Trends in International Research Presented Through the Research Consortium of the American Alliance for Health,Physical Education,Recreation and Dance (1965–2008)

The extent of international research on the Research Consortium's program between 1965 and 2008 was documented. A total of 9,132 abstracts were reviewed, and 657 (7.19%) had an international component. Inclusion of international research ranged from a low of 1.97% in 1983 to a high of 14.24% in 2007. There was a decrease in the amount of international research presented between 1965 and 1983, after which there was an increase through 2008. Most growth was from increased contributions coming from researchers in Southeast Asia. In terms of general research topics, eight areas increased over the 44-year history reviewed, and five areas decreased. Seven recommendations are advanced for expanding the place and role of international research within the Research Consortium.     

Muscle Dysmorphia,Gender Role Stress,and Sociocultural Influences

Abstract

Our study explored the contribution of gender role stress (GRS) and sociocultural appearance demands to symptoms of muscle dysmorphia (MD) in a college sample of 219 women and 154 men. For women, five GRS subscales, sociocultural appearance demands, age, and frequency of aerobic exercise predicted MD symptoms (model R² = .33; F(8,210) = 12.81, p < .001); for men, only one GRS subscale, age, and sociocultural appearance demands predicted MD symptoms (model R² = .40; F(3,150) = 9.52, p < .001). Post hoc analyses revealed that a small number of items explained a substantial portion of the variation, suggesting that MD may be more related to specific perceptions of pressure to attain an attractive body than to global gender role stress.     

Exploring the Relationship Between Computer-Mediated Communication,Sexual Identity Commitment,and Well-Being Among Lesbian,Gay, and Bisexual Adolescents

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adolescents are avid users of computer-mediated communication (CMC), but few empirical studies have investigated the function of CMC in the lives of LGB youth. Grounded in the media practice model, the present study explored the relationships among CMC, sexual identity commitment, and well-being by surveying LGB adolescents (N = 570). Results indicated that a positive relationship existed between time spent on social network sites and well-being that was mediated by sexual identity commitment. Time spent instant messaging, sending/receiving e-mail, or in chat rooms was not related to sexual identity commitment or well-being. Social network sites may aid LGB youth in understanding their sexual identities in ways that other CMC modalities cannot.     

Investigating grit variables and their relations with practice and skill groups in developing sport experts

Grit, the tendency to work hard toward long-term goals, maintaining effort and interest over years despite failure and adversity, has predicted several achievement outcomes. However, minimal work has examined grit within a sport expertise development framework, and specifically its association with deliberate practice (DP) in sport. Participants, 250 athletes (109 female; M_age = 23.40, SD = 10.14), completed the 12-item Grit Scale, practice measures, and reported their skill level (local to international). Factor analyses confirmed a 10-item two-factor model for use in our sport sample: consistency of interests (CI; 6 items; α = .81) and perseverance of effort (PE; 4 items; α = .75). A full latent variable model controlling for age showed PE significantly predicted weekly amounts of DP and engagement in mandatory and optional practice contexts; CI was inversely associated with threats to athletes’ sport commitment. Among senior athletes, both Expert and Advanced skill groups had higher PE levels than a Basic/Intermediate group, ps < .05. The tendency to work hard toward long-term goals seemingly enables athletes to persist with practice activities that are pivotal to expert sport development.     

Exhausted philosophy and islands-to-come

Abstract

Drawing on an array of sources, from Deleuze and Guattari’s philosophy (schizoanalysis) through to non-philosophy (cinema, literature), this paper concerns itself with the manifestation of the concepts of hope and despair in utopian thought and continental philosophy and the experience of hopelessness, despair and exhaustion in the contemporary moment. I aim to demonstrate such pressing concerns through a comparison of Japanese philosopher Kojin Karatani and Japanese fiction writer Ryū Murakami with the American science fiction-thriller film directed by Michael Bay, The Island. What is explored in these works is the dialectic of exhaustion and possibility. The focus of the paper is on the fecund moment inhering in the incapacity of thought to think the possibility of utopia. In terms of the philosophy of education, this hones in on the perceived lack of vision of such a possibility among youth and the failure of the university qua institution to proffer an alternative world to its cohort. To demonstrate this, the paper contrasts both ‘affirmative, transcendent, and authoritarian utopias’ (‘ignoble’ utopias as philosopher Gilles Deleuze calls them) and the possibility of ‘immanent, revolutionary, libertarian utopias’—which we shall consider in terms of ‘absolute reterritorialization’.