Five U.S. newspapers were searched for stories regarding childhood obesity. Of the 201 stories appearing in 1996, 2001, or 2006, 97 incorporated a public health frame (i.e., connects problem to the larger social and environmental context; exposes risk factors; includes information regarding preventatives and correctives). Significant risk factors were identified as unhealthy eating practices, lack of physical activity, and ads for junk food directed at children. Prevalent categories of preventatives and correctives focused on changes in diet, particularly in the home or in areas controlled by parents. Offered less frequently were suggestions regarding increases in physical activity. Consistent with previous research, the majority of both preventatives and correctives focused on individual-level as opposed to societal-level factors. Implications of these findings for the framing of news regarding childhood obesity are discussed.

Sixty minutes each of group discussions from 18 four- to seven-member decision-making groups were audiotaped and transcribed for analysis. Results indicated that questions constituted 15.6% of total turns by group members. Probes were the most frequently occurring question type (89.2%). There was a significant gender difference in only one of the five question types: Female group members asked significantly more probing questions than did their male counterparts. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Research on the effect of gender on interpersonal conflict in organizational settings has revealed contradictory findings. This research attempts to clarify the issue. One hundred and thirty-five experienced first- and mid-level managers responded to questionnaires regarding gender, psychological type, and conflict style preference. Consistent with previous research, results indicated that gender was related to psychological type: male respondents were predominantly “thinkers” and female respondents were predominantly “feelers.” Psychological type influenced conflict management for only one of five conflict style preferences. “Feelers” were more likely to choose an obliging style than were “thinkers.” Similarly, gender influenced conflict style preference for only one of five conflict management choices. Male respondents had a higher obliging score than did female respondents. Overall, however, results indicated that while psychological type may be a more powerful indicator of conflict style preference than is gender, neither factor accounted for a substantial amount of variance in conflict style preference. Implications of these findings are discussed.

This investigation examined the role played by gender and communication content in the leadership emergence process in small, task-oriented groups. Six hours of transcribed group interaction from a sample of the group deliberations of six mixed-sex groups engaged in a 4-month long decision-making project served as the database for the analysis. A simple regression analysis identified task-relevant communication as being the sole significant predictor of emerged leadership. Production of task-relevant communication explained more than 48% of the variance in emerged leadership. Subsequent analysis revealed that no significant gender differences existed in the production of task-relevant communication. Implications of these findings for the study of gender, communication, and leadership are presented.

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