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Sex offenders have been shown to possess a number of consistent characteristics such as lack of empathic responding, distorted cognitions, a sense of entitlement, and lack of self-esteem. Though these constructs have been given considerable attention in the literature, little attention has been paid to what role intrapsychic conflict may play in the commission of sexual offenses. The purpose of the present study was to determine how well the associated affective and cognitive characteristics of intrapsychic conflict could distinguish between incarcerated sex offenders and incarcerated non-sex offenders. Results indicated that significant differences in intrapsychic conflict were obtained for these two populations as measured by the Discordance subscale of the Garos Sexual Behavior Index. Clinical and research implications of these findings are discussed. (Contains 4 tables.)

Although librarians have the goal of helping patrons, one component of the librarian stereotype is that librarians are authoritarian and therefore unapproachable. The stereotype then serves as a means by which librarians become an unintended barrier to effective library use. We term this contradiction between wanting to be helpful and yet perceived as being unapproachable as the problem of the "ironic librarian." In this research, we used in-depth interviews to examine how individual reference librarians tried to resolve the problem of the ironic librarian. Respondents reported several strategies they used to make themselves more approachable and to alter patrons' expectations of librarians. Although respondents felt they were successful in enhancing their approachability, they noted that their efforts could also lead them to feel exploited by patrons. These results suggest that librarians can become more approachable and contradict the perspective that views the library as an intimidating space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sex offenders have been shown to possess a number of consistent characteristics such as lack of empathic responding, distorted cognitions, a sense of entitlement, and lack of self-esteem. Though these constructs have been given considerable attention in the literature, little attention has been paid to what role intrapsychic conflict may play in the commission of sexual offenses. The purpose of the present study was to determine how well the associated affective and cognitive characteristics of intrapsychic conflict could distinguish between incarcerated sex offenders and incarcerated non-sex offenders. Results indicated that significant differences in intrapsychic conflict were obtained for these two populations as measured by the Discordance subscale of the Garos Sexual Behavior Index. Clinical and research implications of these findings are discussed. [Article copies available for a .fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-HA WORTH. E-mail address: Website: [c] 2004 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.] KEYWORDS Prisoners, sex offender, sexual identity, sexual deviance

Virtually no research has explored men's phenomenological experiences with sexually explicit material. The present research examined men's self-reports regarding how they felt reading Playboy magazine had affected them and influenced their conceptualization of and interactions with women. Qualitative analysis of 22 Playboy readers' self-reports indicated that first exposure to Playboy is a very memorable event, that Playboy served as a source of sex-related information, and that Playboy contributed to the development of a sexual self-concept. Playboy readers' attitudes toward Playmates lacked a misogynistic component. The possible influence of Playboy as a means of socializing boys into men is noted. Key Words: sexual materials, Playboy, self-concept, misogyny, self-schemas, young males' sexual development, 'I subscribed to the magazine for the naked women, but I used to read the magazine cover to cover.... And I find that presenting your personal views in juxtaposition to [...]

Although the literature on mate preferences indicates that women prefer men with both stereotypic masculine traits, such as strength and assertiveness, and stereotypic feminine traits, such as nurturance and sensitivity, men are encouraged to adopt identities that include only stereotypic masculine traits. This discrepancy produces gender-based role strain for men caught between the desires of women and the demands of social convention. We suggest that the centerfold text published in Playboy magazine provides a useful social infrastructure to help men develop more broadly defined conceptualizations of masculinity. In our analysis of Playboy playmate centerfold texts, we found that playmates expressed a preference for men who included stereotypic feminine attributes in their identities. In the context of attempting to be more attractive to women such as Playboy playmates, the adoption of feminine attributes can be readily justified and help men experience less gender-based role strain. Key Words: Playboy magazine, mass media, masculinity, masculine identity, centerfolds, Endure that toil of growing up; The ignominy of boyhood; the distress Of boyhood changing into man; The unfinished man and his pain Brought face to face with his own [...]

Two experiments investigated whether people overconsume nonpartitioned physical, spatial, and temporal resources; whether this overconsumption reflects intended or unintended processes; and whether these processes have adverse inferential and behavioral consequences. In Experiment 1, members of large groups overconsumed nonpartitioned resources of all types, especially nonpartitioned temporal resources. Moreover, these overconsumptions stemmed from both intentional motives as well as from an unintentional perceptual bias. Even when allocated their equal share of a nonpartitioned resource in Experiment 2, members of large groups judged it to be less than their equal share, a perceptual bias that produced pejorative trait inferences and retaliatory overconsumption choices. Theoretical and practical implications for resource management are discussed.

Since the time of the ancient Greeks, metaphors have been revered by scholars in all disciplines for their unsurpassed epistemological value. In this article, the authors review the role of the metaphor in the acquisition of knowledge and advancement of science, with specific emphasis on the ways in which metaphors have informed theory and research in social dilemmas. In highlighting the abundance and variety of social dilemma metaphors, the authors focus on metaphors' role in suggesting fresh theoretical perspectives, novel methodological approaches, and new insights with regard to solutions and practical applications. They suggest promising directions for future research and offer strategies for taking further advantage of the special relationship between metaphors and social dilemmas.

A process model of inferences about groups is supported by three experiments. The model suggests that perceivers make an initial characterization, then correct according to whether the group is inherently democratic or unanimous. For democratic groups, a further correction is made for the decision rule employed by the group. The inherently democratic groups require correction to account for heterogeneity of opinion within the group. Knowledge of the group's decision rule allows an inference to be made about the degree of internal support for the group's decisions.

The way that choices are framed or presented to consumers may exert a significant impact on preferences. With few exceptions, past experiments have always framed choices for decision makers. Six studies examined how people themselves frame ambiguous events. Using a scenario format, Study 1 demonstrate that subjects interpreted paying back a loan as a gain rather than as a loss. Study 2 replicated this finding with a methodology where subjects actually received a loan of real money from the experimenter. Study 3 showed that the tendency to view paying back a loan as a gain was greater when the loan was for oneself rather than another person. Study 4 replicated the initial finding usin a choice dilemma similar to those used by Tversky and Kahneman (1981). Studies and 6 showed that people view selling a possession as a gain. However, Study 5 also showed that buyers do not display this tendency. These data suggest that the tendency to frame actions as gains will be moderated by role expectations and the bias to view one's actions in a positive light.

Experiments that test for the judgmental bias that results from a preference for cognitive consistency often contain two threats to their internal validity. First, the subjects are asked to make judgments about themselves. Thus, the biases that result may be explained in terms of cognitive consistency or the motivation to see oneself in a positive light. Second, the decision subjects are asked to make is often difficult to verify objectively. The present research sought evidence in support of cognitive consistency using a methodology that avoided these two confounds. The context chosen was the tendency of perceivers to use the outcome of a group decision to make inferences about the magnitude of group members' support for the outcome. The present experiment examined whether people in Richmond, Virginia, would use the outcome of a gubernatorial election to make decisions regarding the percentage of people in favor of the winning candidate. Although the winner won by less than one-half of one percent of the popular vote, we found that the subjects significantly overestimated the degree of voter support he received and underestimated the degree of support his opponent received. Moreover, this tendency was exacerbated over time.

The assumption of the present research was that ownership of an object causes the owner to treat the object as a social entity because ownership creates a psychological association between the object and the owner. Three experiments investigated whether Ss would evaluate an object more favorably merely because they owned it, a bias analogous to other self-serving biases people display. Study 1 confirmed the existence of this mere ownership effect. Study 2 showed that the effect was not due to Ss having greater exposure to an owned object relative to an unowned object. Study 2 showed that the effect may be a specific instance of a general tendency of people to make self-enhancing judgments.

Images presented in the mass media often contain subtexts that perpetuate gender stereotypes. We suggest that in some instances, underlying messages in mass media can operate to oppose, rather than reinforce, gender stereotypes. To examine this hypothesis, we used the first ten years of Playboy magazine as our data source. We provide evidence that the magazine attempted to broaden the conceptualization of masculinity by defining as the ideal an identity that incorporated a number of characteristics traditionally associated with women. We identify several processes by which Playboy accomplished this goal. These processes included co-opting the meaning of the word 'playboy,' associating sexual success with the possession of traditionally feminine traits, and using a rabbit as Playboy's symbol. Key Words: masculinity, gender stereotypes, feminine traits, media symbols, mass media, Playboy magazine, Mass media provide consumers with messages that convey meaning on a number of levels (Hall, 1997; Kates & Shaw-Garlock, 1999; Mick & Buhl, 1992). An assumption of work in this [...]

Recent accounts of the contact hypothesis have stressed the cognitive aspects of the phenomenon. On the basis of this call for reformulation, we propose the existence of the advisor hypothesis, i.e., the idea that third parties can use their influence to inhibit stereotyping about in-group and out-group members. We conducted an examination of this construct, with reference to gender stereotypes, using an archival data set of 38 years of the 'Playboy Advisor' column. Evidence from both qualitative and quantitative analyses indicated that the Playboy Advisor carried out several actions to inhibit misogyny and discourage the application of stereotypes to both men and women. Implications and limitations of the present research are discussed. Key Words: gender stereotypes, contact hypothesis, Playboy magazine, advisor hypothesis, misogyny, Social scientists and policy makers have devoted a great deal of time, effort, and financial resources to the reduction of prejudice and intergroup conflict. One influential and historically important technique [...]

This study compares younger and older librarians with regard to how they experience age-related stigma. The purpose was to show how youth, although a culturally valued attribute, can be experienced as stigmatizing (i.e., as a form of positive deviance known as rate-busting). We conducted semi-structured interviews with 26 librarians who ranged in age from 27 to 64. Although both younger and older librarians reported feeling stigmatized because of their age, only younger librarians reported instances of other people drawing unwanted attention to their age. Because librarians are an older demographic, the attention young librarians receive as rate-busters may be due to disconfirming expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]