An ongoing challenge facing emotion researchers is finding appropriate measurement tools. Many of our theories focus on emotion in the context of dynamic interaction, yet many of our most relied-upon measures either interrupt or alter interaction. New research suggests that infrared thermography may be useful as a nonintrusive way to measure emotion. Here we discuss the viability of thermography for studying emotion response and advancing emotion theory.

Two theories of rape reporting, the Classic Rape perspective and Black’s Theory of the Behavior of Law, are tested in this article. We offer the first comprehensive multivariate test of Classic Rape predictions among a nationally representative sample of victims, as well as the first test of Black’s predictions for rape reporting. Through the construction of multinomial regression models, we are able to examine reporting patterns for both victims and third parties. Weapon use and physical injury consistently predicted reporting. The likelihood of victim reporting significantly increased when assaults occurred either in public or through a “home blitz,” whereas place of assault did not affect the likelihood of third-party reporting. On the other hand, victim–offender relationship significantly affected the likelihood of third-party reporting but was not significant in the victim-reporting models. There were mixed findings regarding Black’s stratification and morphology predictions, and we found no significant effects for culture, organization, or social control. Overall, these findings lend greater support to the Classic Rape perspective than to Black’s model.

It is well established that victimization is associated with increased risk of future victimization. According to state dependence arguments, this occurs because the victimization event changes either the individual or the social environment in ways that elevate risk. In contrast, the population heterogeneity perspective argues that the association between victimization events is spurious. Empirical research finds that state dependence and population heterogeneity jointly contribute to risk of repeat victimization, but research has not been able to specify the nature of the relationship between state dependence, population heterogeneity, and repeat victimization risk. Here, we propose that state dependence processes vary across levels of underlying propensity for victimization. Using propensity score matching with longitudinal data from the National Crime Victimization Survey, we find that state dependence effects operate differently depending upon one’s underlying risk of victimization and that the pattern of these effects differ for property and violent victimization.

How do people feel when they benefit from an unfair reward distribution? Equity theory predicts negative emotion in response to over-reward, but sociological research using referential standards of justice drawn from status-value theory repeatedly finds positive emotional responses to over-reward. Researchers have proposed methodological explanations for these different findings, but we propose a theoretical explanation—that over-reward based on local comparisons with an interaction partner creates guilt and other negative emotions, while over-reward relative to an abstract justice standard leads to more positive emotion. We describe two experiments that address methodological explanations for the status value findings: (1) lack of tangible rewards and (2) lack of sufficiently large over-rewards. We find that people who are over-rewarded relative to their referential expectations still report less negative emotion and more positive emotion than those who receive expected rewards. We report results from a third experiment that demonstrate support for our theoretical argument.

When establishing the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault, President Obama reminded universities of their obligation to report accurate rape statistics to the Department of Education. Research has not determined, on a national scale, what factors explain variation in (under)reporting. Using data from 413 top universities’ websites and institutional and archival data, we examine how state- and university-level factors shape universities’ rape reporting. Universities with a greater feminist presence and antiviolence activism, and those located in states where women have higher socioeconomic status and more American Association of University Women partnerships, report more rapes. We examine underreporting as an institutional rather than an individual-level phenomenon, connect campus reporting to the larger reporting literature, and provide practical policy and program implications.