Consistency in attitude and behavior of women with a liberated attitude toward the rights and roles of women

The study was designed to determine the extent of consistency of attitude and behavior of women with liberated attitudes toward their rights and roles, and to identify determinants of inconsistency between attitude and behavior. The Attitude Towards Women Scale, Rotter's locus of control scale, the Ego-Strength Scale, the Self-Esteem Scale, the Liberated Behavior Questionnaire, and the Attitude of Family and Friends Questionnaire were administered to 242 women. Women with more liberated attitudes tended to act more liberated. Also, women with liberated attitudes tended to act more liberated if their close friends were liberated and if they themselves were more aware of leaders in the women's liberation movement. The personality measures did not relate to the tendency to act liberated.     

Sex-role self-concept and attitudes related to occupational daydreams and future fantasies of college women

This study explored the relationship of sex-role self-concept and general attitudes toward women's roles to patterns of career preferences and to career salience among 50 undergraduate women. Sex-role self-concept was measured by the Bem Sex-Role Inventory, and attitudes by the Attitudes Toward Women Scale. Patterns in career preferences were determined by studying the degree of gender dominance in past occupational daydreams as well as in present college major and intended future occupation. Career salience was measured using a content analysis of written future fantasies. Sex-role self-concept was related to past occupational preferences, with masculine-typed women showing a pattern of nontraditional daydreams compared to those of feminine-typed women. Attitude variables were related to present career choices, with liberal women in more male-dominant fields than conservative women. Both self-concept and attitude variables were related to career salience, measured by the proportion of fantasies about the future devoted to work themes. Masculine women showed evidence of more career salience than androgynous or undifferentiated women, and liberal women more than conservative women.     

The “Making and Unmaking” of Prejudice Against Australian Muslims and Gay Men and Lesbians: The Role of Religious Development and Fundamentalism

Despite the growing international interest in the relation between religion and prejudice, there has been a dearth of studies conducted within Australia. We used the Faith Development Scale (FDS) to examine the relation between religious maturity and attitudes toward Muslims and toward gay men and lesbians in an Australian context using a sample of churchgoers from the Perth metropolitan area (N = 139). Respondents who scored lower on the FDS were more prejudiced toward both target groups than were high scorers. Furthermore, participants who scored lower on the FDS were more prejudiced against gay men and lesbians than they were against Muslim Australians. The FDS was a better predictor of attitudes toward the two groups than was the Quest Scale. Contrary to overseas studies, we found that religious fundamentalists held more prejudiced attitudes toward gay men and lesbians than toward those of a different religion (Australian Muslims). Right-wing political orientation was also found to be predictive of prejudice against Australian Muslims and against gay men and lesbians independently of religious development. Results suggest that religious maturity, as well as fundamentalism and right-wing political views, plays an important role in the “making” or “unmaking” of prejudice against Australian Muslims and against gay men and lesbians. Evidence is presented that suggests that the Quest Scale and the FDS are measuring different aspects of religious development.     

Correlates of negative attitudes toward homosexuals in heterosexual college students

Negative attitudes toward homosexuals were assessed in 103 heterosexual college students. On the average, 17% of the sample agreed or strongly agreed with each of 40 negative statements about homosexuals. Cronbach's alpha and a principal components analysis indicated that the attitude scale was unidimensional. Methodological improvements were made in the assessment of the correlates of negative attitudes toward homosexuals. Such attitudes were inversely related to age, academic performance, and the use of principled moral reasoning. They were positively related to traditional attitudes toward men, women, and the equality of men and women. Compared to females, males' attitudes toward homosexuals were more negative, and their attitudes toward men, women, and the equality of men and women were more traditional. However, the correlates of negative attitudes toward homosexuals were similar for males and for females. It was concluded that negative attitudes toward homosexuals are part of a larger belief system regarding conventional social order.     

Attitude Toward Christianity and Psychological Type: A Survey Among Religious Studies Students

A sample of 367 students studying religion at A-level completed the Keirsey Temperament Sorter together with the Francis Scale of Attitude Toward Christianity. The data demonstrated that sensing types hold a more positive attitude toward Christianity than intuitive types and that judging types hold a more positive attitude toward Christianity than perceiving types. No significant differences in attitude toward Christianity were found either between extroverts and introverts, or between thinking types and feeling types.     

The Myth of Motherhood: A Study of Attitudes Toward Motherhood

Traditional attitudes toward motherhood reflect many contradictions. The Motherhood Inventory (Ml), a 40 item questionnaire, has been developed to study attitudes toward motherhood and the motherhood myth. The Ml includes items relating to the control of reproduction, abortion, adoption, single motherhood, male-female relationships, and idealized and punitive attitudes toward mothers. The 301 subjects in this study were drawn largely from undergraduate and graduate students at an eastern university and their parents. Comparisons with scores on the Spence-Helmreich Attitudes toward Women Scale (AWS) revealed that the sample was more liberal than the original AWS sample. Men were found to hold significantly more traditional attitudes toward motherhood than women. Younger subjects also agreed more with the myth of motherhood as did unmarried subjects. Catholics more than non-Catholics rejected abortion and supported the primacy of the woman's role as mother. Education produced the most pronounced effect on attitudes toward motherhood with more liberal attitudes held by those who were college graduates.     

Personal and socio-economic variables in relation with attitudes towards planned family

The study purpose was to examine the relationships between various personal, demographic and socioeconomic variables and attitude towards family planning on a large sample. The sample included 300 cases, representing urban and rural and male and female compositions of the population of Agra District. The Attitude Towards Family Planning (ATFP) Scale by Kapoor (1973) was used to assess the attitudes toward family planning. Age had no relationship with attitude towards family planning but education and income had substantial positive relationships (r=.56 and .40, respectively, significant at .01 level), followed by occupation showing the higher the socioeconomic status of the respondent the more favorable the attitude. Family size was found to be inversely related with attitude, indicating respondents having more children may not have favorable attitudes. This was more the case with the female sex of the child.     

Privatization or Deprivatization: British Attitudes About the Public Presence of Religion

Achterberg and colleagues conclude there is in train a significant change toward deprivatization in Europe. In the late 1990s Christians were more pro public religion in countries where they were least numerous and in the Netherlands in particular there had been an increasing difference in attitudes between believers and nonbelievers over 25 years. Examining more recent survey data on British attitudes (1998 and 2008), we find a firm consensus among the nonreligious against religion having a high public profile, while Christians are more likely to object to antireligion sentiment and people belonging to non‐Christian religions are more likely to support public religion. Nonreligious people appear to be no more hostile now than in the late 1990s, and where there has been a decrease in sympathy for public religion it is among religious groups.     

Measurement of attitudes toward obese people among a Canadian sample of men and women

A new scale for examining attitudes toward obese people had 44 items selected from previously published scales designed to indicate attitudes toward obese people. Reliability analysis yielded a Cronbach coefficient alpha of .92 for the total sample. A factor analysis yielded four factors. Employing the Body Mass Index as an indicator of obesity, the attitudes of 239 men and women were examined. Women were significantly more positive than men in their attitude toward obese people. When examining Body Mass Index as a factor, comparisons of obese and nonobese women indicated obese women were more positive on the Diet and Exercise factor of the scale. Suggestions for improvement and research are offered.     

The Katz-Francis Scale of Attitude toward Judaism: Internal Consistency Reliability and Construct Validity among Female Undergraduate Students in Israel

The Katz-Francis Scale of Attitude toward Judaism was developed to extend to the Jewish community a growing body of international research concerned to map the correlates, antecedents, and consequences of individual differences in attitude toward religion as assessed by the Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity. The internal consistency reliability and construct validity of the Katz-Francis Scale of Attitude toward Judaism were supported by data provided by 284 Hebrew-speaking female undergraduate students attending Bar-Ilan University. This instrument is commended for application in further research.     

Acculturation and young Iranian women: attitudes toward sex roles and intimate relationships

This study examined the nature and extent of acculturation of Iranian women into the American culture of Los Angeles, California, their attitude toward the role of women, and their attitude toward intimate relationships. It was expected that acculturation level would be related negatively to participants' age at migration and positively related to the length of time away from Iran. Data were obtained from a sample of 77 Iranian women aged 17-32 years living in Los Angeles. Acculturation level was measured by a modified version of one designed by Cuellar, Harris, and Jasso (1980). The Sexual and Premarital Attitude Inventory designed by Schofield (1965) was used to gauge attitudes about intimate relationships. The short version of the Attitude Toward Women Scale designed by Spence, Helmreich, and Staff (1973) was used to assess differences in ideology about the role of women in society and the family. Findings indicate that acculturation level was positively associated with premarital sexual attitudes, a sex role attitude, and sex role attitudes specific to Iranians. Greater acculturation was associated with more liberal sex roles. The age at which Iranian women left Iran was negatively correlated with acculturation. Younger age was associated with a higher score. The number of years away from Iran was associated with a higher acculturation score. Educational level was not significantly related to acculturation. The author proposes that conflict between the pressure to assimilate and attachment to cultural identity may be an adaptive solution in itself. One caveat was the higher socioeconomic status of this sample population.     

Age,sex, education,religion, and perception of tattoos

Tattooing has become more acceptable in the mainstream American culture in recent years. Based on a survey with face-to-face interviews of 335 nontattooed adults randomly selected from a city with a population of 444,000, this study explored the relationship of individuals' demographic variables, attitudes toward religion, and their perceptions of tattoos. The hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that age and attitude toward religion were associated with individuals' perception of tattoos.     

Gender Role Beliefs and Attitudes toward Lesbians and Gay Men in Chile and the U.S.

We compared the relationship between gender role beliefs and antigay prejudice in Chile and the United States. Participants were Chilean and American university students. In Study 1, Chileans were more prejudiced than Americans, and men were more prejudiced than women. In Study 2, gender role beliefs mediated cultural and sex differences in prejudice. Chileans held more traditional gender role beliefs and were more antigay than Americans. Men were more prejudiced than women, particularly in their attitudes toward gay men. Further, sex differences in attitudes toward lesbians and gay men were completely mediated by gender role beliefs. Nationality differences in attitudes toward lesbians were completely mediated, and nationality differences in attitudes toward gay men were partially mediated, by gender role beliefs.     

Gender role and attitudes toward rape in male and female college students

This study examined the relationship between college students' gender roles and attitudes toward rape. Subjects were 145 male and 374 female college students with a mean age of 20.1 years. The institution has a 12.5% minority population. Subjects received a questionnaire packet containing the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI), an acquaintance or stranger rape scenario, a questionnaire designed to assess attitudes toward the scenario, the short version of the Attitudes Towards Women Scale (AWS), the Rape Myth Acceptance Scale (RMAS), and the Attitudes Toward Rape questionnaire (ATR). It was hypothesized that participants classified as masculine according to the BSRI would believe in more rape myths, hold more pro-rape attitudes, and believe in more traditional gender roles than would those who were classified as feminine, androgynous, or undifferentiated. A gender by gender role interaction on the AWS revealed that feminine and androgynous men were exceptions to the pattern that men had significantly less egalitarian views than women. Responses to the scenario questionnaire suggested that women and men view acquaintance rape differently, and that men may experience more attitude change as a result of a rape awareness workshop than women.     

University students' felt alienation and their attitudes toward African-Americans, women and homosexuals.

177 respondents attending a midwestern state university reported greater alienation from the wider society when they held more positive attitudes than negative ones toward women and homosexuals. Alienation and attitudes toward African-Americans, women, and homosexuals were not influenced by gender or religiosity.     

Structure and demographic correlates of attitudes toward AIDS sufferers

Two studies investigated the structure and demographic correlates of attitudes toward AIDS sufferers among adult Australians 18 to 75 years of age. Attitudes were found to be multidimensional, with similar dimensions being identified in both samples. In both samples, men were found to be more prejudiced than women.     

Changing prejudiced attitudes,promoting egalitarianism,and enhancing diversity through fundamental processes of persuasion

ABSTRACT

We review work from persuasion science relevant to reducing prejudiced attitudes. We begin by introducing the idea that the thoughts people generate – their number and valence – are critical for understanding when responding to persuasive attempts will result in egalitarian attitudes. A focus on thinking highlights the importance of understanding short and long-term attitude change in promoting diversity. How much people think is also consequential for spreading of initial change to more distal attitudes and generalization of change to other judgments. The second section describes a process of thought validation that emphasizes the importance of considering what people think and feel about their own thoughts. This meta-cognitive process is shown to make a difference in producing consequential changes in reducing prejudiced attitudes toward African Americans, immigrants, refugees, individuals with disabilities, and beyond. The conditions under which variables such as minority status and stigmatized sources affect elaboration and validation are also specified. The fourth section explores how these two processes are relevant for understanding explicit and implicit ambivalence and change in the domain of prejudiced attitudes. We highlight the utility of a process-oriented approach for designing future research and promoting more inclusive attitudes and actions.     

Motivational Dynamics of Disadvantaged Women

Two hundred and five disadvantaged women completed standardized psychometric inventories (Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire, Motivation Analysis Test, Tennessee Self-Concept Scale, Internal-External Control Scale, Work Attitude Scale) and a structured interview (attitude-value, activity, life concerns items). Factor analysis was used to organize these data; correlational analyses indicated that the inventory and interview dimensions tapped essentially independent aspects within the total motivation domain. Compared with inventory norms, these women exhibited torpidity and submissiveness, depressed motivation, poor selfesteem, but positive work attitudes. Differences between dichotomous subgroups defined by six major demographic variables were consistent with previous literature; the most salient pattern of subgroup differences showed that black, less intelligent, and less educated women were less positive toward work and more externally oriented. In sum, these women appeared resigned and lethargic; no causal inference was drawn, but it was cautioned that choice of counseling procedures should be based on a differentiation of diminished from initial lack of motivation.     

Attitudes toward male roles among adolescent males: A discriminant validity analysis

This study investigates the discriminant validity of a measure of attitudes toward male roles, i.e., beliefs about the importance of men adhering to cultural defined standards for masculinity. Using data from the 1988 National Survey of Adolescent Males, the Male Role Attitude Scale (MRAS) is evaluated in terms of (1) its independence from measures of attitudes toward female roles, and of attitudes toward gender roles and relationships, and (2) its differential correlates with and incremental ability to explain variance in criterion variables compared to measures of these two other gender-related attitudes. As predicted, the MRAS is unrelated to attitudes toward the female role, but is significantly associated with attitudes toward gender roles and relationships. As further predicted, the MRAS, but not attitudes toward women or attitudes toward gender roles and relationships, is associated with homophobic attitudes toward male homosexuality and with traditional male procreative attitudes. In addition, the MRAS explains significant incremental variance in these criterion measures when attitude toward female roles and attitude toward gender roles and relationships are controlled for. These results support the theoretical argument that attitudes toward male roles are conceptually distinct from the other gender-related attitudes examined here.This research was supported by grants from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and from the Office of Adolescent Pregnancy Programs. The authors wish to thank James Kershaw, Susan Wellington, and Elizabeth Crane for their assistance.     

Can Ethical Ideologies Predict Prejudice?

Idealism and relativism were designed to assess different ethical ideological views. Their relation with attitudes toward a variety of outgroups has not been previously studied. Understanding how concerns over ethical principles and consequences are related to prejudiced attitudes could provide some insight into these constructs and into the nature of prejudice. In two studies totaling 311 participants, participants completed measures on ethical ideologies, right-wing authoritarianism, and attitudes toward various outgroups. The differential predictive validities of ethical ideologies, in comparison to right-wing authoritarianism, on prejudicial attitudes toward dangerous, derogated, and dissident outgroup members were examined. We found that both idealism and relativism contributed to predicting attitudes regarding outgroup members, over and above right-wing authoritarianism. As such, people’s personal moral standards and code of conduct for dealing with interpersonal problems and transgressions can partly explain their negative attitudes toward outgroup members. More research is required to determine the unique influence of ethical ideologies over other constructs previously shown to predict prejudice.