Signaling Sizeism

Pervasive stigma against fat people and evidence for its harmful health consequences highlight the need for a better understanding of people’s first-hand experiences of navigating the world with a stigmatized body size. Drawing on social identity threat theory, we conducted a mixed-method study with a qualitative examination of threat and safety cues as experienced by people who self-identify as overweight. In an online survey, 48 people who self-identified as overweight responded to open-ended prompts to describe how situational features of a setting signal weight-based threat and safety to them. Using thematic analysis, we identified several themes that characterized threat and safety cues. Particularly notable were inverse themes, such as structural exclusion versus structural accommodation and homogeneity of others versus general diversity, that highlighted how physical features of, and the people in, an environment positively or negatively impact fat people’s psychological experience. Moreover, we conducted exploratory deductive coding using a recent taxonomy of safety cues developed by Kruk and Matsick (in press). Results highlighted how weight-based stigma parallels and diverges from other cues of identity safety (e.g., by gender or race/ethnicity). We suggest knowledge about situational cues can inform interventions to mitigate threat and promote safety among both fat people and other stigmatized groups.

Learning Humanities and Ethics of Aging Through the Lens of an Avatar Creation

The main goal of teaching the humanities and ethics of aging is to understand the perspectives of older individuals as they address the challenges and opportunities presented across the aging spectrum. To encourage understanding of this humanistic and ethical process, students were given an assignment to select a profile of an older person with pre-selected characteristics that they then develop into their avatar, a virtual companion, to accompany them through the course. This assignment included three iterations of the avatar narrative related to what is studied in class around major life transition points related to work, housing, and end of life. These assignments included the creation of Mind Maps which illustrate their avatar’s ongoing concerns related to their environment including their social determinants of health. The avatar’s formative development throughout the course brought forward discussions around identity, safety, autonomy, and person-centeredness in terms of gerontological practice and policy.

A Taxonomy of Identity Safety Cues Based on Gender and Race: From a Promising Past to an Intersectional and Translational Future

Identity safety cues refer to aspects of the environment or social setting that communicate one is valued and the threat of discrimination is limited. In this article, we review the content of identity safety cues, their strengths and limitations, and implications for future theory, research, and practice. A close analysis of the identity safety cue literature can inform the efforts of individuals and organizations who aim to enhance social inclusion and promote diversity. Searching databases for safety cue research (e.g., Google Scholar, PsycINFO), we found more than 35 peer-reviewed articles that explicitly addressed identity safety cues. We synthesized the literature to produce a novel taxonomy of identity safety cues that target stigmatized groups, namely those minoritized by gender and race. A taxonomy of identity safety cues can facilitate clear and universal communication about the science, delineate types of operational definitions, and direct future research and theorizing. Our review revealed that knowledge of cues is often limited by unidimensional identity characteristics (i.e., targeting gender or race, not both), and we discovered four cue categories that induced identity safety: minority representation, diversity philosophies and programming, environmental features, and identity-safe information. The significance of this review is that, beyond establishing the only known taxonomy of identity safety cues, we critically examine the strengths and weaknesses of cue efficacy and provide a forward-thinking discussion of theoretical implications and broader impacts, focusing on the expansion of intersectionality theorizing and the translation of identity safety cue research.

Fostering Inclusivity: Exploring the Impact of Identity Safety Cues and Instructor Gender on Students’ Impressions and Belonging

Background: Students with marginalized identities can experience identity threats in higher education. Instructors can help improve student outcomes by using identity safety cues (ISCs), which signal to marginalized groups that their identities are valued. Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine whether including ISCs in course syllabi could improve students’ belonging-related outcomes and whether these outcomes differ based on instructor gender. Method: Using an experimental design, undergraduate students viewed a syllabus that included or excluded ISCs from either a White male or female professor. Participants reported their anticipated belonging and instructor impressions. Results: Participants reported greater expected engagement and field belonging and had more positive impressions of the instructor when the syllabus included ISCs compared to the control syllabus. Instructor gender had a minimal impact on participants’ outcomes and impressions. Conclusion: This work demonstrates including ISCs in course syllabi can positively impact students when course instructors are White men or women. Teaching Implications: ISCs improved participants’ anticipated engagement and field belonging regardless of instructor gender. This work suggests instructors can improve students’ first impressions and intentions by including ISCs in their course syllabi.

TEACHER OPINIONS ON SEXUAL EDUCATION OF STUDENTS WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY IN LATVIA

Sexual education plays an important role in preparing children and adolescents for a safe and productive life. Sex education provides not only knowledge about different types of sexual issues, or about common sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancies, sexual violence, but also personal identity, safety, love, intimacy and relationships.This study was conducted in order to examine the opinions of special education teachers working with adolescents with intellectual disabilities on sexual education. A descriptive study design was used. The authors designed a questionnaire to explore the opinions of 72 special education teachers in Latvia.The research results approved how crucial it is to provide opportunities to receive sexual education for adolescents with intellectual disabilities at school.