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The intent of this research thesis is the examination of post-secondary women’s positive experiences with pornography. Very little research has been conducted with women who enjoy pornography and yet recent statistics in Canada and the United States show that there is an increasing amount of female users of pornography (Cantor, Mares, & Hyde, 2003). This study presents an emerging grounded theory of the process through which a small group of post-secondary women come to label their experiences with pornography as positive. The study traces the experiences of four post-secondary women in Western Canada from their initial exposure to pornography to their current use of the material. Results showed the importance of personal control in the development of female sexual identity and the enjoyment of pornography. This study is embedded in a social constructionist theoretical framework and offers recommendations for further research in the area. iii / x, 179 leaves ; 29 cm

This study explored variables affecting and factors related to the career choices of female and male undergraduate physical science students. The variables that were examined are self-confidence, career values and attributions. Included in the examination of career plans was an attempt to establish enrollment patterns in honours and major physical science departments at McGill University. Results indicated that there was a decline in the enrollment rate for women in all science programmes (except for geology) and an increase in enrollment for males in all programmes (except for geology and physics). Contrary to previous findings, the results suggested that women in science programmes wish to remain in science or science-related occupations. While there were no conclusive findings for the variables affecting career planning, the results did reveal a pattern of gender differences that resembled gender role stereotypes.

Using a sociocultural theoretical framework, this study describes the learning experience of three re-entry adult women during their first year of academic study in a university. To situate the learning historically and culturally, cultural factors of both the students and the learning context are considered as well as interactions between the two over time. Information about the students' perspective of their experience was obtained through interviews conducted throughout the year and some textual responses are examined. The women's orientations toward learning are described using three theoretical constructs: transformative or reproductive approaches to learning, connected or separate modes of learning, and rhetorical or arhetorical approaches to text. / Each of the women entered university with a different orientation to learning and each struggled to learn to respond in academically appropriate ways. In her interactions with the learning context, each experienced some disjunction and some support for her preferred ways of learning. One student, entering as an active and sophisticated learner, initially resisted academic tasks that required an arhetorical, reproductive, or decontextualized response. Another student, entering eager to apply her learning to her everyday life, responded with enthusiastic effort, compliant about meeting academic demands and sometimes suppressing her preference for rhetorical and connected learning. The third student, entering with a background as a reproductive and receptive learner, did not become engaged as a learner and avoided writing that required her to transform rather than reproduce ideas. By the end of the year, each student had shifted her pre-entry orientation, moving toward integration of her preferred approach to learning and academic ways. Writing was the activity where integration most often occurred. Changes in orientation occurred through a negotiation process. / This study adds to our understanding of learning as a sociocultural process and provides a description of individuals in transition between one domain of situated cognition and another. It also shows different ways adult women respond to disjunction with their preferred ways of learning within a university setting and ways they integrate their own preferences with academic ways. Finally, it highlights students' need for guidance in achieving intersubjectivity in academic discourse as new participants in an academic community.

The body cathexis and "ideal" female figure for Black college females and White college females were investigated. The Body Cathexis Scale was administered to determine students' level of satisfaction with their bodies. Self reports of each student's ideal female measurements were also examined. It was hypothesized that Black college females tend to possess greater satisfaction with their body image than White college females. Black college females were hypothesized to report less restrictive measurements for what they believe would make up the ideal female figure than White college females. Results showed that some significant differences were found between Black and White college females. Of the 46 items on the Body Cathexis Scale, significant differences between Black and White college females were found on seven items with five indicating higher satisfaction of Black college females and two indicating that White college females had higher satisfaction. Of the five measurements of ideal female figure, only one differed significantly with the Black college females possessing a less restrictive measurement. Thirty-nine items on the Body Cathexis Scale and four on the ideal female figure measurements showed no significant difference. Therefore, the hypothesis of Black college females being more satisfied with their bodies and reporting less restrictive ideal female figure measurements than White college females was not supported. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

Previous research has shown that many women feel self-conscious of their bodies during physical intimacy with their partners, and this body image self-consciousness was related to sexual esteem, sexual assertiveness, sexual experience, and avoidance of sexual behavior. The purpose of the present study was to further explore body image selfconsciousness and examine its relationship with sexual functioning, risky sexual behavior, and sexual victimization. Participants were 171 heterosexual, sexually active, female undergraduate college students and completed the Body Image Self-Consciousness Scale (BISCS), the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), the Sexual Experiences Survey (SES), and a questionnaire assessing sexual experience and risky sexual behavior. Results found that body image self-consciousness was associated with use of protection against sexually transmitted infection during vaginal sex, overall sexual functioning, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, and sexual satisfaction, and the frequency of some sexual behavior, but not sexual victimization. / Department of Psychological Science

The purpose of the study was to determine if there is a difference in nutrition knowledge and eating behaviors among collegiate male and female athletes and non-athletes. Although a vast majority of research has looked at female athletes, to date there has been limited research comparing athletes and non-athletes, specifically investigations involving males.A sample of male and female collegiate athletes and non-athletes completed an online questionnaire. The questions were formulated based the 2005 Food Guide Pyramid as well as factual nutrition knowledge questions. Once the survey was completed, the data was analyzed using the Pearson Correlation and ANOVA.A total of 1,252 participants completed the survey with a little over 78% being female. Only 7.2% (n=90) of the participants reported they were members of a collegiate sports team. The overall mean score for nutrition knowledge was 11.42 ±2.30 for all participants, representing a correct score of only 57%. Athletes had a mean score of 11.15 +2.55 and non-athletes with a mean score of 11.44 +2.28 showing no statistical difference. When comparing gender, females had a mean nutrition knowledge score of11.56 ±2.31 and males had a mean score of 10.90 ±2.22. Although females had a higher average knowledge score than males, this was not found to be statistically different.Eating behaviors were assessed using the 2005 Food Guide Pyramid. Males ate significantly more meals/day and servings of vegetables, grains, dairy and meats, nuts and beans than their female counter part. When looking at eating behaviors of athletes and non-athletes, very few statistical differences occurred. Athletes ate significantly more meals per day (3.29 ±.69) than non-athletes (2.65 ±.70). Similarly, athletes consumed significantly more (3.00 ±.74) cups of fruit per day than non-athletes (2.68 ±.59). No statistical differences were found between athletes and non-athletes for the amount of vegetables, grains, dairy, meats, nuts, and beans and fast food consumed. / Department of Family and Consumer Sciences

The purpose of this study was to determine the nutrition knowledge and dietary intake before and after the implementation of a nutrition education program among university female cross country runners. The nutrition education program consisted of three, onehour sessions comprised of the following topics: general diet recommendations including carbohydrate, fat, protein, and the five food groups, iron status, fluids and hydration, amenorrhea, calcium intake and its effect on bone mass, and pathogenic weight control. Female cross country runners from Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, and Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana served as the experimental groups, and Anderson University, Anderson, Indiana served as the control group. Teaching materials including outlines, handouts, and discussion questions were developed, presented, and distributed at each session. Evaluation of nutrition knowledge was completed through a pre-test, and post-test which consisted of 22 multiple choice / true/false questions. The nutrition education program significantly increased the nutrition knowledge for the experimental group (n = 9) from a mean pre-test score of 11.22 +/- 4.74 to a mean post-test score of 15.44 +/- 3.88. The quiz was developed with questions from two other quizzes used in previous research including Worme, et al., (1990) and Barr (1986) as well as a few additional questions developed by the primary investigator. Dietary intake was evaluated using three-day diet records prior to the nutrition education program and immediately following. In addition, three experimental subjects and three control subjects completed follow-up diet records one month following the nutrition education program but was not included in the data analysis. There were no significant changes in any of the 21 nutrients assessed; however, there were a few which approached statistical significance including thiamin (p<0.0528), dietary fiber (p<0.0865) and saturated fat (p<0.0737). Participants in the study seemed very receptive to the chosen topics but was especially interested in the topic of amenorrhea. Although not asked, four subjects did report that amenorrhea had been a problem- in the past including one subject who still had the problem. The primary investigator feels the educational program had a positive affect on the subjects. It is important to educate athletes about nutrition and the effects on health, especially young females involved with sports in which body weight has an influence on performance. This study could be repeated in the future to further study dietary intake and how nutrition education affects eating behaviors over a long period of time in this population. / Department of Home Economics

The purpose of this thesis was to determine relationships among dieting behaviors, stress, weight status, and weight perceptions in college undergraduate females. Individuals who were overweight/obese reported significantly higher eating in response to emotions and stress as well as reduced ability to change a situation, manage one’s emotional reaction, or cope effectively than their underweight/normal weight peers. Also, those who were overweight/obese used significantly more total methods for weight loss. Individuals who were more likely to use food to cope also used a higher number of restraint methods of dieting as well as non-diet methods than those who were less likely to use food to cope. Perceived healthy and perceived attractive weight, as percents of current weight, were significantly lower for overweight/obese individuals than for those who were underweight/normal weight. Results from this study illustrate that weight status is associated with dieting behaviors, emotional eating, and weight perceptions. / Department of Family and Consumer Sciences