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Introduction : in pursuit of "balance" -- Navigating the rules in public universities -- Navigating the rules in the U.S. military -- Looking out and speaking up : individual agency and networks -- Status speaks : the importance of rank -- In the shadow of the ideal worker -- Conclusion : can mothers ever be ideal workers?

'Family friendly' policies such as maternity leave allow millions of women in the United States to take some time off when they give birth or adopt a child in order to spend time physically recuperating and/or initiating a bond with their children. However, many working mothers report facing stereotypes that either negatively impact their decision-making about claiming their rights under work/life balance policies, or cause them to be the specific targets of discrimination in their workplaces. This article, which draws upon in-depth interviews with 48 women from 2 types of work environments (the U.S. military and academia), identifies stereotypes that have developed in these institutions. These stereotypes establish the identity of a working mother as the antithesis of an 'ideal worker'. I argue that the very policies that are aimed at easing the tension between work and family help to create and reinforce these stereotypes through discursive institutional processes.

Cote Hampson discusses the ways in which Cramer and McNulty's pieces are linked to her own article in terms of their focus on the law's failure to live up to its promises. She highlights the tensions raised in each piece between seeking cultural versus legal remedies to social inequities, and argues that critical scholarship may offer one of the best "solutions" to the problems posed by the law's limits.

Using data from the 1984–1988 National Black Election Studies as well as the 2008 and 2012 American National Election Studies, we provide a comprehensive study of African American political behavior with support for Barack Obama and Jesse Jackson serving as explanatory variables alongside other sources of variation—gender and age cohorts. Results show that African American voters who preferred Jackson and Obama in the 1984 and 2008 Democratic nominating contests were more likely to proselytize, attend a campaign rally or political meeting, donate money, and wear a campaign button. While opposition to Ronald Reagan and George Bush, church membership, involvement in Black political organizations were also linked to behavior, racial group identification (linked fate) had a less consistent effect. Both Obama's candidacy like that of Jackson's had an empowering effect on African American women—particularly, those of the civil rights generation—as was the case for Obama supporters of a younger cohort.

AbstractUsing data from the 2008 American National Election Studies (ANES) time series, and the 2008 ANES panel wave, this study examines whether the intragroup emotions Hillary Clinton elicits—gender affinity and pride—are predictive of political engagement for the group she represents: women voters. We focus on voters who report having participated in the primaries and the range of potential voters who proselytize during the primary season and express an intention to vote in the general election. Contrary to the conclusion one might reasonably draw—that is, women rather than men would be more likely to support Clinton—the real question is:whichwomen?

The effect of embarrassment upon dyadic interaction was studied in a semi-naturalistic setting. Subject pairs participated in an alternating question and answer session at one of two interactional distances (1 or 2 in), utilizing questions which increased in their intimacy content.
A control group who had only non-intimate questions was also investigated. It was found that topic intimacy, but not interactional distance affected the embarrassment potential of the situation. Increases in embarrassment caused typical changes in nonverbal behavior (decreased eye contact,
increased gestural activity, and increased smiling) for both pair members while speaking and listening, and also an increase in speech disturbances. Also, as embarrassment increased mutual gaze decreased, whilst mutual disregard and reciprocated body motion increased; reciprocated looking
and reciprocated smiling were not affected. Increases in embarrassment did not affect the amount of self-disclosure for each individual, although verbal output was suppressed relative to the control group. Significant reciprocation of self-disclosure occurred in less than one-third of the
interacting pairs. The possibility of evolving coping strategies for embarrassment are discussed in the light of the results.

Two approaches to measuring perceptions of synergistic risk were compared, one using the traditional Likert scale, the other using an anchored, relative scale. Perception of synergistic risk was defined as rating the combined hazard as more risky than each of its constituent single hazards. In a within‐subjects design, a convenience sample from the community (N= 604) rated three hazard combinations and their constituents: Driving while Intoxicated (familiar, high synergy), Radon and Smoking (unfamiliar, high synergy), and Smoking and Driving (familiar, low synergy), on both scales. The relative scale was expected to be a more sensitive measure of synergy than the Likert scale. The effects of item order (single hazards rated first versus combined hazards rated first) were examined between subjects. Driving while Intoxicated was perceived by the large majority of participants as a synergistic risk on both scales, but neither of the other two combined hazards were rated synergistically on either scale. The relative scale demonstrated a slight advantage over the Likert scale, and presenting the single hazards first for the relative scale produced more synergistic ratings. It is recommended that anchored, relative scales be used to measure synergy and that single hazards be presented prior to the combined hazards when using relative scales.

The combination of radon and smoking produces a synergistic risk of lung cancer. Lay understanding of this risk was examined from the perspectives of mental models theory, the psychometric approach to risk perception, and optimistic bias. As assessed by interview, participants (N= 50) had more extensive mental models for the risks of smoking than for the risks of radon or the combination of radon and smoking; 32% knew little or nothing about radon. Despite reading an informational brochure, their risk‐perception ratings of the three hazards showed no perception of the synergy between smoking and radon risk, although the combined hazard was rated as less familiar but more controllable than the average of the single hazards (p < .01). No evidence of optimistic bias for the health consequences of radon, or the combination of radon and smoking was observed. Participants appeared to be combining the single‐hazard risks subadditively to arrive at their combined‐hazard risk perceptions. Further research on the integration of perceived risks would be beneficial for designing optimal communications about synergistic risk.