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This article explores an apparent contradiction in LGBTTIQA+ students' narratives around how safe they feel on campus. While declaring they feel 'safe' and supported by other students and staff, participants' narratives contain a myriad of examples indicating they feel 'unsafe'. These incidents emerge during photo-elicitation interviews where participants discuss photos they have taken of being LGBTTIQA+ on campus. This talk reveals episodes of name-calling, fear of coming out, lack of gender-neutral toilets and inclusive practices for pursuing discrimination. Instead of dismissing the discrepancy between these examples of discrimination and participants' declaration that they feel 'safe' as illusionary, we seek to understand what this might reveal about the nuances of queerphobia's operation on campus. We argue that participants' state of feeling simultaneously 'safe and unsafe' is reflective of inconsistencies in their institutional treatment. While the university they attend actively supports LGBTTIQA+ students with a 'Zero tolerance for discrimination' policy, this campaign is not underpinned by structures and processes that are truly inclusive. The way participants feel represents an embodied materialisation of discrepancies in this institutional approach. The study reveals the complex way queerphobia operates, enabling institutional actions to be responsive, and yet, still discriminatory.

This paper models the demographic and psychological correlates of voter preference in two independent datasets collected in 2014: a random digit-dial survey conducted by research firm Colmar Brunton for Television New Zealand (N=7,830), and a national probability postal survey: the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study (NZAVS; N=10,581). Together, these data allow us to uncover not only the consistent demographic factors, but also the psychological variables that predict voter sentiment. A standard set of demographic variables were statistically significant predictors: ethnicity, age, gender, and income. However, the NZAVS data showed that education, local area deprivation, being on the Maori electoral roll, and sexual orientation should also be taken into account. Additionally, all of the Big-Six personality traits, Nationalism, and Patriotism predicted voter sentiment. This paper provides reliable statistical data by utilizing two independent, large-scale, national probability samples to document important demographic and psychological differences in voter preference in New Zealand. Keywords: Voting, Personality, Demographics, Political psychology, 2014 General Election, Across established democracies and across decades, sociological models of voter choice have shown that people with certain social or demographic characteristics are more likely to vote for different political parties. [...]

The Multidimensional Model of Maori Identity and Cultural Engagement (or MMM-ICE2) is a self-report questionnaire that measures seven distinct dimensions of one's subjective identity as Maori. Prior research indicates that the scale performs well psychometrically and predicts a wide range of outcomes for Maori peoples. However, the measurement equivalence of the MMM-ICE2 is yet to be assessed. That is, the extent to which the scale provides comparable measurement of the same aspects of identity for all Maori, for instance, across different age groups, for Maori men and women, and for Maori living in different urban or rural regions. Here, we address this gap in the validation of the MMM-ICE2 using Multigroup Confirmatory Factor Analysis to assess the configural, metric, and scalar equivalence of the scale across different demographic groups. We test our models using data from Maori participants who completed the MMM-ICE2 as part of the broader New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study (N = 696). Results indicate that the scale has reasonable measurement equivalence over metric, configural, and scalar assessments across most demographic comparisons. In sum, the results indicate that the MMM-ICE2 provides a valid assessment tool for Maori across a range of contexts, but nevertheless points to ways in which the scale could be improved in future. Keywords: Maori; Identity; Indigenous; Measurement Equivalence, The field of quantitative identity research has undergone somewhat of an emic (by the people of the culture, for the people; Berry, 1989) revolution in recent years. The addition of [...]

The current study contributes to an emerging literature on regional differences in personality. We analyse data from a national probability sample of New Zealanders (N = 6,518) to examine differences and similarities in mean levels of Big-Six personality (Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, Openness to Experience, and Honesty-Humility) across 63 geographical General Electorate Districts in New Zealand. Of these six core aspects of personality, only Honesty-Humility and Openness to Experience varied significantly across regions. Those from large cities (i.e., Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch) were higher in Openness to Experience, whereas those from Palmerston North, and many regions of the South Island were higher in Honesty-Humility, relative to those living in other regions of New Zealand. However, regional differences explained only a trivial amount of variance in the two traits. This research speaks directly to anecdotes about regional differences across New Zealand, and shows that, for the most part, the strong regional similarities far outweigh alleged regional personality differences across the nation. Keywords: Personality, Geography, Regional Differences, Big-Six, Mini-IPIP6, Any collocation of persons, no matter how numerous, how scant, how even their homogeneity, how firmly they profess common doctrine, will presently reveal themselves to consist of smaller groups espousing [...]

The psychological wellbeing of Queer and Gender Diverse Young People (QGDYP) has received attention of late, and increasing research evidences much higher rates of psychological distress experienced by these groups, compared to their straight, cisgender counterparts. Far more limited is research exploring queer and gender diverse young people's own perspectives on their psychological wellbeing, an absence we address with the current study. We interviewed 21 queer or gender diverse 16–18-year-olds in Aotearoa New Zealand about their understandings of mental health and wellbeing. We took a critical realist thematic approach to analysis. This paper focuses on how participants made sense of their own distress. We explore and unpack three intersecting key themes around: 1) cisheterosexism, but not personally affected; 2) dismissal of QGDYP; and 3) validation and comfort in the biomedical model. We discuss the tensions of articulating these positions and (also) challenging cisheterosexism, and the implications for recognising and reducing the distress experienced by queer and gender diverse youth. We aim to inform policy and practice to support and ultimately improve psychological wellbeing for queer and gender diverse young people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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While recent research shows a gradual increase of young Māori in Higher Education it remains the case that inequality amongst the Indigenous population remains entrenched and institutionalised. This article explains how national governments in Aotearoa New Zealand have failed to address the colonial disparities and inequalities in the Higher Education system. In this process we will show, through the lens of historical privilege and institutional racism, how these processes continue to shape and frame both opportunities and experiences for Māori youth. The article will also highlight what strategies are needed if a more inclusive Higher Education system is to be developed that addresses the disparities that young Māori encounter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we asked participants to "describe their sexual orientation" in an open-ended measure of self-generated sexual orientation. The question was included as part of the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study (N = 18,261) 2013/2014 wave, a national probability survey conducted shortly after the first legal same-sex marriages in New Zealand. We present a two-level classification scheme to address questions about the prevalence of, and demographic differences between, sexual orientations. At the most detailed level of the coding scheme, 49 unique categories were generated by participant responses. Of those who responded with the following, significantly more were women: bisexual (2.1 % of women, compared to 1.5 % of men), bicurious (0.7 % of women, 0.4 % of men), and asexual (0.4 % of women and less than 0.1 % of men). However, significantly fewer women than men reported being lesbian or gay (1.8 % of women, compared to 3.5 % of men). Those openly identifying as bicurious, bisexual, or lesbian/gay were significantly younger than those with a heterosexual orientation. This study shows diversity in the terms used in self-generated sexual orientations, and provides up-to-date gender, age, and prevalence estimates for the New Zealand population. Finally, results reveal that a substantial minority of participants may not have understood the question about sexual orientation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]