Autistic people report greater comfort socialising and easier communication with each other. Despite autism being stereotypically associated with lack of social motivation, an autistic community has been described briefly in the literature but is not well understood. Autistic community connectedness may play a role in promoting wellbeing for…

Mental health issues have been shown to be more common in LGBTQ+ youths when compared to heterosexual cisgender youths. This study aimed to understand the process of disclosure of sexuality and gender identity in Maltese LGBTQ+ university students and explored dynamics within the individual's family and social circles during this process.…

Although literature provides strong evidence for the beneficial role of outgroup contact, longitudinal knowledge regarding the formation and change of outgroup contact remains improvable. Using a longitudinal, large-scale data set including 6,726 majority and minority participants (M[subscript age] = 14.98 years at Wave 1; 55% female) from 4…

More women are now entering male-dominated fields, yet, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) remain dominated by men. We examined the association between boys' and girls' STEM choices after secondary education and friends' gender norms, and whether pressure to conform to traditional gender norms differs depending on the gender…

Alcohol use among college students has received nationwide recognition as a public health concern. The primary aim of this study was to explore students' opinions of when drinking crosses the line from acceptable to unacceptable. This study used qualitative methods to: (a) examine unappealing aspects of drinking by relationship type…

This review addresses peer group influences on adolescent smoking with a particular focus on recently published longitudinal studies that have investigated the topic. Specifically, we examine the theoretical explanations for how social influence works with respect to adolescent smoking; discuss the association between peer and adolescent smoking;…

Arguably, the most important outcome measure for services to people with intellectual disabilities is quality of life. Quality of life has been defined in numerous ways and may consist of many aspects, including physical, material, and emotional well-being, as well as interpersonal relationships, personal development, self-determination, social…

Sex segregation (the separation of boys and girls into same-sex groups in their friendships and casual encounters; [Thorne, B., & Luria, Z. (1986). Sexuality and gender in children's daily worlds. "Social Problems, 33", 176-190]), has typically been viewed as a childhood phenomenon. In the present paper, we review research that suggests the…

This article reports an ethnographic study of pre-school children's social knowledge domains. Results show how the children's shared knowledge concerning social status and social differentiation in the group was strengthened and confirmed during a traditional teacher-led ring game, where they were supposed to choose a friend. We suggest that from…

The intersection of race and gender may create unique experiences for Black and White women in terms of work, family, domestic roles, and interpersonal relationships. Dissimilar gender-role norms may foster different perceptions of gender for these two groups of women. In the current study, we examined similarities and differences in Black and…

"Acting white" was once a label used by scholars, writing in obscure journals, to characterize academically inclined, but allegedly snobbish, minority students who were shunned by their peers. Now that it has entered the national consciousness--perhaps even its conscience--the term has become a slippery, contentious phrase that is used…

Using data from a "New York Times" poll conducted in 2000, we analyze whites' approval of interracial marriage by examining the contexts in which whites have contact with blacks. The contexts can be ordered by the type of contact they provide, from close and personal to distant or hierarchical. The results of our analysis show that the type of…