Sarah K. Murnen, Ph.D  Professor Associate Provost   (740) 427-5117 murnen@kenyon.edu

• Ph.D. University at Albany, State University of New York, 1988
• B.S.   Bowling Green State University, 1984
 
 

Came to Kenyon in:

 1988 
 
 

Professional History

2002-2005       Associate Provost, Kenyon College 2002-present    Professor of Psychology, Kenyon College 1996-present    Associate Professor of Psychology, Kenyon College 1988-1996       Assistant Professor of Psychology, Kenyon College

 

Teaching Interests

I teach courses related to statistics and research methods, as well as courses related to gender and social issues.   I like incorporating “active” learning techniques (such as class discussion and data collection) in all of my courses, although “lecture” needs to be a part of the statistics course.  The reason I like teaching statistics and methods courses is that I find the tools of psychology very useful for helping to answer questions about social issues.  I like collecting and analyzing data, and I hope to convey this enthusiasm for research to the student with whom I work.  I enjoy  helping students develop skills in these areas so they can use them to understand more about research, and perhaps conduct their own research projects.  I also enjoy teaching courses that are related to gender and social issues.  I became interested in gender issues as a high school student when I became aware of how few female students pursued upper-level math courses, relative to male students.  I analyzed that data concerning female drop-out rates in math and published in the school newspaper.  I have learned a lot more about these issues since then!  My training in social/personality psychology focusing on human sexuality has led me to conduct research on gender and sexuality, as well as on gender and body image issues.  The courses I teach concerning social issues - psychology of women, research methods to study gender, sexual violence, and gender and race issues in sport - are informed by this research as well as the reading I have done on these topics, and the discussions I have had with students.

 

Research Interests

Some of my research concerns the area of gender and sexuality, while some concerns the issue of gender and body image (and some is the intersection of these areas).  I like to employ a variety of research techniques including qualitative methods (content analysis), observational studies, experimental research, and the quantitative technique of meta-analysis.  Regardless of the research technique, I usually employ a feminist theory to help understand the social issues in question.

 

Recent Publications (students shown in bold)

Bleecker, T., & Murnen, S. K. (2005). Fraternity membership, the display of sexually degrading sexual images of women, and rape myth acceptance. Sex Roles, 53, 487-493. Smolak, L., & Murnen, S. K., Thompson, J. K. (2005). Sociocultural Influences and Muscle Building in Early Adolescent Boys. Psychology of Men and Masculinity, 6, 227-239. Smolak, L., & Murnen, S. K. (2004). A feminist approach to eating problems. In: J. K. Thompson (Ed.). Handbook of Eating Disorders and Obesity, pp. 590-605. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley. Diekman, A., & Murnen, S. K. (2004). Learning to Be Little Women and Little Men: The Inequitable Gender Equality of Nonsexist Children’s Literature. Sex Roles, 50, 373-385. Murnen, S. K., Smolak, L., Mills, J. A., & Good, L. (2003). Thin, sexy women and strong, muscular men: Grade school children’s reactions to objectified images of women and men. Sex Roles, 49, 427-437. Murnen, S. K., Wright, C., & Kaluzny, G. (2002). If ‘boys will be boys,’ then girls will be victims? A meta-analytic review of the research that relates masculine ideology to sexual aggression. Sex Roles, 46, 359-375 Groesz, L., Levine, M. P., & Murnen, S. K. (2002). The effect of experimental presentation of thin media images on body satisfaction: A meta-analytic review. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 31, 1-16. Smolak, L, & Murnen, S. K. (2002). A meta-analytic examination of the relationship between child sexual abuse and eating disorders. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 31, 136-150 Murnen, S. K. (2001). Gender and the use of sexually degrading language. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 24, 319-327. Smolak, L., & Murnen, S. K. (2001). Gender and eating problems. In: Striegel-Moore & Smolak (Eds.). Eating disorders: New directions for research and practice, pp. 91-110. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Murnen, S. K., & Smolak, L. (2000). The experience of sexual harassment among grade-school students: Early socialization of female subordination? Sex Roles, 43, 1-17. Smolak, L., Murnen, S. K., & Ruble, A. E. (2000). Female athletes and eating problems: A meta-analysis. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 27, 371-380. Murnen, S. K.  (2000).  Gender and the use of sexually degrading language.  Psychology of Women Quarterly, 43, 1-17. Murnen, S. K., & Smolak, L.  (2000).  The experience of sexual harassment among grade-school students: Early socialization of female subordination?  Sex Roles, 24, 319-327 Matschiner, M., & Murnen, S. K.  (1999).  Hyperfemininity and Influence.  Psychology of Women Quarterly, 23, 631-642. Murnen, S. K.  (1998).  The Hyperfemininity Scale.  In C. M. Davis, W. L. Yarber, R. Bauserman, G. Scheer, & S. L. David (Eds.).  Handbook of Sexuality-Related Measures, pp. 258-261.  Thousand Oaks, CA:   Sage Publications. Murnen, S. K., & Smolak, L. S.  (1997).  Femininity, masculinity, and disordered eating:  A meta-analytic review.  International Journal of Eating Disorders, 22, 231-242. Murnen, S.K., & Stockton, M. C.  (1997).  Gender and self-reported sexual arousal in response to sexual stimuli:  A meta-analytic review.  Sex Roles, 37, 135-153.

 

Committees, Organizations, and Groups

I am currently the faculty co-chair of Senate, and have been a member of the Curricular Policy Committee. I was a sexual harassment advisor for a number of years, and am still a member of the sexual harassment task force. I am the women’s faculty athletic representative to our athletic conference, the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC). One of the organizing principles of the NCAC is gender equity in sport.

 

Current Projects

I recently submitted an article for consideration for publication which contained meta-analyses of all of the available data on the relationship between athletic participation and fraternity membership on indices of sexual aggression. My colleague Marla Kohlman and I found that men who participate in these all-male groups self-report more agreement with rape myths, have higher scores on measures of “hyperamsculinity,” and self-report a higher perpetration of sexual assault. I am gathering studies that examine the impact of feminist attitudes on indices of psychological well-being, as I hypothesize that there is a positive relationship. I will conduct meta-analyses of the data. I also hope to collect some longitudinal data on this relationship. I also hope to continue some research I started with a couple of former students on the development of attitudes and behaviors in young boys that might predict the perpetration of sexual aggression. If we can understand some of these issues in boys we might be able to prevent sexual aggression, but this is a difficult issue to study in an ethical way with boys. I also plan to continue collaborations with Linda Smolak on research examining the relationship between gender and various issues related to body image. As always, I welcome the participation of Kenyon students in my research program (as do all professors in the department).

 

The best thing about being at Kenyon is

 Bright, engaging students and colleagues!  Also, the place is really beautiful. 
   

Hobbies and favorite things

I am in a book club, an investment club, and I regularly take my two dogs to puppy play group where they play with a pack of dogs. I enjoy attending various events in my childrens’ lives (e.g., a lot of soccer games), reading, running, playing racquetball, and gardening.

 

One thing to do or accomplish in life

Research on social issues is an important part of my life. I hope to find more ways to make this research accessible and useful to others.
 

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