Heterosexual bias in the perception of loving relationships of gay males and lesbians

It was hypothesized that a heterosexual bias would emerge in the perception of loving relationships of gay males and lesbians. Specifically, it was predicted that if heterosexual subjects were presented with identical information about a hypothetical heterosexual couple, a lesbian couple, and a gay male couple, that the latter two would be perceived more negatively than the former. Heterosexual subjects (N = 360) were randomly assigned to one of 18 conditions defined by a 3 x 2 x 3 ANOVA design. The factors were: sex and sexual orientation of individuals in the hypothetical couple profile to be read and evaluated, sex of subject, and amount of love content in the description of the couple. The results confirmed the existence of a heterosexual bias and that gay and lesbian couples were perceived as being "less satisfied with their relationship" than heterosexual couples, and that gay and lesbian couples were perceived as "less in love" than heterosexual couples. The implications of these results are discussed as they relate to the generation of self-fulfilling prophecies

Effects of Administering Sexually Explicit Questionnaires on Anger, Anxiety, and Depression in Sexually Abused and Non Abused Females: Implications for Risk Assessment

Human sexuality researchers and institutional review boards often are concerned about the sensitive nature of the information that they obtain and whether this type of research increases the psychological risks to participants. To date, there are almost no empirical data that address this issue. We administered state and trait measures of anger, anxiety, and depression to 207 females who were administered four questionnaires that asked them to reveal highly sensitive, sexually explicit information, including questions regarding childhood sexual abuse. Then they were readministered the state and trait measures of distress.We found no significant differences, even among those who reported being sexually abused as children, suggesting that such studies do not significantly increase the risk of psychological harm to participants

The Psycho-Sexual Aspects of Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa: A Review of the Literature

Published studies dealing systematically with the psychosexual aspects of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are reviewed. While definitive answers to questions of the relationship between sexuality and the eating disorders are not apparent in the literature, several important trends emerge. On the basis of psychosexual data, there appear to be two discrete groups of anorexia neruosa patients. Several investigations report on significant differences between restricting and bulimic anorexics with respect to psychosexual history and/or sexual behaviors. There are also suggestions in the literature that bulimic patients may be more sexually active than control subjects. Finally, in spite of the continued appearance in the literature of case studies to the contrary, there is apparently no particularly high incidence of sexual abuse among anorexic or bulimic patients. Suggestions for future researchers in this area are offered

Inter-Relationships among Multiple Aspects of Body Image and Eating Disturbance

The relationships among several indices of body size estimation and eating disturbance were examined in 72 college females. Measures of absolute size and estimated size had stronger correlations with eating disturbance than degree of perceptual size overestimation. Overestimation of self was highly related to estimates of the size of inanimate objects, suggesting the presence of a general perceptual deficit. Actual size was negatively correlated with degree of overestimation, indicating that small‐sized individuals overestimate to a greater degree than large subjects. The necessity of a multifaceted assessment approach for body image research is discussed

MMPI-2 Profiles of Bariatric Surgery Patients: A Replication and Extension

BackgroundMaddi et al. (Obes Surg, 7:397–404, 1997) reported significant elevations on several MMPI-2 scales in a morbidly obese population. Since the number of patients presenting for bariatric surgery has increased significantly in the decade since this study, we replicated the original Maddi et al. study to investigate if there have been any appreciable changes in these patients’ psychological profiles within the past 10 years. Methods First, we replicated the original Maddi et al. study using the same definition of profile elevations used by these investigators. Second, we extended these findings to include a fourth classification of extremely elevated profiles. Finally, we included several measures of different emotional states/characteristics in an attempt to further delineate what these elevated profiles may actually represent.ResultsOur findings generally support the results of the original Maddi et al. study. Additionally, a number of significant relationships were found between our additional measures and MMPI-2 elevations.ConclusionsMany morbidly obese patients presenting for bariatric surgery have elevated MMPI-2 profiles, some of which would be considered “invalid” profiles. We recommend procedures for obtaining more valid profiles from such patients. We also urge the use of other measures in addition to the MMPI-2 to more specifically clarify the personality traits/characteristics in these patients