Study of Youth and Religion, this study asks, (1) does religiosity promote or diminish the likelihood of quixotic hope? and (2) does religious attendance and closeness to God mitigate long-term mental health consequences of quixotic hope? Results show that weekly religious attendance had a modest negative relationship with the likelihood of experiencing quixotic hope, while increasing religious attendance over time attenuated the negative mental health consequences of quixotic hope on increases in depression. Closeness to God neither predicted quixotic hope nor played a moderating role for depression. As educational expectations rise, regular religious practice may help protect the emotional well-being of youth.

scholarly journals Cultural Evolution of Genetic Heritability

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-147
Author(s):  
Ryutaro Uchiyama ◽  
Rachel Spicer ◽  
Michael Muthukrishna
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Behavioral Genetics ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Genetic Effects ◽  
Genetic Heritability ◽  
Innovation And Diffusion ◽  
Nuanced Understanding ◽  
Cultural Evolutionary ◽  
The Life Course

Abstract Behavioral genetics and cultural evolution have both revolutionized our understanding of human behavior—largely independent of each other. Here we reconcile these two fields under a dual inheritance framework, offering a more nuanced understanding of the interaction between genes and culture. Going beyond typical analyses of gene–environment interactions, we describe the cultural dynamics that shape these interactions by shaping the environment and population structure. A cultural evolutionary approach can explain, for example, how factors such as rates of innovation and diffusion, density of cultural sub-groups, and tolerance for behavioral diversity impact heritability estimates, thus yielding predictions for different social contexts. Moreover, when cumulative culture functionally overlaps with genes, genetic effects become masked, unmasked, or even reversed, and the causal effects of an identified gene become confounded with features of the cultural environment. The manner of confounding is specific to a particular society at a particular time, but a WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic) sampling problem obscures this boundedness. Cultural evolutionary dynamics are typically missing from models of gene-to-phenotype causality, hindering generalizability of genetic effects across societies and across time. We lay out a reconciled framework and use it to predict the ways in which heritability should differ between societies, between socioeconomic levels and other groupings within some societies but not others, and over the life course. An integrated cultural evolutionary behavioral genetic approach cuts through the nature–nurture debate and helps resolve controversies in topics such as IQ.

scholarly journals SUITABLE? THE RHETORICAL AND LIFE COURSE IMPLICATIONS OF SERENA WILLIAMS AND THE CATSUIT

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S537-S537
Author(s):  
Brianne M Stanback
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Life Course ◽  
New York Times ◽  
Life Course Perspective ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Los Angeles Times ◽  
Race And Class ◽  
Sports Illustrated ◽  
The Life Course

Abstract Rhetorical inquires have shown connections between representation and power, workplace fashion and development of ethos, and the rhetoric of glamour through women’s fashion and dress. One element absent from that conversation is how the life course, which typically differs for women because of existing power structures advantaging men, may impact the experience of women as they age, their choice of dress, and the rhetorical implications of those decisions. To explore dress and rhetoric from a life course perspective, this project traces the evolution of Serena Williams’ work apparel across her professional tennis career to the catsuit worn at the 2018 French Open, which is the focus of the project. Press reports on the 2018 catsuit by Nike, New York Times, Sports Illustrated, Business Insider, BBC Sport, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times, interviews given by Williams, and the television documentary, Becoming Serena, will be analyzed for their treatment of Williams’ work attire and the life course. Responses to the catsuit emphasize attitudes about gender, race, and class, either discounting or ignoring the life course implications such as motherhood and changes in health status. Despite professional success, responses about the catsuit may reflect that Williams faces the same jeopardies, and invisibility, common to many women as they age, and the rhetorical perspective provides new methodological and pedagogical possibilities for instruction in aging.

Screening for Straights: Aspects of Entrance Policy at a Gay Disco

1997 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea McVeigh
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Identity ◽  
Gay Men ◽  
Gay Community ◽  
Closed Environment ◽  
The Way

The gay disco has an important function within the gay community. It is a place where lesbians and gay men can meet and socialise with other members of the gay community, in a fairly closed environment that offers seclusion and shelter from the outside (mainly heterosexual) world. This paper examines the way in which potential patrons of a gay disco, that is, those who were not known as regular patrons to the doorman and bouncers, were screened in an attempt to determine sexual identity, to ensure that as few heterosexuals as possible were allowed entrance into the club.

scholarly journals Do Support and Strain With Adult Children Affect Mothers’ and Fathers’ Physical Activity?

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 164-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia A. Thomas ◽  
Amy C. Lodge ◽  
Corinne Reczek
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Adult Children ◽  
Adult Child ◽  
Intergenerational Relationships ◽  
Coping With Stress ◽  
Mothers And Fathers ◽  
Logistic Regression Models ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Nuanced Understanding ◽  
The Life Course

Physical activity is central to health. Parents tend to have lower levels of physical activity than the childless, however, little is known about how adult child–parent relationship quality matters for mothers’ and fathers’ physical activity trajectories. Nationally representative panel data from the Americans’ Changing Lives survey (1986–2012) are used to analyze multilevel-ordered logistic regression models. Greater social support from adult children is associated with more frequent active exercise, and higher strain with adult children is related to more frequent active exercise and walking. A significant gender interaction suggests that strain with adult children is related to greater exercise among men more so than women, but this interaction is attenuated after adjusting for cigarette smoking, another gendered way of coping with stress. This study contributes to a more nuanced understanding of how different dimensions of intergenerational relationships shape health behaviors across the life course.

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