Studying the Longest ‘Legal’ U.S. Same-Sex Couples: A Case of Lessons Learned

We review methodological opportunities and lessons learned in conducting a longitudinal, prospective study of same-sex couples with civil unions, recruited from a population-based sample, who were compared with same-sex couples in their friendship circle who did not have civil unions, and heterosexual married siblings and their spouse. At Time 1 (2002), Vermont was the only US state to provide legal recognition similar to marriage to same-sex couples; couples came from other US states and other countries to obtain a civil union. At Time 2 (2005), only one US state had legalized same-sex marriage, and at Time 3 (2013) about half of US states had legalized same-sex marriage, some within weeks of the onset of the Time 3 study. Opportunities included sampling legalized same-sex relationships from a population; the use of heterosexual married couples and same-sex couples not in legalized relationships as comparison samples from within the same social network; comparisons between sexual minority and heterosexual women and men with and without children; improvements in statistical methods for non-independence of data and missing data; and the use of mixed methodologies. Lessons learned included obtaining funding, locating participants over time as technologies changed, and on-going shifts in marriage laws during the study

Is bisexuality invisible? A review of sexualities scholarship 1970–2015

This article provides a review of sexualities scholarship within the social sciences between 1970 and 2015. It takes an innovative approach by focusing on the way in which bisexuality is addressed in this body of literature. The article reveals the marginalisation, under-representation and invisibility of bisexuality within and across the social sciences in relation to both bisexual experience and identity. Reasons for this varied across the different eras, including the heterosexist nature of the literature, the impact of gay and lesbian-focused identity politics, and queer deconstructionism. In addition, patterns of bisexual erasure and invisibility were uneven, with some scholarship taking inclusive approaches or criticising prejudice against bisexuality. The initial findings of the review were enriched by critical commentary from key relevant sociologists and political scientists. The article concludes that future sexualities scholarship could be enhanced by greater consideration of bisexuality

The evolutionary psychology of leadership trait perception

Knowles, Kristen K. - ORCID 0000-0001-9664-9055 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9664-9055Many researchers now approach the understanding of how facial characteristics shape the perception of leadership ability through the lens of human evolution. This approach considers what skills and characteristics would have been valuable for leaders to possess in our evolutionary history, including dominance, masculinity, and trustworthiness. Moreover, it gives an understanding about why rapid categorisation of these social cues from faces is adaptive. In this chapter, I present evolutionary arguments for social inferences based on faces, and discuss how our understanding of this categorisation has shifted away from purely associative phenomena towards evolved, innate processes. I explain how the perception of leadership ability in faces is linked to variance in facial morphology, and how these morphologies tell us something about the individuals who carry them. Specific facial cues relating to leadership-relevant traits are discussed, as well as the underlying biological systems that accompany these traits. I also explain the importance of context and individual differences on the prioritisation of seemingly disparate facial cues to leadership: dominance and trustworthiness. I also discuss recent findings in this area which further extend these concepts to examine cues to leadership in women’s faces, generally overlooked by evolutionary psychologists, and how political ideology can interact with these effects.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94535-4_5pubpu