Psychological variables (e.g. L2 grit) remain a much under-investigated sub-category of individual differences compared with cognitive ones (e.g. aptitude). The present paper aims to gain a better understanding of the psychological effects of multilingualism by investigating tolerance of homosexuality (TH), which has received little scholarly…

Mixed methods analyses of an online survey sample (n = 4942) of sexual and/or gender minority youth (SGMY) (age 14-29) explore the relationship between participation in online fandom communities and (1) socially-mediated identity milestones and (2) self-identification, comparing fandom participating SGMY versus non-fandom participating SGMY.…

This paper addresses how educational and cultural contexts incorporate lessons around sexuality, particularly sexual and gender identity, and how these contexts impact on identity construction of gay men in Mexico City. We analyse the experiences of 15 gay men reported through semi-structured in-depth interviews and how they incorporate sexuality…

Whilst sex education in Australia has moved beyond a focus solely on abstinence, it is still in many instances shaped by what Silin refers to as the "silences" that accompany topics considered unspeakable to young people. The present article focuses specifically on one such silence, namely the representation of non-heterosexual…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the type and quality of sexuality education received by college students in Hangzhou, China. Their attitudes towards sex and sexuality were also explored. To set the broader context the regulations and laws governing the provision of sexuality education in China have also been examined.…

An analysis was undertaken of 217 English school anti-bullying policies, from 169 primary schools and 48 secondary schools, using a 34-item scoring scheme. Findings were compared with an analysis of 142 schools six years earlier. Overall schools in the current analysis had about 49% of the items in their policies, a modest increase over the…

This study assessed the effects of role models in persuasive messages about risk and social norms to increase motivation to obtain hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccination in men who have sex with men (MSM). MSM at risk for HBV in The Netherlands (N = 168) were recruited online via a range of websites and were randomly assigned to one of four…

Although lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people have achieved a great level of legal equality in Spain, social equality is still to come, especially for adolescents. This article reports results from three different studies. The first, in 2005, using a multidisciplinary approach, confirmed that homophobia is present in secondary…

Educators and the public alike are often perplexed with the enormous and evolving cyber mise en scene. Youth of the digital generation are interacting in ways our fore-mothers and fathers never imagined--using electronic communications that until 30 years ago never existed. This article reports on a study of cyber-bullying conducted with students…

This paper arises from an online discussion project in the United Kingdom, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, in which higher education students and staff were invited to respond to a series of statements about sexual orientation in the context of schooling. This paper suggests that the silence of relative non-participation may have been…

For most Chinese people in the early 1980s, homosexuality was thought of as something immoral. Many people use "Tong Xing Lian," a Chinese term similar to "homo" labeling gay men to indicate their disapproval. "A kid like him, he could be a homo? Give me a break." That would be the routine way of thinking about…

The State of the Science conference was held in May, 2007 as part of the ongoing series of national conferences, "Building on Family Strengths," conducted by the Research and Training Center on Family Support and Children's Mental Health at Portland State University. The theme of this State-of-the Science conference was "Effective…

This book contains the texts of a number of presentations from the 1999 NATCON conferences. These papers are: (1) "A Book of Surprises: Games, Stories, and Magic for Career Practitioners" (E. Sylvester); (2) "Academic and Career Choices for Lesbian and Gay Young Adults" (M. Schneider and J. McCurdy-Myers); (3)"Adolescent…

This feature is a collection of brief essays recently written by Japanese and Chinese gay youth, followed by commentary from several leading educators and scholars. Akihiko Komiya's "Difficulties Japanese Gay Youth Encounter" provides excerpts from the stories of six gay youth and their everyday lives, based on their letters in…