Dr. Sondra E. Solomon

Dr. Solomon & Relationships and Identity

Born in Bronx, NY, the daughter of Eric Leander Solomon and the late Lilah Erina Sylvia Lockhart Solomon, Dr. Solomon was a compassionate and loving person who inspired colleagues, students and friends alike with her resilience, determination and grace. Her lifelong challenge with neurofibromatosis enhanced her commitment to and empathy with people coping with social stigmatization, marginalization, and other chronic and acute challenges, and informed her remarkable career, which spanned teaching, mentoring, research, community outreach, and spiritual development.

In addition to her appointments in the Departments of Psychological Science and Psychiatry, Dr. Solomon directed UVM's Fall Institute on Racism, Heterosexism, Bias and Oppression, chaired the Diversity Curriculum Review Committee, co-founded the Person-Environment Zone Projects (PEZ), and was Co-Principal Investigator of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-funded project Rural Ecology and Coping with HIV Stigma. These projects continue to bring together graduate and undergraduate students, research faculty, and staff members to foster an increased understanding of stigma, resilience, coping, healthy behaviors, prejudice, and discrimination.

solomon.pdf

Money, Housework, Sex, and Conflict: Reflection #1

Dr. Solomon conducted research in a wide array of areas, but a consistent theme was the complexity of identity. In the featured study, Dr. Solomon surveyed gay, lesbian, and heterosexual couples in committed relationships (note that this data was collected before the legalization of same-sex marriage, and so her sample includes married heterosexual couples and LGBT couples in both recognized partnerships (civil unions) and unrecognized but committed relationships).

Given the abundance of the results in her study, it's easy to get overwhelmed to skip over the details. To counter this, pick three variables, one from each of the lists below. Without looking at the study, do you think that gay/lesbian and heterosexual participants (both male and female) will report differences in how often they perform the behaviors? Why do you think this?

Household Tasks

Housework hours per week
Total "traditionally women's" housework
Total "traditionally men's" housework
Repairing things around the house
Doing the dishes
Cooking breakfast
Cooking the evening meal
Vacuuming the carpets
Doing the laundry
Making arrangements to have repairs made around the house
Making complaints to the landlord/landlady
Cleaning the bathroom
Caring for pets
Taking out the trash
Doing the grocery shopping
Taking care of the lawn
Ironing my clothes
Making drinks for company
Driving the car when we are going somewhere in town together
Punishing the children
Taking the children to their activities and appointments
Playing with the children

Relationship Maintenance

Pay the other compliments
See the others point of view during an argument
Do unasked favors for the other
Begin to talk about what is troubling us when there is tension
Give the other a spontaneous hug or kiss
See oneself as running the show in our relationship
Offer advice when the other is faced with a problem
Sense that the other is disturbed about something
Give in to the other’s wishes
Take on a problem in a rational rather than emotional way
Contribute the most in reaching a solution when we face a dilemma
Criticize the other’s judgment
Keep one’s feelings to oneself
Let the other know I would like to have sex
Refuse to have sex
In general, who has more say about important decisions affecting our relationship
Who do you think should have the final say about important decisions affecting the relationship
Who is more committed to the relationship
Who has altered habits and ways of doing things more to please the other

Conflict

Total conflict
Conflict about
- Housekeeping
- Partner’s job
- Our social life
- My Job
- Partner’s attitudes about children
- My relatives
- His/her relatives
- Moral/religious beliefs
- Communication
- Money coming in
- Managing money
- Expressing affection
- Both working
- Raising children
- Sex life
- Sex outside relationship
- Relationship in general

What the Research Shows, Reflection #2

This link will take you a page where you can view the results of the cited study visually. An asterisk above two bars in the graph indicates that the two groups' scores are significantly different. Do the findings match your hypotheses? Why do you think this is the case?

You can play with the settings on the left to explore in more detail the study's results. Are any of them surprising? Why or why not?

Google Sites

Report abuse