Saturday, May 9, 2020

The review concludes that there is compelling evidence that the university environment is triggering high levels of stress and burnout and low levels of wellbeing for academics

Urbina, Angel. 2020. “What Do We Know About University Academics’ Mental Health? A Systematic Literature Review.” PsyArXiv. May 8. doi:10.31234/osf.io/37jhr

Abstract: There has been a growing interest on the negative influence that the environment of higher education institutions has on the mental health of academics, and there is evidence to suggest that the university environment is jeopardising academics’ physical and psychological health. This study sought to review the international literature with a view to ascertaining what the most commonly used measures are to investigate this topic, including the main stressors and coping strategies reported/used by academics and their lived experiences. A thorough review of the literature was conducted, and 28 studies were identified and critically analysed. The review concludes that there is compelling evidence that the university environment is triggering high levels of stress and burnout and low levels of wellbeing for academics. There is extremely limited research on the perceptions and lived experiences of academic staff. It is virtually unknown, what coping strategies academics use to face job demands, and our knowledge about burnout, seems to be limited by the use of one particular measure without cultural adaptations.


Are Playboy (and girl) Norms Behind the Relationship Problems Associated with Pornography Viewing in Men and Women?

Are Playboy (and girl) Norms Behind the Relationship Problems Associated with Pornography Viewing in Men and Women? Nicholas C. Borgogna, Tracey Smith, Ryon C. McDermott & Matthew Whatley. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, May 7 2020. https://doi.org/10.1080/0092623X.2020.1760980

Abstract: Research has indicated that pornography viewing is related to romantic relationship problems. However, the correlations across past studies have been small. We tested a model in which playboy norm conformity (i.e. desires to have frequent sex with multiple partners) functions as a confound between pornography viewing constructs on three romantic relationship wellbeing indicators: Relationship satisfaction, relationship commitment, and infidelity proclivity. Results from men (n = 286) and women (n = 717) indicated that the significant inverse correlations between relationship satisfaction and relationship commitment with pornography viewing constructs becomes non-significant when playboy norm conformity is accounted. Further, the positive relationship between pornography viewing and infidelity proclivity also becomes non-significant in women (no initial connection between pornography viewing and infidelity proclivity was found in men). Though conformity to playboy norms was more strongly related to all romantic relationship wellbeing indicators across genders, pornography viewing frequency was still significantly inversely correlated with relationship satisfaction for women; though the effect size was small. Moderation analyses suggested that pornography viewing frequency was more strongly inversely correlated with relationship satisfaction for women than men. Cumulatively, our results suggest conformity to playboy norms is a significant confounding variable between pornography viewing and romantic relationship wellbeing.

Keywords: Pornography, relationship satisfaction, relationship commitment, infidelity, promiscuity