A story in the NY Times today featuring my work with Jennifer Bosson on precarious manhood and its implications for men's health.
Social Psychologist studying manhood, masculinity, gender, lgbtq+ prejudice, underdogs. Amateur artist. Decent guitar player/bad singer. Aspiring optimist. Transgender ally.
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A story in the NY Times today featuring my work with Jennifer Bosson on precarious manhood and its implications for men's health.
Relatable.
New in PN: Trump isn't the solution to the "crisis of manhood," he's the problem "The more obvious the alteration in a woman’s appearance — even to the point of grotesqueness — the more she's shown her commitment to serve him. No one needs to tell Noem to get back in her place. She’s already there"
The White House is taking new steps to undermine every international student at our universities. It has approved a new rule restricting student visas to 4 years max. That's not long enough for PhD students, or about half of undergrads, to finish their degree. Likely to enter force within days.
"Renewable energy will overtake coal to become the world’s top source of electricity 'by 2026 at the latest', according to new forecasts from the International Energy Agency (IEA)."
New preprint! We developed new measurement tools to examine moralization in ~2B Twitter/X & Reddit posts and ~5M traditional media texts. Key finding: moralization increased markedly on social media from 2013-2021; more than traditional media; associated with multiple user dynamics 🧵👇
From the August Harper's Magazine index. Is the era of quick online data collection for psychologists coming to an end? Back to the lab?
#Baltimore Mayor #BrandonScott invested in 42 summer youth camps, 29 literacy programs, extended the rec center hours to 11 p.m, planned block parties, opened the pools for safe fun, & opened several schools up for summer classes. Crime is down 62%. 🔥🔥 www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
God, he is so bad with words. He actually wrote that, presumably read over it, and it made enough sense to him to post it.
Couldn't have said it better. Erin (and team) is such great, incisive writer.
I know this has been said a thousand times, but it's hard to believe that these are words coming from an adult, let alone the President.
It should not be lost on anyone that Minnesota Rep Melissa Hortman, who was shot to death in her home last night by an assassin, was a gun safety advocate who worked tirelessly to protect her constituents from gun violence.
Issa's trying to make a persuasive case by....comparing Karen Bass to the civil rights heroes of the past.
No bathroom is safe for transgender people.
Oh, this is just delicious. Note also that he's saying all of this from a television studio on a weekday. Decidedly not at work.
not to mention: trans people being able to use bathrooms, trans soldiers being able to serve, the economy, the university system, PBS, NPR, USAID, the EPA, the Kennedy Center, the LGBTQ+ youth suicide hotline, meals on wheels, the National Park System, Americorps.....
I'm distracted by the picture of Prince in a mirror.
Utah legislators passed a bill banning gender affirming care two years ago, justifying it by claiming the science wasn't there yet. They ordered a review. The review is out, finding unequivocally that affirming care helps trans folks.Now the people who ordered the review are dismissing the science.
Weird, because I don’t remember any airport problems during the last administration.
The APA released a statement condemning the Trump administration's Anti-trans review. "Research clearly shows that supportive mental health care greatly reduces the risk of depression, suicide, and other negative outcomes for transgender and nonbinary youth." updates.apaservices.org/statement-on...
It's such a weird tic how he makes a strange offhand comment one day and then repeats it over and over and over for the next couple of weeks. "Groceries, such a simple word..."; the transgender weightlifter story, etc.
"But first we have to get rid of all of those green tech jobs Biden created under the Inflation Reduction Act and reinvest in our nation's coal mines."
1/5 I am pleased to announce a new paper, based on a talk I gave last year at the annual meeting of the Human Biology Association. This link is open 4 a free read for a while but eventually it will get pay-walled because I can't afford open access. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
LGBTQ employees often engage in “covering” behaviors to avoid discrimination at work, such as changing their physical appearance and avoiding talking about their social lives at work. Trans employees are about twice as likely as LGBQ employees to engage in covering behaviors. bit.ly/LGBTworkplace
Stunning & original experimental work from Mosul Shared victimisation (at hands of ISIS) increases support for LGBT+ communities among locals. Effects - in part - driven by increased empathy. journals.sagepub.com/doi/epdf/10....
Just discovered this excellent paper on mediation analysis in Psych Methods. The focus defining various effects; I really appreciate how the authors contrast the "traditional" approach with "causal" mediation analysis. Great job picking up readers where they are! www.researchgate.net/publication/...
Sadly, the Florida Senate just passed a similar bill yesterday. floridaphoenix.com/2025/04/10/l...
I can't believe two men with the emotional maturity of 11 year olds are making decisions with grave consequences for the entire planet. And yet, here we are.
lol
"According to a study that followed more than 280,000 people in Wales, older adults who received a vaccine against shingles were 20 percent less likely to develop dementia in the seven years that followed vaccination than those who did not receive the vaccine." www.vox.com/future-perfe...
Kudos to the redheaded girl in the front who is not buying his shit.
"This review challenges the widely held expectation that collectivism is a conduit to various forms of intergroup bias." Open Access 👇
Erin Reed, reporting on a poll from Data for Progress finds massive opposition to Trump’s anti-trans efforts on most every issue: removal of info on LGBTQ+ health, altering LGBTQ+ to LGB in govt materials, trans military ban, govt bans on gender-related care for trans youth.
I don't know, he seemed absolutely incoherent all last summer while campaigning. Remember "they're eating the cats. They're eating the dogs."? The shark and electric boat story? The forced transgender operations in gradeschool nurses offices?
Curious what the symptoms of being cis are.
Interestingly, we've gone from 80% physical book sales in 2019, to 93% e-book sales in 2024. Real books are going the way of the typewriter.
Got our annual sales statement, and I crunched the numbers: We've now sold 27,490 copies of Psych of Sex and Gender textboook (with Jennnifer Bosson and Camille Buckner). Not bad for a little academic text! And I know lots of students find ways to get it free. 3rd edition, coming soon!
Thanks for your response. I agree that book prices are getting way too expensive for most college students; it's nice that students at least have some cheaper options (ebooks; rentals, etc). It's a tough problem, because part of the reason books are becoming more expensive is because of piracy.
How much is a fair price for a textbook? I'm asking (in sincerity) as a textbook author who spent two years writing a textbook. I get not wanting to pay for it, but if everybody can get textbooks for free, who is going to write the textbooks from now on?
Why do you want to get rid of National Park rangers? Why do you want to get rid of the Department of Education? Why do you want to get rid of workers at the NOAA? Why do you want to get rid of postal service employees? Why do you want to get rid of auditors at the IRS?
💭 What Makes a Man ‘Unmanly’? A new study explores how societies define ‘unmanliness’ across 15 countries. In gender-equal nations, it is linked to appearance (e.g., makeup). In less equal ones, it is tied to violence against women. 🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🧪 #Masculinity #SciComm
1. Major news in transgender care. Germany, Switzerland, and Austria have just released their trans youth care guidelines. They strongly recommend trans youth care and slam the Cass Review in England. Europe is not "pulling back" on trans care. Subscribe to support our journalism.
Congrats! (You were a real social psychologist before.)
"It's a real shitshow right now, but that's by design."
This is true, if you don't count the record job growth, the near record low unemployment, and the record high stock market.
From Harper's Index, January:
the thing about chasing what you think is public opinion is that if and when things turn you will have made a bunch of statements and taken a bunch of stances that you’ll have to disavow. probably a better strategy just to say what you actually believe and stand by it. anyway, this guy sucks.
"downsizes" is a weak way of saying "forced to cancel dozens of programs, which jeopardizes future STEM careers of talented undergrads" @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...
As a result of Trump’s slashes to research funding, dozens of graduate programs have announced reductions and cancellations of graduate admissions slots. If you are an impacted applicant, please fill out this survey: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... 🧪🧠🧬🔬🥼👩🏼🔬🧑🔬
#Resist 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Governor Mills doesn’t suffer fools lightly, and it appears she has even less tolerance for bullies. (And as a former attorney general, she knows what she’s talking about.)
Incredible database. Any way to know whether these moneys are being released and projects being started, or whether DOGE has halted them?
This is terrific.
How long before they argue that admitting Black students at all is "discrimination" against white people?
Massive protest happening in Union Square right now to defend trans youth from President Trump’s attempts at eradication.
My heart breaks for the trans kids who were playing soccer with their friends without issue who now have to learn the sting of exclusion from the fabric of their communities. They deserve elected leaders who will fight for them and mean it.
I don't know how excited I should feel about a chain bookstore thriving, but it seems like a good sign? And maybe it means fewer people are buying books from Amazon? www.salon.com/2025/02/04/b...
Taught my gender psychology class today, just as I have been doing for the past 25 years. But it suddenly feels like a subversive act.
I have a feeling that Pride Month this year is going to be the biggest, loudest, most joyously defiant party ever.
Did Trump firing the head of TSA play a role in this?
13.9 million adults (5.5% of the total population) in the U.S. identify as LGBTQ+. One in every six 18-24 year olds identify as LGBTQ+.
One of the best antidotes to hate is defiant, resilient, public joy.
Transgender veteran Leila Ireland on Trump military ban: "With 73% of transgender personnel being senior enlisted leaders with extensive experience, immediately replacing that personnel or these personnel will cost billions and require up to 20 years to regain that experience."
I don’t have a definitive source on this yet but it looks like NSF review panels have been canceled. Sixty-some years ago, Eisenhower transformed higher education because he viewed a science education gap as the single greatest threat to national security. This is absolutely an act of sabotage.
Interesting that the same folks who seem totally put out by being asked to respect using trans persons preferred pronouns have no problem changing the name of a body of water or a mountain.
Why do we even need gender markers on passports and driver's licenses? I don't buy that this is somehow a security feature to help identify people. Not all countries require them. How is a trans person more easily identifiable by misgendering them on a photo ID?
Really excited to announce that our paper introducing an expanded framework and measure of advantaged identity management has been accepted @ PSPB! You can check out the thread below for more details and find an updated preprint here: tinyurl.com/2uvem5nh
Happy to report a new study spearheaded by Magdalena Zawisza that I was part of. An ambitious study of ambivalent sexism across 62 nations. Sexism is bad for women, men and nations in many surprising ways from economic productivity and conflict right through to poorer health for women AND men.
I love this article from the 1949 edition of the Atlantic, which describes this new, exotic food making its way into the U.S. from Italian immigrant communities-- pizza. "It is piping hot; the brown crust holds a bubbling cheese-and-tomato filling.... This is a pizza, Italian for pie."
Fascinating piece of journalism about a prison program (GRIP) that is remarkably effective in rehabilitating men. Likelihood that a released convict will return to prison within five years: 46%. Graduate of this program: <2%.The keys: confronting trauma, redefining manhood, finding community.
You know who built things? The Biden administration. The Bipartisan Infrascture Law built 74,000 things-- bridges, roads, pipes, wifi. Not as sexy as a rocket ship, but benefits many more people.
Imagining A World In Which Trans Kids Are Free To Be Themselves “We need a world in which we move beyond such a limited understanding of gender, a world in which we stop confining everyone to one of two narrow and stifling boxes.” - @vicparsons.bsky.social www.vogue.co.uk/article/pube...
Torture. This is torture.
I'm not buying it.
Lucy Hicks Anderson was born in 1886. Vocal about her gender from an early age, she left home in 1901 and transitioned at 15. In 1945, she was successfully prosecuted for "masquerading as a woman."
On the other hand, if you're looking for an inspring act of resistance to social injustice, I think a much better (and ulitmately more effective) example is the group of trans activists who staged a non-violent sit in this week in the Capitol restrooms despite facing arrest.
When I'm not social-psychologizing, I like to try my hand at art. Here are some portraits of my most loyal and patient model, in various mediums: ink, paint, linocut print, charcoal, pencil, oil pastel, colored pencil.
An interesting contrast this week between two forms of resistance to injustice: courageous transgender protestors staging a non-violent sit-in at the Capitol restroom at the risk of arrest and a stranger gunning down a man in the back. I know which one I find more inspiring and ultimately effective.
1/2 Excited to announce a new publication with Evert Van de Vliert and Brett Pelham, in which we counter the "East vs West" framing to show that global variation in Individualism-Collectivism is predicted by North-South, not East-West differences. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
2/2 The further from the equator, the more individualism. Greater stability of day length, temp, and daily precip near the equator over the course of the year all promote collectivism. This pattern holds globally, across U.S. states, across the countries of Africa, and across the regions of Russia.
This new Atlantic piece about the rise of blatant misogyny reminds me of @chriscran.bsky.social classic paper (Crandall, Eshelman, & O'Brien, 2002) showing that the expression of prejudice is highly correlated with its social approval. Sexism doesn't go away; it just waits to become acceptable.
We love our trans kids and grandkids. You should get to know them. Courts should let parents, not politicians, make decisions for their own children. #TomorrowsPapersToday www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
So much interesting gender research to be done...
AOC dropping facts about bathroom bills: “Women know that men don’t scheme to ‘dress like girls’ to assault them. They do it every day in broad daylight. And the ones in power protect each other to keep it quiet. Just ask the House Ethics Committee. Or the President-elect of the United States."
I have a perhaps irrational dislike of the word "plethora" in academic writing. It's pretentious and nobody ever uses it in everyday conversation. I'm hereby starting a movement to get rid of it. If this works, next I'm coming for "utilize" and sentences that start with "Indeed,..."
New paper alert: in which we discuss sexual risk-taking, objectification of sex partners, sexual violence, and men’s derogation of LGBTQ+ people through the lens of precarious manhood. journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Dial soap for Men, with grip tread so you can pretend you're throwing a f*cking hand grenade while lathering up.
The fragility of manhood has implications for LGBTI safety and well-being around the world. Countries where people are most endorsing of the belief that manhood is a precarious status tend to be the least accepting of LGBTI people.https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-023-01365-x
I'll give RFK Jr credit for one thing: I've learned a lot more about the scientific basis for the benefits of fluoride, vaccines, and seed oils now.
Bring masculine back men!
I published a new paper where I organize anti-transgender rhetoric into 4 common themes: 1) Minimization (“other more important issues”), 2) Denial (misgendering, gaslighting, pathologizing), 3) Moralization (appeals to religion or social order), 4) Threat Exaggeration (predators, groomers, brutes).
2/ This feeling of 'real' manhood under threat creates a sense persecution that explains a LOT of Republican politics today, from persistent attacks on trans folks to shrugging off sex misconduct in their ranks to anti-immigrant, anti-social safety net, anti-environmentalism rhetoric and policies.
1/ New Pew survey: Most Americans think people have more positive than negative views of "manly or masculine men." But Republican men are an exception-- they think people have negative views of manly men. And more Rep than Dem men rate themselves as "highly masculine."
1/ The right’s war on trans people isn’t about “protecting kids” or “fairness.” It’s about isolating, dehumanizing, and provoking—pushing until someone breaks. You do not, under any circumstances, have the hand it to them. 🧵
I'm new to BlueSky. I'm going to use this space primarily to discuss gender-related psychological research, and gender issues in political and social life. And maybe an occasional post on my love for the Beatles.
Rapists and underage sex traffickers should never get a free pass. As Lucian Truscott writes, "The #MeToo movement shouldn’t be over because Donald Trump was elected president. It should be just getting started." #weakmen
2025 is going to be a tough year for trans folks.
