Gender Essentialism, Authoritarianism, Social Dominance Orientation, and Filial Piety as Predictors for Transprejudice in Chinese People

Bedford O., Yeh K.

In the field of psychology, filial piety is usually defined in terms of traditional Chinese culture-specific family traditions. The problem with this approach is that it tends to emphasize identification of behavioral rules or norms, which limits its potential for application in other cultural contexts. Due to the global trend of population aging, governments are searching for solutions to the accompanying financial burden so greater attention is being focused on the issue of elder care and its relevance to filial practices. We contend that the psychological investigation of filial piety in Chinese societies has progressed to the point that it can now provide a solid structure for research targeting intergenerational relations in other cultures. We describe an indigenous psychology approach that integrated Chinese historical, philosophical, and social trends to construct a model of filial piety in terms of the dual reciprocal and authoritarian filial aspects underlying parent-child relations: the dual filial piety model (DFPM). We use this model to re-conceptualize filial piety from its usual definition as a set of Chinese culture-specific norms to a contextualized personality construct represented by a pair of culturally-sensitive psychological schemas of parent-child interaction. We then describe how the DFPM can provide a framework for research on filial relations on individual, structural, societal, and cross-cultural levels. We conclude with a discussion of how the model may be able to integrate and extend Western research on intergenerational relations and contribute to the issue of elder care beyond Chinese societies.

Joel D., Persico A., Salhov M., Berman Z., Oligschläger S., Meilijson I., Averbuch A.

Findings of average differences between females and males in the structure of specific brain regions are often interpreted as indicating that the typical male brain is different from the typical female brain. An alternative interpretation is that the brain types typical of females are also typical of males, and sex differences exist only in the frequency of rare brain types. Here we contrasted the two hypotheses by analyzing the structure of 2176 human brains using three analytical approaches. An anomaly detection analysis showed that brains from females are almost as likely to be classified as ‘normal male brains’, as brains from males are, and vice versa. Unsupervised clustering algorithms revealed that common brain ‘types’ are similarly common in females and in males and that a male and a female are almost as likely to have the same brain ‘type’ as two females or two males are. Large sex differences were found only in the frequency of some rare brain ‘types’. Last, supervised clustering algorithms revealed that the brain ‘type(s)’ typical of one sex category in one sample could be typical of the other sex category in another sample. The present findings demonstrate that even when similarity and difference are defined mathematically, ignoring biological or functional relevance, sex category (i.e., whether one is female or male), is not a major predictor of the variability of human brain structure. Rather, the brain types typical of females are also typical of males, and vice versa, and large sex differences are found only in the prevalence of some rare brain types. We discuss the implications of these findings to studies of the structure and function of the human brain.

Duran A.

Skewes L., Fine C., Haslam N.

It has been argued that gender essentialism impedes progress towards greater gender equality. Here we present a new gender essentialism scale (GES), and validate it in two large nationally representative samples from Denmark and Australia. In both samples the GES was highly reliable and predicted lack of support for sex-role egalitarianism and support for gender discrimination, as well as perceived fairness of gender-based treatment in the Australian sample, independently of two established predictors (i.e., social dominance orientation and conservative political orientation). In addition, gender essentialism assessed by the GES moderated some manifestations of the backlash effect: high essentialists were more likely to respond negatively towards a power-seeking female political candidate relative to a male candidate. Given the implications for possible workplace interventions, further work could usefully explore whether gender essentialism moderates other well-established forms of gender bias.

Sinnott M.J.

Makwana A.P., Dhont K., De keersmaecker J., Akhlaghi-Ghaffarokh P., Masure M., Roets A.

Transgender individuals challenge the traditional assumption that an individual’s gender identity is permanently determined by their assigned sex at birth. Perceiving ambiguity surrounding indeterminate gender identities associated with transgender individuals may be especially disturbing for those who generally dislike ambiguity and have preference for order and predictability, that is, for people scoring higher on Need for Closure (NFC). We tested the associations between NFC and transphobia in two studies using community samples from the United Kingdom (n = 231) and Belgium (n = 175), and we examined whether right-wing ideological attitudes and traditional gender role beliefs mediated these relationships. Confirming our expectations, we found that NFC was significantly associated with transphobia through both stronger adherence to social conventions and obedience to authorities (i.e., right-wing authoritarianism) and stronger endorsements of traditional gender roles in the UK and Belgium, as well as through stronger preferences for hierarchy and social inequality (i.e., social dominance orientation) in the UK. Our results suggest that transgender individuals are more likely to be targets of prejudice by those higher in NFC at least partly due to the strong preference for preserving societal traditions and the resistance to a perceived disruption of traditional gender norms. Hence, attempts to reduce transphobia might be especially challenging among those high in NFC. Nevertheless, prejudice-reducing interventions could incorporate techniques that satisfy epistemic needs for predictability, certainty, and simple structure which may have higher chances of success among high NFC individuals.

Cichocka A., Dhont K., Makwana A.P.

Previous research has obtained mixed findings as to whether feelings of self–worth are positively or negatively related to right–wing ideological beliefs and prejudice. We propose to clarify the link between self–worth and ideology by distinguishing between narcissistic and non–narcissistic self–evaluations as well as between different dimensions of ideological attitudes. Four studies, conducted in three different socio–political contexts: the UK (Study 1, N = 422), the US (Studies 2 and 3, Ns = 471 and 289, respectively), and Poland (Study 4, N = 775), investigated the associations between narcissistic and non–narcissistic self–evaluations, social dominance orientation (SDO), right–wing authoritarianism (RWA), and ethnic prejudice. Confirming our hypotheses, the results consistently showed that after controlling for self–esteem, narcissistic self–evaluation was positively associated with SDO (accounting for RWA), yet negatively associated with RWA (accounting for SDO). These associations were similar after controlling for psychopathy and Machiavellianism (Study 3) as well as collective narcissism and Big Five personality characteristics (Study 4). Studies 2–4 additionally demonstrated that narcissistic self–evaluation was indirectly positively associated with prejudice through higher SDO (free of RWA) but indirectly negatively associated with prejudice through lower RWA (free of SDO). Implications for understanding the role of self–evaluation in right–wing ideological attitudes and prejudice are discussed. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. European Journal of Personality published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Association of Personality Psychology

Ching B.H., Xu J.T.

This experimental study examined the impacts of gender neuroessentialism on stereotyping and prejudice against transgender people. We randomly assigned 132 Chinese, mostly heterosexual college students to read one of three fictitious articles in which the first article explained sex differences in personality and social behavior by neurological factors (biological determinist), a second article questioned this deterministic claim (interactionist), and a third article was unrelated to gender (neutral baseline). The biological determinist condition aimed to foster essentialist beliefs by priming the deterministic ways that the brain relates to personality and behavior, whereas the interactionist condition highlighted the interactive roles of the brain and environments on people’s personality and behavior. We found that participants in the biological determinist condition showed more negative stereotypes and stronger prejudicial attitudes toward transgender people compared with participants in the interactionist condition and those in the control condition. There were no significant differences in transprejudice between the interactionist and control conditions. The present study represents one of the few studies that examined the connection between gender essentialism and transprejudice. The findings suggest that essentialist claims that ground the male/female binary in biology may lead to more transprejudice.

Elischberger H.B., Glazier J.J., Hill E.D., Verduzco-Baker L.

Using an internet-based survey, we examined attitudes toward transgender youth in the United States and India, two cultures with differences in conceptualizations of gender and treatment of transgender individuals in society, law, and religion. We found generally positive attitudes toward transgender youth in our U.S. (n = 218), but moderately negative ones in our Indian (n = 217), sample. Consistent with the literature on prejudice against transgender adults in many Western societies, general social conservatism in the form of religious beliefs and political ideology, gender-specific conservatism in the form of gender binary belief, and endorsement of environmental rather than biological causes of transgender identity were the best predictors of U.S. participants’ attitudes, although personal contact with gender and sexual minorities also played a role at the bivariate level. These findings suggest that the processes underlying prejudice against transgender youth are similar to those that foster adult-directed transphobia in that cultural context. In contrast, religion-based disapproval and environmental causal attributions were the best predictors of Indian respondents’ attitudes, whereas gender binary belief played only a minor role, and political conservatism and personal contact no role at all. Our regression analyses accounted for considerably more of the variability in U.S. than in Indian participants’ attitudes, highlighting the need for additional (qualitative) work to identify the factors that promote transprejudice in India. We discuss these findings in light of cross-cultural differences between the two countries in terms of our predictors and consider implications for efforts to reduce prejudice against transgender youth.

Flores A.R., Haider-Markel D.P., Lewis D.C., Miller P.R., Tadlock B.L., Taylor J.K.

Social categorization processes may be initiated by physical appearance, which have the potential to influence how people evaluate others. Categorizations ground what stereotypes and prejudices, if any, become activated. Gender is one of the first features people notice about others. Much less is known about individuals who may transgress gender expectations, including people who are transgender. Using an experiment, this study investigates whether the attitudes that people have about transgender people and rights are influenced by information and facial images. We hypothesize that mere exposure to transgender people, via information and images of faces, should be a source of prejudice reduction. We randomly provide participants with vignettes defining transgender and also randomize whether these vignettes come with facial images, varying the physical features of gendered individuals. We find our treatments have lower levels of discomfort and transphobia but have little effect on transgender rights attitudes. We further find that the impacts are stronger among Democrats than among Republicans. Our findings support the argument that people are in general unfamiliar with transgender people, and the mere exposure to outgroups can be a source of prejudice reduction.

Adams K.A., Nagoshi C.T., Filip-Crawford G., Terrell H.K., Nagoshi J.L.

ABSTRACTIndices were developed to assess discomfort with specific behavioral violations of gender heteronormative gender roles, gender identity, and sexual orientation. A three-component model that proposes specific threats to social status as mechanisms of gender-based prejudice was then used to assess whether homophobia and transphobia were triggered by the non-gender heteronormative social identity status of the outgroup member or by perceived violations of specific gender heteronormative behaviors. For a sample of 145 female and 194 male gender heteronormative U.S. college undergraduates, path analyses showed that homophobia was particularly associated with discomfort with violations of sexual orientation norms while transphobia was particularly associated with discomfort with violations of gender identity norms. For men and women, discomfort with sexual orientation norms significantly mediated the relationships linking right-wing authoritarianism and benevolent sexism to homophobia while discomfort w...

Worthen M.G., Lingiardi V., Caristo C.

While it is clear that there are existing prejudices directed toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people across the globe, very few studies have provided in-depth investigations of such attitudes from an international comparative perspective, and no cross-cultural studies to date have investigated attitudes toward bisexual and transgender individuals. Without understanding how correlates of attitudes toward LGBT individuals are both similar and different across multiple international locations, it is unclear how we can learn to counteract negative prejudices toward these groups. In the current study, we explore how measures of politics, feminism, and religion affect attitudes toward LGBT individuals using Worthen’s (2012) Attitudes Toward LGBT People Scales and data from four college student samples in Oklahoma, Texas, Italy, and Spain (N = 1311). Results suggest three trends: (1) negative attitudes toward LGBT individuals are more pervasive in Oklahoma than in any of the other university samples and are most positive among Spanish students; (2) negative attitudes toward LGBT individuals are related to the individual and multiplicative effects of political beliefs, feminism, and religiosity across all four samples; and (3) constructs related to attitudes toward gays/lesbians differ from those that relate to attitudes toward bisexual and transgender individuals. Such findings indicate that there are important similarities and differences in prejudices toward LGBT individuals and that attitudes toward bisexual and transgender individuals should be included in future international comparative research.

Zell E., Strickhouser J.E., Lane T.N., Teeter S.R.

Few studies have examined how people perceive psychological gender differences despite the practical importance of these perceptions for everyday life. In three studies, we examined whether there is a positive association between sexism and the tendency to exaggerate psychological gender differences. Study 1 demonstrated that the more strongly men endorsed hostile sexism and the more strongly women endorsed hostile or benevolent sexism, the larger they perceived gender differences to be across a broad range of psychological traits. Study 2 documented that the more strongly people endorsed hostile or benevolent sexism, the more likely they were to exaggerate the size of gender differences. In Studies 1 and 2, women perceived gender differences to be larger than did men, after accounting for sexism. Finally, Study 3 showed that increasing (decreasing) the perceived size of gender differences predicts corresponding increases (decreases) in sexism. These results support relevant theory, which argues that differentiation between genders underlies sexist ideologies, and they may inform future intervention studies that aim to reduce sexism by targeting exaggerated gender beliefs. Discussion highlights the proposed connection between sexism and the belief that “men are from Mars and women are from Venus”.

Worthen M.G.

ABSTRACTA persistent finding in past research reifies a “gendered” cisnormative bias whereby heterosexual men (compared to heterosexual women) have been found to be overwhelmingly less supportive of transgender individuals in quantitative studies conducted in the United States and in Canada, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Poland, Singapore, Sweden, Thailand, and the United Kingdom. I suggest that this finding reflects a synergistic relationship between “transphobia” and “homophobia” or, put another way, an overarching presence of hetero-cis–normativity whereby it is “normal” to be both heterosexual and cisgender and it is not normal (and therefore acceptable to be prejudiced toward) nonheterosexual and noncisgender individuals. Using this hetero-cisnormative framework in the current study, I utilize quantitative survey data from college-age students (N = 775; average age, 22; 78% White) at a university in the southern United States to investigate attitudes toward transgender individuals in three ways. ...

Meeusen C., Dhont K.

Using a representative sample of Belgian adolescents (N = 1530) and both their parents, we investigated the parent–child similarity in prejudice towards different out–groups and ideological attitudes (right–wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation). Contrary to previous studies, first, we distinguished between common and specific components of prejudice to test whether the parent–child similarity in one specific type of prejudice was symptomatic of parent–child similarity in prejudice towards out–groups in general. Second, we evaluated whether the parent–child similarity in common and specific components of prejudice was related to the parent–child similarity in ideological attitudes. Third, we investigated the moderating role of political discussion in the intergenerational framework of ideology and prejudice. Results indicated that parent–child similarity was particularly pronounced for the common rather than the specific component of prejudice and that the similarity in ideological attitudes was partly related to the similarity in the common component of prejudice. Finally, adolescents who discuss social and political issues more (versus less) frequently with their parents more strongly resembled their parents in the common component of prejudice and levels of authoritarianism. These results suggest that generalized prejudice runs in families and highlight politicization of the family as an important socialization mechanism. Copyright © 2015 European Association of Personality Psychology

Falomir-Pichastor J.M., Confino D., Anderson J.R., Koc Y.

Abstract Prior correlational studies have shown that belief in the biological theory of sexual orientation (BTSO) is associated with more positive attitudes toward homosexuality. However, individuals often interpret scientific evidence in ways that align with their pre-existing beliefs and motivations. This research experimentally investigated whether gender and religiosity moderate heterosexual individuals’ responses to scientific evidence either supporting or refuting BTSO. In two studies, heterosexual men (Study 1, N = 118) and both men and women (Study 2, N = 280) reported their religiosity and were exposed to evidence suggesting either biological differences or similarities between heterosexual and gay individuals. Results showed that, in the biological differences condition, heterosexual women and less religious men were more likely to perceive homosexuality as a natural biological variation and expressed more positive attitudes toward it. In contrast, more religious men interpreted the same evidence as indicating a biological anomaly in gay individuals and displayed more negative attitudes toward homosexuality.

He C.C., Ching B.H., Li Y.H.

Wang I.Y., Chan R.C.

AbstractPrejudice and discrimination against transgender and gender diverse individuals are pervasive in contemporary Chinese societies. However, there remains a limited understanding of the factors and processes contributing to transnegativity in this context. Building upon theoretical and empirical literature suggesting that traditional beliefs in Chinese culture may fuel transnegativity, the present study aimed to investigate the influence of traditionality and modernity on transnegativity. Employing a two-wave longitudinal design, the study explored the mechanisms underlying the relationships between traditionality, modernity, and transnegativity. A total of 373 participants were included in this study. More than 40% expressed skepticism toward individuals who identify outside the traditional binary categories of woman or man. The results indicated that traditionality was indirectly associated with higher levels of transnegativity over time, mediated by a stronger endorsement of traditional gender role beliefs and the internalization of gender norms, after controlling for baseline levels of transnegativity. Similarly, the negative association between modernity and transnegativity was mediated by traditional gender role beliefs and the internalization of gender norms. These findings offer valuable insights for researchers and practitioners working to eradicate transnegativity in China. The study underscores the importance of considering the influences of traditionality and modernity within Chinese culture when designing educational programs and awareness campaigns to address transnegativity effectively.

Bartels M.S., Le Forestier J.M., Hug A.M., Morgenroth T., Roselló‐Peñaloza M.

AbstractEssentialism is an ontological belief that social groups share underlying “essences,” while social constructionism suggests social groups are formed and upheld by cultural understandings. We aim to highlight that essentialist and social constructionist beliefs regarding LGBTIQ+ identities underlie psychological evaluations of whether an LGBTIQ+ identity is real (social recognition of existence). These evaluations have tangible consequences for LGBTIQ+ people such that LGBTIQ+ identities considered real are (de)valued while those considered not real are marginalized. Central to our examination is the concept of “naturalness,” which often affords realness. This is reflected through essentialist thought at the individual level when evaluating the realness of LGBTIQ+ identities. However, while LGBTIQ+ people may embrace essentialist rhetoric to defend their identities as real, many draw instead on social constructionist notions. Lastly, we examine how essentialist and social constructionist rhetoric are evident in structural systems to either deny or legitimize LGBTIQ+ identities as real. By reimagining LGBTIQ+ research, we seek to expand the understanding of these identities.

Cao H., Zhou N., Qiao J., Wang L., Liang Y., Li Y., Wu S., Jiang Z., He J.

Mental health disparities in transgender and gender diverse (TGD) populations call for more research examining gender minority stressors (GMS) as antecedents to their psychological distress, especially for the long-underrepresented groups living in conservative societies towards gender minorities. Furthermore, some questions remain underexamined, including the relative, independent influences of various GMS on TGD people’s mental well-being (i.e., uniqueness of each stressor); how these stressors would configurate with each other in distinctive patterns to characterize subgroups of TGD people (i.e., beyond-average heterogeneity); and how these stressors would constitute a psychological network and vary in their centrality in that network (i.e., holistic complexity). To narrow such gaps, we examined the links between GMS and TGD people’s psychological distress, using survey data collected in 2023 from 410 Chinese TGD people (Meanage = 22.33 years, SD = 4.27; 306 transgender, 70 non-binary/gender-queer/gender-fluid, 26 agender/gender-neutral, 3 intersex, and 5 others). We approached such links from three perspectives. First, variable-centered analyses indicated that while different GMS were considered simultaneously, internalized transphobia, preoccupation with gender dysphoria, and gender-related victimization were uniquely associated with psychological distress. Second, person-centered analyses yielded a 3-profile solution. Psychological distress varied systematically across profiles. Last, network analyses revealed a 3-cluster structure: Distal, Proximal Internal, and TGD-Specific Stressors. Preoccupation with gender dysphoria was the most central node. These findings contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the implications of GMS for TGD people’s mental well-being. GMS related to internal struggles with gender identity might be among the central intervention targets to prevent/reduce TGD people’s psychological distress.

Henry R.M., Schudson Z.C.

Sweigart M.M., Galván‐Hernández D., Hässler T., Hegarty P., Kite M.E., Ofosu E.K., Ünsal B.C., Eisner L.

AbstractThe 21st century has seen dynamic social, legal, and political change regarding the rights and acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, and queer/questioning (LGBTIQ+) people. This article argues that social norm perceptions—perceptions of other people's opinions in a given social context—and the political dynamics that shape those perceptions are important for understanding differences in LGBTIQ+ acceptance across sociopolitical environments and time periods. Instead of emphasizing “actual” norms—people's opinions on average in different groups—we focus on norm perceptions since people often conform to the attitudes and behaviors held and endorsed by others to achieve social belonging and accuracy in their judgments. We review evidence regarding structural (e.g., laws and institutional decisions), group (e.g., social identities), and individual (e.g., ideology) factors that influence perceptions of, and conformity to, norms of LGBTIQ+ inclusion or exclusion. Drawing on this review, we consider how political dynamics—the ways that civic and political actors make salient, promote, and frame issues, values, and norms in contesting or maintaining the status quo—influence interpretations of, and responses to, norm signals, thus shaping differences in LGBTIQ+ rights norms across contexts and time periods. In conclusion, we chart future areas for research, policy, and practice.

Fine R.D., Troncoso S.C., Gelman S.A.

AbstractThe current study explored whether positive contact through stories could influence how young children think about transgender identities and gender in general. A total of 174 children ages 5–6 and 9–10 were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: Jazz (participants watched a video regarding a transgender child named Jazz), Blue (participants watched a video regarding a marker that looked red on the outside but inside was really blue) and control (no video). Both videos described the main character as feeling different inside than outside, and their social transition to their preferred identity; researcher scaffolding supported the video messages. Children who viewed the Jazz video had: (a) greater understanding of transgender identities and (b) no overall differences in gender essentialism, but (c) lower gender essentialism on three specific measures (gender immutability, innate toy behaviours and innate preferences). Also, gender essentialism was lower in older versus younger children. In this study, a direct, realistic story was the only effective means of teaching children about transgender identities and reducing belief in gender immutability. Thus, stories can be a way to teach children about the social world and change essentialist beliefs, but the impact may be limited and greatly affected by features of the story.

Burns M.D., Hamilton A.N., Paz Martin S.

Bernot A., Davies S.E.

Ching B.H., Li Y.H., Li X.F.

This experimental study examined ways to reduce stigma against children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms. We randomly assigned 220 Chinese pre-service teachers to one of the four experimental groups in which they read a vignette describing a student with ADHD symptoms. The contents of the vignettes differed from one another on two dimensions: (a) the causes of the symptoms (biomedical versus social) and (b) the extent to which the student has exerted effort to improve (high effort versus low effort). Participants who received biomedical explanations of ADHD ascribed less blame to the target compared with those who received social explanations. However, the group difference was only significant in the “low-effort” group, but not in the “high-effort” group. Similarly, the “biomedical” group indicated higher levels of entity beliefs than the “social” group, but the group difference was only significant in the “low-effort” group but not in the “high-effort” group. Finally, participants in the “high-effort” condition reported a stronger intention to interact with the target compared with participants in the “low-effort” condition, whereas onset causal attributions did not affect participants’ ratings on behavioural intention. These findings may have implications for reducing ADHD stigma and bear relevance to other kinds of social stigma.

CHING B.H., WU H.X., LI X.F.

This experimental study examined the joint effects of different definitions (Big-C vs. little-c) and biological attributions of creativity (i.e., biological determinist attribution vs. interactive attribution) on creative mindsets. We randomly assigned 312 participants to one of the four experimental conditions: (a) Big-C, biological determinist attribution, (b) little-c, biological determinist attribution, (c) Big-C, interactive attribution, (d) little-c interactive attribution. Participants in each experimental group read a passage about creativity, which started with a brief definition of creativity (Big C versus little-c), followed by fictitious scientific findings about the causes of creativity. Participants who were led to think about the Big-C definition of creativity tended to endorse higher levels of fixed and lower levels of growth mindsets of creativity, compared with those who were led to think of creativity as everyday activities of ordinary people. Within the Big-C condition, the differences were significantly stronger when individuals read a passage that highlighted the deterministic role of biology in affecting creativity levels, compared with others who read a passage that emphasized the importance of both biological and environmental factors. The experimental manipulations affected creative mindsets only, but not the implicit theories of intelligence. By contrast, the differences between the biological determinist and interactive attribution conditions were not significant in the little-c condition. Our findings suggest that researchers and the media should avoid communicating biological knowledge associated with creativity in deterministic ways. Conceptualizing creativity as something that is achievable in everyday contexts may contribute to the development of a growth mindset of creativity.

Zivony A., Reggev N.

Similar to other sexual minorities, asexual individuals often face prejudice and stereotyping. However, the source of these attitudes and beliefs is not well understood. We hypothesized that asexual stereotypes stem from the belief that sexual attraction is an inevitable part of human development. This attraction inevitability assumption can lead to the deduction that people who identify as asexual do so because they are going through a transitory stage or excusing socially avoidant tendencies. To test this stereotype deduction account, we examined whether specific asexual stereotypes (immaturity and non-sociality) were associated with adherence to the attraction inevitability assumption. Heterosexual participants (N = 322; 201 women, 114 men; mean age 34.6 yrs.) from the UK and the US read vignettes describing a target character that was either asexual or heterosexual. People who assumed that attraction is inevitable were more likely to evaluate asexual targets (but not heterosexual targets) as immature and non-social. The impact of the sexual inevitability assumption was present even when social dominance orientation, an attitude closely related to negativity toward all sexual minorities, was accounted for. Participants who adhered to the attraction inevitability assumption also showed a reduced inclination to befriend asexual individuals. These findings suggest that generalized negativity toward sexual minorities does not fully explain stereotypes and prejudice against asexual people. Instead, the current study highlights how perceived deviation from the shared understanding of sexuality uniquely contributes to anti-asexual bias.

Ren P., Klausen S.H.

This study takes the Danish retired older adults as the research object, investigating the interrelations among smartphone use, intergenerational support and older adults’ eudaimonic wellbeing through quantitative and qualitative methods. The technology acceptance model (TAM) and semi-structured in-depth interviews were employed to evaluate whether the proposed hypotheses were confirmed. The results revealed that the use of smartphones as an information technology device had an impact on the path from the attitude toward use to actual smartphone use. Also, they had a positive effect on older adults’ eudaimonic wellbeing. The findings demonstrated that the design and use of smartphones are in line with the physiological characteristics of older adults, and calls on them to use smartphones healthily. This study also confirmed that the physical needs and emotional needs of intergenerational support from children can positively promote older adults’ wellbeing, even though in individualistic cultures, where intergenerational support perhaps matters less.

Ching B.H., Wu H.X.