Many individuals endorse feminist values but do not identify as feminist. The present set of studies tests the concept of threat, grounded in G. A. Kelly's personal construct theory of personality, as a potential factor in feminist nonidentification. Study 1 introduces the theoretically grounded "Feminist Threat Index" and evaluates its…

This commentary is intended to serve as a companion to the authors' original research article ("Psychosocial Influences on Bisexual Women's Body Image Negotiating Gender and Sexuality," "Psychology of Women Quarterly," v37 n2 p224-241 Jun 2013) and to contribute to the conversation on feminist research methods. In it,…

The purpose of our study was to examine the role that child sexual abuse may play in body surveillance and sexual risk behaviors among undergraduate women. First, a measured variable path analysis was conducted, which assessed the relations among a history of child sexual abuse, body surveillance, and sexual risk behaviors. Furthermore, body…

Women's feelings about their body and their appearance are an important aspect of their lives, yet little is known about the ways in which partner relationships shape these feelings. There has been some debate about whether or not same-sex relationships offer protection to nonheterosexual (lesbian and bisexual) women from potentially harmful…

The authors enjoy the challenge of teaching classes on gender and violence, including violence against women, psychology of trauma, and psychology of gender. Although various sources provide suggestions for teaching classes that provoke strong reactions in students, they have found that one size does not fit all. Rather, they must first identify…

In this article, the author reflects on the Silencing the Self Scale (STSS) and blends her personal and professional thoughts about self-silencing, gender, and depression. For her, the despair of depression deeply involves questions of value and meaning, culture and freedom. The STSS grew from listening to depressed women's voices. From them, the…

Our study explored the relationship between feminist identity and women's report of an ideal male partner's conformity to masculine gender role norms. Heterosexual, mostly White, college women (N = 183) completed measures assessing feminist beliefs and the masculinity characteristics of an ideal male partner. Results indicated that feminist…

Our article details the development of the self-report Negative Body Talk (NBT) scale and five studies (all conducted with samples of U.S. undergraduate women) supporting the psychometric soundness of scores on this measure. The NBT scale measures women's tendency to engage in negatively valenced commentary about the weight and shape of their own…

Haitian women constitute a group that is lauded within Haiti as the "pillar of society" and yet is also often silenced both within Haiti and abroad. Given the role of the media in shaping attitudes and behaviors toward Women of Color, evaluation of media portrayals is critical to challenge oppressive discourses about these groups. Therefore, in…

Reductionistic, misogynistic, and heterosexist views of women's bodies have been often expressed and widely shared, and psychology has not been immune to those views. Second-wave feminist psychologists had plenty of work to do to normalize and destigmatize women's bodies and to point out that cultural pressures, social constructions, and…

The relative importance to feminism of generation and feminist self-labeling was explored in a sample of 667 women riding buses to a 1992 March on Washington for Reproductive Rights. Specifically, generational (Generation X vs. Baby Boomers) and feminist self-labeling (strong feminists vs. weak feminists vs. nonfeminists) similarities and…

Young sexual minority women disproportionately experience pregnancy, repeat pregnancy, and become parents, when compared with their heterosexual peers. Black sexual minority women who are socioeconomically disadvantaged are a part of three demographic groups likely to experience adolescent pregnancy. A paucity of research has examined why these…

The author has been asked to write about how her article "The Objectified Body Consciousness Scale: Development and Validation" (McKinley & Hyde, 1996) came to be published in "Psychology of Women Quarterly" ("PWQ"). In this article, she recalls the contexts in which she developed her ideas about objectified body consciousness (OBC), the process…

Fat talk (women speaking negatively about the size and shape of their bodies) is a phenomenon that both reflects and creates body dissatisfaction. Our study investigated the content, frequency, and impact of fat talk among college women. Participants (168 female students at a Midwestern U.S. university) completed online surveys containing fat…

In this article, Barbara L. Fredrickson reflects back on two early papers--"Objectification Theory: Toward Understanding Women's Lived Experiences and Mental Health Risks" and "A Mediational Model Linking Self-Objectification, Body Shame, and Disordered Eating"--and puts them into larger context. Both papers share an unusual origin story. To tell…