Research
Areas of Interest
My research and writing over the past years have focused on women's mental health and relationships with a specific focus on (1) sexual orientation, (2) the stigma of weight and (3) academic procrastination. Some publications from these three research areas are listed below, in alphabetical order by title. If you click on the title, the pdf version of the publication will appear.
If you click on my attached c.v., all publications co-authored with students have asterisks next to the students' names. You can also see a list of books I have edited on the BOOKS site.
Sexual Orientation
My research has focused on methodological issues, including factors unique to lesbians as well as ways that gender and sexual orientation intersect. I have just finished a project that compared lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals (LGBs) to their heterosexual siblings. There has been little research on sexual orientation that uses appropriate comparison groups, and I began this methodology in order to study the feasibility of using siblings for demographic and mental health comparisons.
An ongoing project compares lesbian and gay couples who were united in a civil union during the first year this legislation was available in Vermont (July 2000 to July 2001) with their same-sex friends who did not have civil unions, and with their married heterosexual siblings. Our research team focused on demographic and relationship information, presence of children, social support from friends and family, and gender roles (e.g., division of housework and finances). We are now engaged in the three-year follow-up of these three types of couples.
Our research team is also comparing same-sex couples who in 2004
were either married in Massachusetts, had domestic partnerships
in California, or had civil unions in Vermont.
I am also interested in ways that lesbians connect with each other
in non-sexual ways. I have just completed an edited book on lesbian
ex-lovers and an edited book on lesbian communities, and will
be investigating ways that lesbians define their communities.
I am editor of the Journal of Lesbian Studies and each year appoint a graduate student to serve as editorial assistant.
Click on the links below for pdf versions of my publications on sexual orientation:
A Model of Predictors and Outcomes of Outness Among Lesbian and Bisexual Women
"Boston Marriage" among Lesbians: Are We a Couple If We Aren't Having Sex?
Depression Among Lesbians: An Invisible and Unresearched Phenomenon
Expanding the Research Infrastructure for Lesbian Health
Finding a "Word for Myself": Themes in Lesbian Coming-Out Stories
Lesbian and Bisexual Mothers and Nonmothers: Demographics and the Coming-Out Process
Lesbian Baby Boomers at Midlife
Lesbian Sex at Menopause: as Good as or Better Than Ever
Lesbians and Their Sisters as a Control Group: Demographic and Mental Health Factors
National Lesbian Health Care Survey: Implications for Mental Health Care
Removing the Stigma- Fifteen Years of Progress
Same-Sex Marriage and Legalized Relationships: I Do, or Do I?
Sexual Orientation and Sex in Women's Lives: Conceptual and Methodological Issues
Siblings and Sexual Orientation: Products of Alternative Families or the Ones Who Got Away?
Transforming Lesbian Sexuality
Victimization Over the Life span: A Comparison of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Heterosexual Siblings
When Lesbians Aren't Gay: Factors Affecting Depression Among Lesbians
Who Fills Out a "Lesbian" Questionnaire?
Weight and Stigma
I have conducted research on weight and employment discrimination, women’s weight in an international context, and the ways in which fat women cope with the stigma of weight.
Click on the links below for pdf versions of my publications on weight and stigma:
A Comparison of Lesbians, Gay Men, and Heterosexuals on Weight and Restrained Eating
A Comparison Study of United States and African Students on Perceptions of Obesity and Thinness
Beauty Mandates and the Appearance Obsession: Are Lesbians Any Better Off?
Compensating for Stigma: Obese and Nonobese Women's Reactions to Being Visible
Contradictions and Confounds in Coverage of Obesity: Psychology Journals, Textbooks, and the Media
Coping with Prejudice and Discrimination Based on Weight
Diversity and Size Acceptance: Lessons from the Lesbian Experience
Effects of Clients' Obesity and Gender on the Therapy Judgments of Psychologists
Gender Differences in Internal Beliefs About Weight and Negative Attitudes Towards Self and Others
Gender Differences in Social Consequences of Perceived Overweight in the United States and Australia
Lesbians and Physical Appearance: Which Model Applies?
Outcomes of Weight-Loss Programs
Results of the NAAFA Survey on Employment Discrimination
Stereotypes of Obese Female Job Applicants
The Relationship between Obesity, Employment, Discrimination, and Employment-Related Victimization
The Relationship of Body Image, Feminism and Sexual Orientation in College Women
The Stigma of Women's Weight- Social and Economic Realities
Women and Weight: An International Perspective
Women and Weight: Fad and Fiction
Procrastination
A former research area of mine focused on academic procrastination, fear of failure, and risk-taking. I am still receiving many reprint requests for this research.
Click here for a copy of the PASS (Procrastination Assessment Scale for Students)
Click here for PASS scoring instructions
Click on the links below for pdf versions of my publications on these topics:
Academic Procrastination Frequency and Cognitive-Behavioral Correlates
Affective, Cognitive, and Behavioral Differences Between High and Low Procrastinators
Fear of Failure: The Psychodynamic, Need Achievement, Fear of Success, and Procrastination Models
Ivy Halls and Glass Walls: Barriers to Academic Careers for Women and Ethnic Minorities
Leaving the Ivory Tower: Factors Contributing to Women's Voluntary Resignation from Academia
Procrastination Assessment Scale-Students (Pass)
Procrastination Assessment Scale- Students
Psychological Antecedents of Student Procrastination
Psychological Factors in the Antarctic
Women in the Antarctic- Risk-Taking and Social Consequences