Grey Matter: Investigating the Gendered Fan Consumption of Grey’s Anatomy

This study investigates the fan consumption of the television medical drama Grey\u27s Anatomy, which is commonly associated with a predominately female fanbase. Utilizing both a male and female focus group with fans of the show, participants took a survey (gathering demographics and their Bem Sex-Role Inventory score) and viewed two episodes of the show, both followed by a discussion of the episode and the show in general. Focus groups were audio-recorded and transcribed in full for analysis, along with the survey data and observational notes taken during the viewing. Coding of the data revealed that males and females held similar gender stereotypes and expectations of what male and female viewers would like about the show. However, during the viewing, male and female viewers reacted similarly to most aspects of the show. In general, respondents described the specific episodes as easy for all people, regardless of gender, to relate to. However, observations revealed that males reacted more positively during sex scenes, and females reacted more uncomfortably to the bloody and violent scenes. Some of these reactions, albeit in accordance to their dichotomous gender script, were counter to the way they described themselves on the BSRI, e.g., a masculine female acting “like a girl” during some of the violent content. In addition, overall, the masculine and androgynous individuals (the majority of the sample) responded more frequently to questions and reacted more dramatically to the content of the show itself

Validation and Exploration of the Multidimensional Psychological Flexibility Inventory with a Sample of Adolescents

The current study attempted to further psychological flexibility literature by validating the Multidimensional Psychological Flexibility Inventory (MPFI) with a sample of adolescents (ages 16 and 17). This analysis also examined how the MPFI associates with other indicators of psychological flexibility, distress (depression, anxiety, somatic symptom severity and related distress, difficulties in emotion regulation) and well-being (subjective happiness, life satisfaction, self-compassion, emotional approach coping). Results from this study suggested that psychological inflexibility as measured by the MPFI positively associated with a number of measures of distress, but generally did not inversely correlate with measures of well-being in a theoretically-consistent manner, which was contradictory to our hypotheses. Similarly, the MPFI’s psychological flexibility scales positively associated with measures of well-being but did not inversely correlate with measures of distress. More in-depth correlational analysis involved identifying specific subscales within the MPFI that demonstrated significant associations with measures of psychological distress and well-being. In this area, the aforementioned pattern generally continued where theoretically-consistent positive associations were evident between most MPFI flexibility and inflexibility subscales and subsequent measures of well-being and distress, but theoretically-consistent negative associations were not apparent. Given that other validation examinations with the MPFI have demonstrated both positive and negative correlations with measures of distress and wellbeing (Rolffs et al., 2018), these findings stand in contrast to these results, which might suggest that the MPFI performs differently with adolescent samples than with adults. Future research is needed to determine if such differences are a function of the present sample, the administration method, or true differences in how psychological inflexibility and flexibility relate to other psychological variables in adolescents

The Fall of the House of Dixie

Understanding the Transformation of a Region Twenty years after Appomattox, in an 1885 Memorial Day speech, the Radical Republican Albion Tourgée said that Civil War veterans must of course be honored. But, he cautioned, “To dwell upon the hero’s sufferings and ignore the motive which ins...