The Impact of Language Attitude on the use of Swear Words: A Sociolinguistic Study of Pashtu Non-native Speakers of English

Swear words make an important aspect of any language despite their taboo nature. Taking this feature of language into account, this paper investigates how the language attitude of Pashtu non-native speakers of English towards Pashtu and English languages might impact the use of swear words in these languages in different situations. Data from30 male undergraduate university students were collected through semi-structured interviews. The analysis revealed that Pashtu non-native speakers of English had a positive attitude towards English and Pashtu languages owing to instrumental and integrative motivation, respectively. Swearing in Pashtu and English was shown to be determined by the speakers’ perceptions of the degree of offensiveness of swear words in the languages, social status of the users of the language in the society, and the setting and context in which those words were used. It was concluded that the positive attitude of Pashtu non-native speakers towards English and Pashtu resulted in their swearing-in English and Pashtu for different reasons: swearing-in English was controlled by the high status of the language in the society, whereas swearing-in Pashtu was used as a marker of solidarity and covert prestige.

Self-inflicted gunshot injury to the external genitalia: a case report and review of literature

Background Gunshot wounds of the external genitalia are rare. Rarer still are civilian self-inflicted gunshot wounds of the external genitalia. The protocol for the management of gunshot wounds of the penis especially with respect to urethral injuries is not fully established. Case presentation We present a 27-year-old male undergraduate student, who accidentally shot himself in the penis. He sustained American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) grades IV to V injuries to the penis, scrotum and left testes. He was managed in a multistage, multi-disciplinary fashion including staged buccal mucosal graft repair of 4 cm proximal penile urethral defect with satisfactory cosmetic and functional outcome. Conclusions Excellent functional and cosmetic results may be obtained after severe penetrating trauma to the external genitalia even in low resource centres in the hands of non-reconstructive urologists. Buccal mucosal graft is a viable option for two stage reconstruction of the urethra.

Knowledges, attitudes and behaviors related to sexually transmitted diseases of male undergraduate students from three faculties of Chiang Mai University

Objectives To study differences in knowledge, risky behavior and attitudes related to sexually transmitted diseases in male undergraduate students from three faculties of Chiang Mai University. Methods This cross-sectional study surveyed 652 male undergraduate students from three faculties including 85 from Associated Medical Science (AMS), 480 from Engineering (ENG) and 87 from Economics (ECON) as representative of health sciences, science/technology, and social sciences/humanities, respectively. An online questionnaire was used to evaluate the students’ knowledge, risky behavior and attitudes related to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Descriptive statistics included one-way ANOVA and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. Results AMS male students had a higher average score for knowledge related to STDS than the other groups. There were, however, significant differences among AMS students to the questions, “Should parents teach appropriate sex education to their young children?” and “Do you think early STD screening is good?” (both p = 0.001). Positive correlations were found between self-reported alcohol drinking and visiting of entertainment places in all the groups (rAMS = 0.673, p < 0.001; rENG = 0.595, p < 0.001; rECON= 0.595, p < 0.001). Self-reported risky behavior was positively correlated with frequency of having sex during the past 2 months and alcoholic drinking (rAMS = 0.510 and = 0.409; rENG = 0.562 and = 0.345; rECON = 0.655 and = 0.259, respectively. All were p < 0.001) Conclusions Male health sciences students possessed higher knowledge, reported lower risk behaviors, and expressed more positive attitudes toward individuals with STDs than the other groups. Providing knowledge about STDs and encouraging abstinence from alcohol should be used to reduce the incidence of risky behavior and the incidence of STDs among male university undergraduates.

Attitudes towards Parenthood and Fertility Awareness in Female and Male University Students in South Korea

Purpose: This study investigated intentions and attitudes towards future parenthood and awareness of fertility among university students in South Korea.Methods: The participants comprised 166 female and male undergraduate students enrolled at five universities. A cross-sectional survey was conducted from May to July 2019 using the Korean version of the Fertility Awareness Questionnaire and Attitudes of Parenthood. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics based on participants' general characteristics, the <i>x</i>² test to identify differences in intentions, and the t-test to evaluate attitudes towards parenthood and awareness of fertility in female and male students.Results: Both female and male students desired to have two children, but they lacked awareness about fertility. The possibility of combining work and having children, along with the availability of childcare resources, impacted the desire for parenthood. Male students tended to consider parenthood as less impactful on their lives and careers than female students. Social structures might also impact the decision to have children.Conclusion: It is important to provide health education emphasizing fertility awareness and parenthood in young adulthood so participants can consider these facts in advance. In addition, the government should provide resources for couples making parenthood decisions.

Evaluative Attitudes May Explain the Link Between Injunctive Norms and Sexual Aggression

The current study examined the extent to which evaluative attitudes toward sexual aggression (i.e., positive or negative evaluative judgments about sexually aggressive behavior) mediate the association between injunctive norms (i.e., extent to which peers approve or disapprove of sexually aggressive behavior) and self-reported sexual aggression against women. Participants were 200 male undergraduate students. Approximately one in four males reported engaging in at least one sexually aggressive act since the age of 16. Participants with a history of sexual aggression also reported the highest likelihood of engaging in sexually aggressive behavior in the future. We tested two separate mediation models to examine the extent to which evaluative attitudes account for the link between injunctive norms and sexual aggression: one model with self-reported history of sexual aggression as the outcome and the other with likelihood of engaging in sexually aggressive behavior as the outcome. Results showed that more positive evaluative attitudes toward sexual aggression accounted for the association between injunctive norms and self-reported history of sexual aggression. Similarly, evaluative attitudes accounted for the link between injunctive norms and self-reported likelihood of engaging in sexually aggressive behavior in the future. Overall, these findings are consistent with theoretical and empirical explanations of sexual offending and general criminal behavior; however, this is the first study to explore the relationship between injunctive norms and evaluative attitudes in the context of explaining sexually aggressive behavior. If more rigorous research establishes a causal relationship between injunctive norms, evaluative attitudes, and sexually aggressive behavior, this would suggest that targeting these factors in prevention programs may reduce sexual aggression by male undergraduate students.

MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELLING SEEKING BEHAVIOUR AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ADJUSTMENT AMONG UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN EKITI STATE, NIGERIA

The study investigated the mental health counseling seeking behavior and psychological adjustment among undergraduate students in Ekiti State, Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive research design of the survey type. The population of the study consisted of all undergraduate students in universities in Ekiti State, Nigeria. The sample for this study consisted of 500 undergraduate students from two universities in Ekiti State selected using a multi-stage sampling procedure. Data was collected with the use of a self-designed questionnaire tagged Mental Health Counselling and Psychological Adjustment Questionnaire (MHCPAQ). The instrument was validated through thorough screening by experts of Tests and Measurement with background knowledge in Counselling. The reliability of the instrument was determined by finding the internal consistency of the instrument using Cronbach alpha which yielded reliability co-efficient values of 0.91 for section B and 0.84 for Section C. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data collected from respondents. The findings of this study showed that the level of mental health counseling seeking behavior among undergraduate students was low while psychological adjustment was moderate. It was also revealed that mental health counseling seeking behavior of undergraduate students was related to their psychological adjustment. In addition, mental health counseling seeking behavior among undergraduate students does not differ based on their gender but male undergraduate students have higher psychological adjustment than female undergraduate students. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that university counselors should sensitize undergraduate students on the need to inculcate mental health counseling seeking behavior.