Frontiers in Sociology最新文献

Introduction: Colorism, a form of appearance-based prejudice in which people are penalized or privileged according to skin shade, hair and facial features, is a pervasive yet underexplored form of bias that affects minoritized ethnic populations. This study examined associations between experiences of colorism and body image and self-esteem among 552 Black and South Asian adolescents (M _age = 16.1 years) in the United Kingdom.

Methods: Participants completed an online survey that included measures of ingroup and outgroup colorism, internalized colorism, self-reported skin shade, skin shade satisfaction, body image (body esteem), and self-esteem.

Results: On average, Black and South Asian adolescents were not regularly subjected to colorism in their everyday lives. However, both ingroup and outgroup colorism were significantly associated with higher internalized colorism and lower skin shade satisfaction, lower body esteem, and lower self-esteem (all p < 0.001). Linear models showed that colorism predicted lower body esteem and lower self-esteem, even after controlling for demographics (e.g., gender, age), self-reported skin shade, and internalized colorism. Ingroup colorism was a stronger predictor of low self-esteem than outgroup colorism though there were no differences between ingroup and outgroup colorism and the relationship with body image. Additionally, analyses showed that internalized colorism mediated the relationship between ingroup colorism and both body image and self-esteem. This mediation pathway was neither observed between outgroup colorism and body image nor self-esteem.

Discussion: Experiencing colourism was associated with worse wellbeing. The relationship between colorism and wellbeing may be explained by different mechanisms based on whether colorism is experienced by one's own racialized group or not. There is a need for carefully designed culturally responsive interventions.

Social media platforms have emerged as critical in changing family communication patterns. Particularly, they have widely transformed the family dynamics in the rich cultural dynamics regarding intergenerational bonding. Especially in countries like the United Arab Emirates, the role and impact of these platforms in promoting family relationships remain critical. This micro-level study explores how the UAE's young generation uses social media platforms to connect with older family members and how these digital interactions strengthen families' intergenerational solidarity, emotional resilience, and cultural continuity. Theoretically supported by social convoy theory, this research study used a qualitative design to highlight these digital exchanges' patterns, communication styles, motivations, and perceived effects. The data collected from 15 young adults in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, indicated that social media played a critical role in maintaining family relationships across distances, particularly WhatsApp and Facebook. Participants use these tools to share daily updates, celebrate events, and express care, supporting emotional bonds host of young adults adapted their digital behaviours to include other relatives, guiding them in technology useful stop social media also supported preserving cultural practises through language, religious greetings common storytelling first of all participants highlighted this digital bonding, they acknowledge that face-to-face interactions lack emotions. Overall, these findings highlighted the potential of social media platforms to improve intergenerational communication, cultural continuity, and emotional resilience within diaspora families. The results further provided implications for family-centred sustainability practices, specifically in a multicultural society like the UAE, where conventional values and contemporary technologies continuously intersect.

Introduction: Intergenerational income mobility serves as a key indicator of equality of opportunity and social stratification. Education is widely seen as a vital pathway for enhancing social mobility. This paper examines China's Compulsory Education Law of 1986 and analyzes its effects on intergenerational income mobility.

Methods: Using data from the China Household Income Project, this study constructs matched samples of parents and adult children. Income adjustment and Heckman selection models are employed to correct measurement errors and co-residence selection bias. A difference-in-differences approach is used to identify the causal effects of the policy, supplemented by triple differences, event-study designs, and other robustness checks.

Results: The study finds that the Compulsory Education Law significantly reduced intergenerational income correlation, thereby increasing income mobility. The mechanism analysis shows that the policy significantly reduced inequalities in access to junior secondary education and non-agricultural employment opportunities, thereby enhancing intergenerational income mobility. Yet, persistent inequalities in access to senior secondary education and high-status occupations, together with class-based differences in returns to education, may have partially offset these gains. The heterogeneity analysis further shows that the policy had a stronger effect on intergenerational mobility among urban households compared with rural ones, while no significant differences were observed by gender.

Discussion: Expanding access to compulsory education can, to some extent, weaken the intergenerational transmission of economic advantages and promote social mobility, although its effects vary across social groups. The findings provide empirical evidence for ongoing policy debates on whether to extend the duration of compulsory education and offer broader insights into the dynamics of social mobility in developing economies.

This research paper examines help-seeking behaviours of victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) in Germany by investigating the point at which victims tend to seek help in an abusive relationship and the types of services they most frequently seek support from. It is then considered how victims' gender, age and number of children affect the type of support sought, as well as the impact that seeking support from different forms of services has upon the duration of abuse suffered. This paper utilises data collected from a nationally representative online survey conducted in Germany, which included 420 victims of domestic abuse. Initially, the frequency with which victims seek help from different forms of formal and informal support networks is evaluated (henceforth referred to as intervention). Statistical tests are then applied to examine how victims' backgrounds, help-seeking behaviours, and the length of their abusive relationships influenced their choice of certain interventions. Ultimately, we found that the intervention relied on differed by gender, with women being more likely to seek informal support and male victims confiding more frequently in health practitioners. Victims who sought help from friends and family earlier were more likely to experience shorter abusive relationships. By contrast, victims that sought help from professional services were more likely to report longer relationships. The differences in help-seeking patterns suggest that victims have different needs and/or support networks available to them at different stages in abusive relationships. Challenges in leaving the relationship also reduced the likelihood of victims seeking support, with older victims the least likely to seek support from anyone and the number of victims 'children increasing the time taken to confide in anyone. These findings indicate the importance of victims' informal support networks being able to provide a supportive and understanding response when first approached for help by victims. This can be achieved through increasing social awareness of IPV and its consequences. Further qualitative research is required to identify victims' reasons for reaching out to different services across abusive relationships, to understand the needs that victims need met at different points of the abusive relationship.

This study identifies the factors influencing father involvement in container cities following the February 6, 2023 earthquakes in Türkiye and examines the current state of father involvement from a sociological perspective. Father involvement improves children's cognitive, social and emotional development as well as academic success. However, earthquakes can seriously disturb this. Previous studies have indicated that the father-child relationship transforms after disasters such as earthquakes. This study analyzes, within "father involvement" framework, how father-child relations differs in families forced to set up new life-world in container cities. The analysis was grounded in the phenomenological sociology tradition, which interprets father involvement as a lived sociological phenomenon embedded in everyday experiences. The study utilizes Van Manen's hermeneutic phenomenological approach. Data collected from 23 earthquake-affected fathers (N = 23), using a semi-structured interview, a purposive sampling technique, and analyzed using MAXQDA. The factors affecting father involvement were thematized as follows: the child's social and psychological well-being, changes in emotional state, economic deterioration; search for meaning of life, and transformations in relationships with the spouse and the surrounding environment. Father involvement is categorized into three dimensions: responsibility, interaction, and communication. Father involvement is context-dependent, and the factors influencing it differ post-earthquake compared with the existing literature. The earthquake motivated fathers to prioritize their children, highlighting the importance of father involvement.

Introduction: Decent work and gender equality are critical for fostering sustainable economic and social development. Even though the last three decades have seen several positive advancements in gender equality, disparities still exist in several ways, with research indicating that young women face more obstacles to employment and professional advancement than their male counterparts.

Methods: An on-line cross-sectional survey was conducted with a sample of 190 Portuguese young adults who work to examine key factors of decent work such fundamental principles and values at work, adequate working time and workload, fulfilling and productive work, meaningful remuneration for the exercise of citizenship, social protection, opportunities and health and safety.

Results: The analysis reveals gender differences in most of the dimensions of decent work, suggesting that gender plays a significant role in shaping these perceptions. Findings also suggested differential effects of having a team leader position and work schedules for male and female young workers.

Discussion: Understanding these gendered perceptions is crucial for policymakers and employers aiming to promote gender equality and decent work for all. By addressing the specific perceptions of decent work both men and women using the gender equity lens can raise awareness about the barriers that act against equitable work environments, enabling to both men and women to create a positive future for themselves, their families, and their communities.

Background: Prenatal alcohol exposure can cause neurodevelopmental disorders affecting children's brain function, educational and social skills throughout their lives. International literature highlights the challenge for families of raising an affected child. Beyond their exposure to alcohol, these children face other negative events such as separation from their biological families, the mental health problems of their parents, and so forth, which will have repercussions on their childhood and their future health.

Methods: This research used semi-structured interviews with 107 participants, namely 53 social and health-care professionals and 54 families (foster, adoptive or biological) of 62 children prenatally exposed to alcohol. All were recruited in two regions and a national association of parents in France. Families were diverse in terms of members, regions, ages, and social and cultural backgrounds. A thematic analysis was performed to distinguish parenthood styles and stressors.

Results: The analysis allowed identification of three types of parenthood used to cope with these neuro-disabilities, independent of the legal status of the family: first, intensive parenting with a major involvement of the adults in charge; second, inclusive parenting seeking to normalize the child within the siblings, school group or society; and third, distanced parenthood where the disability was down-played and the child considered to have lesser abilities. In all cases, the stress, and the difficulties encountered, have a negative influence on the mental health of the parents and/or on the integrity of the family unit, with different modalities of shared parenting.

Conclusion: Becoming the parent of a child with disabilities, even more so when the origin is attributed to stigmatized and stigmatizing behavior for both mother and child, is a long process that requires adequate diagnosis and management to avoid loss of opportunity. Parental investment, which determines the family trajectories, is based on social and cultural resources.

Introduction: This study investigates how Omani elites perceive women's representation in national media and how structural, cultural, and political forces shape gender narratives in the Sultanate. It explores how women's visibility is instrumentalized to project modernization while maintaining patriarchal authority, situating the Omani case within broader Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) media-gender dynamics.

Methods: The research draws on 38 semi-structured elite interviews conducted between 2021 and 2025 with parliamentarians, journalists, academics, activists, and government officials. Interviews were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis within the frameworks of state feminism, neopatriarchy, and symbolic annihilation, complemented by media observation and document analysis to triangulate findings.

Results: Findings reveal that women's visibility in Omani media is predominantly symbolic and event-based, emphasizing ceremonial achievements and depoliticized empowerment. Elites describe a system where modernization coexists with patriarchal control, producing what can be termed "modernization without liberation." Media governance and restrictive laws-such as those protecting the "majesty of the state," limit editorial independence and suppress rights-based gender discourse. Women are often silenced or stereotyped, with their lived realities of discrimination and inequality omitted from mainstream narratives.

Discussion and conclusions: The study argues that women's representation in Omani media functions as a technology of legitimacy within an authoritarian developmental model that merges inclusionary rhetoric with moral governance. Moving beyond symbolic visibility requires reforms that strengthen media autonomy, institutionalize women's participation in decision-making, and expand digital pluralism. Such measures could transform Omani media from a vehicle of state image management into a platform for genuine dialogue, justice, and equality, contributing to wider debates on gender, media, and state-society relations in the GCC.