Women in the military work in a hypermasculine environment and may have experiences with gender microaggressions that contribute poorly to their mental health. In this quantitative study, the author assessed active duty U.S. military women’s (N = 683) reports of experiences with eight types of gender microaggressions (traditional gender roles, sexual objectification, second class citizen, sexist language, explicit threat to physical safety, implicit threat to physical safety, invalidation of sexism, and environmental; Capodilupo et al., 2010). Participants reported around a little or rarely having experiences with such microaggressions. Exploratory analyses demonstrated that Navy and junior enlisted women reported significantly higher frequencies of gender microaggressions compared to other groups. Using hierarchical regression analysis, controlling for general levels of stress, branch, rank, and sexual orientation, the author also examined whether the eight gender microaggressions explained scores on a measure of depression. Results suggested that only second class citizen explained a significant proportion of variance in depression. Therefore, the author examined whether coping style moderated the association between the gender microaggression subscales and depression as proposed. Results indicated problem focused engagement and emotion focused disengagement both moderated the link between second class citizen and depression. Findings from the current study have the potential to inform military programs, specifically around bringing awareness to subtle forms of sexism and ways to engage in coping. Limitation and directions for future research also are discussed.

There is limited research on bullying among college students and even less research on hazing behaviors among students who are in a campus organization. Previously used scales were created for use with children and were not behavior specific, leaving out adult experiences college students may encounter and asking about bullying in general which leaves the definition up to the responder. This study aimed to create an instrument that examines behavior specific experiences with college students and their peers, in the general college setting and specific to a campus organization they belong to. Five hundred and two undergraduate students completed surveys of college experiences, affect, and well-being. Results indicate one factor for college bullying and one factor for hazing in college organizations. Bullying and hazing were found to be similar but different, with students having more experiences with bullying and the two experiences having different relations to affect and well-being. This study lends to the growing literature on bullying experiences of adults and begins the necessary evaluation of hazing in college organizations.