Exploring Differences in Attitudes Between Light and Heavy Brand Users

Prior research on attitude has suggested that examining differences in attitudinal dimensions between known groups is a fruitful area of inquiry. In this research, we examine differences in attitudinal dimensions between heavy and light users of a brand. In the first, exploratory study, we find that brand‐name accessibility is linked with feelings about the brand for heavy users, and with thoughts about the brand for light users. In a second, follow‐up study, we show that advertising messages that are feelings based are more likely to enhance brand‐name accessibility for heavy users than messages that are attribute based.     

National Differences in Work Attitudes Between the UK and Germany

Abstract

In a comparative study involving approximately 900 UK and German adults, an attempt was made to explore the strength of the relationships between diverse but related work attitudes and to examine national differences in work attitudes, which may be related to economic growth. The UK sample preferred business-oriented occupations, rather than the professions—medicine, social work and teaching—(jobs in which Germans expressed higher interest) and was characterized by higher scores on work ethic, achievement motivation, competitiveness, and achievement/conformity, but lower scores on positive attitudes to savings. No significant difference was observed in terms of financial beliefs (valuation of money) or mastery. Work attitude and occupational interest were intimately interrelated, although the relationship was significantly moderated by gender. Socio-historical economic and political origins of these similarities and differences are discussed, along with the theoretical and methodological implications of these findings.     

Generational Differences in Gender Attitudes Between Parents and Grown Offspring

This study examined generational differences in gender attitudes between parents and grown offspring, including the extent to which these differences vary in families with daughters vs families with sons and in African American vs European American families. Participants included 158 African American and European American men and women (aged 22 to 49 years), their mothers, and their fathers (N?=?474) recruited predominantly through purchased telephone lists. Participants completed a self-report measure of gender attitudes toward marital and childrearing roles. Mixed method ANOVAs revealed offspring were less traditional than parents, although there were greater generational differences in attitudes between mothers and daughters and in European American families. Findings are discussed in terms of implications for family roles and relationships.     

Communication Differences Between Physicians and Their Patients in an Oncology Setting

The physician-patient relationship has critical importance in the quality of medical care, especially in the oncology setting. Of particular interest over the past two decades has been the communication between physicians and their patients. It is understood that communication is related to patient and physician satisfaction as well as other medical outcomes. However, despite this interest and attention, investigators have only recently begun to assess the communication between physicians and patients from the patient's point of view. Additionally, previous investigations have primarily relied upon retrospective reports of the interaction from patients or physicians. The current investigation assessed physician–patient communication in an oncology setting, both as it was occurring and following the interaction. The units of analysis included participant ratings as well as those of trained observers. Findings revealed that physicians and patients disagree as to the valence of the messages which transpired. Additionally, results suggest that it is the patients who distort the messages in the positive direction. Research and clinical implications of this disagreement and positivity bias are discussed.     

Gender Differences in Emotional Closeness Between Preschool Children and Their Mothers

The emotional closeness between mothers andtheir children was examined to determine if motherdaughter pairs exhibit closer emotional relationshipsthan mother son pairs. Forty-one mother childpredominantly Caucasian dyads were videotaped during asemistructured play setting. The children were 4 (10males and 10 females) and 5 years of age (10 males and11 females). Emotional closeness was defined as physical proximity, mutual eye contact, and global levelof enjoyment. Results demonstrated that compared toboys, girls were physically closer to their mothers,engaged in more mutual eye contact with their mothers, and were rated higher on global enjoyment.Results are consistent with Chodorow's theory thatgender identity development is related to the emotionalrelationships that develop between children and their mothers.     

Gender Differences in Positive and Negative Feelings Between Adolescents and Their Fathers and Mothers

Given the connections between feelings and well-being within the family, we addressed gender differences and similarities of feelings within the family. We explored adolescents’, mothers’, and fathers’ positive and negative affect within a community sample of 224 families from the southeast of the United States. Adolescents ranged in age from 12 to 19 years. Findings suggest more gender differences in positive and negative affect for parental gender (i.e., mothers versus fathers) than for adolescent gender (i.e., boys versus girls). There were more consistent associations within the family for positive affect as opposed to negative affect. We discussed the results in the context of gender differences within the family within the family systems theoretical perspective.     

Gender Attitudes Mediate Gender Differences in Attitudes Toward Adoption in Guatemala

Gender differences in gender role attitudes, including machismo, and attitudes toward adoption were studied in Guatemala, a country that provides a large number of children for international adoption. Guatemalan university students (N = 152) completed the machismo subscale of the Multiphasic Assessment of Cultural Constructs–short form (Cuéllar, Arnold, & González, 1995), the attitudes toward women scale for adolescents (Galambos, Peterson, Richards, & Gitelson, 1985), and an adoption beliefs scale developed for the present study. Men endorsed more machismo, more traditional gender role attitudes, and held less favorable attitudes toward adoption than women did. Gender differences in adoption attitudes were mediated by machismo and gender role attitudes. These results suggest that machismo and traditional gender role attitudes may serve as barriers in the promotion of intra-country adoption.     

Multidimensional Self-Perception of Sexually Abused Girls: Factor Models and Differences Between Sexual Abuse and Comparison Groups

This study investigated the multiple dimensions of self-perception in a sample of sexually abused and nonabused comparison girls (n = 140), with particular attention to self-perception in the scholastic, social, athletic, physical (appearance), and behavioral conduct domains. First, this study examined whether the five dimensions of self-perception were psychologically discrete. Second, the relationships between the self-perception factors and childhood sexual abuse were investigated using structural equation modeling. The results supported the multidimensionality of self-perception and suggested the presence of two distinct second-order self-perception factors: academic- and social-self. While the sexually abused girls indicated less positive perception for the academic-self than the comparison group, the two groups did not differ regarding the social-self. The findings highlight the importance of a multidimensional approach to self-perception in assessing and treating sexually abused children.     

Hearing From Both Sides: Differences Between Liberal and Conservative Attitudes Toward Scientific and Experiential Evidence

Two studies examined how political ideology relates to attitudes towards opposing scientific and nonscientific perspectives on apolitical topics. Participants read an article excerpt containing quotes from a researcher debunking a common misconception, such as the existence of lucky streaks in games of chance. They also read the perspective of someone who rejected the researcher in favor of personal experience, either in the form of a quote in the article from a relevant professional (e.g., a casino manager, Study 1) or a comment from a purported previous respondent with no clear expertise (Study 2). In both studies, conservatives, compared to liberals, evaluated the views of the scientist and the person rejecting the science as closer in legitimacy. Differences in evaluation of the science rejecter were mediated by conservatives' heightened intuitive thinking. By spotlighting how partisans evaluate nonscientific perspectives alongside science and by focusing on apolitical topics, these results bring new clarity to the debate on whether conservatives are more biased than liberals in attitudes towards science.     

The Relationship Between Parents' Attitudes Toward Child Rearing and the Sociometric Status of Their Preschool Children

A sociometric evaluation of 120 (60 male, 60 female) preschool children was made, using the Parent Attitude Research Instrument (PARI; Shaefer & Bell, 1958). Questionnaires were completed by the parents of a sample of children who had been sociometrically identified as belonging in one of four categories: popular, amiable, isolated, and rejected. Discriminant function analysis revealed that children who were identified by their peers as rejected or isolated had parents that reported child-rearing attitudes reflecting patriarchal family structure, low self-confidence, low preference for young children, infrequent use of praise, lack of promotion of independence, low use of disciplining (mothers) coupled with the view that child rearing is a mother's duty, definite expectations about child behavior, a feeling of responsibility for child-rearing activities, low child orientation, infrequent use of threat, and negative reaction to children's intrusive behavior (fathers). The four sociometric categories accounted for 42% of mothers and 62% of fathers variance in reported child-rearing attitudes. The mothers' function correctly classified 49% and the fathers' correctly classified 44% of the children into the correct sociometric category. These data suggest a potentially important relationship between parents' perception of their child-rearing role and peer relations during early childhood.     

Generational Differences in Work-Related Attitudes: A Meta-analysis

Purpose

Differences among generations on a wide variety of outcomes are of increasing interest to organizations, practitioners, and researchers alike. The goal of this study was to quantitatively assess the research on generational differences in work-related attitudes and to provide guidance for future research and practice.

Design/Methodology/Approach

We conducted a meta-analysis of generational differences on three work-related criteria: job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and intent to turnover. Our review of published and unpublished research found 20 studies allowing for 18 generational pairwise comparisons across four generations (Traditionals, Baby Boomers, Generation Xers, and Millennials) on these outcomes using 19,961 total subjects.

Findings

Corrected mean differences for job satisfaction ranged from .02 to .25, for organizational commitment they ranged from ?.22 to .46, and for intent to turnover the range was ?.62 to .05. The pattern of results indicates that the relationships between generational membership and work-related outcomes are moderate to small, essentially zero in many cases.

Implications

The findings suggest that meaningful differences among generations probably do not exist on the work-related variables we examined and that the differences that appear to exist are likely attributable to factors other than generational membership. Given these results, targeted organizational interventions addressing generational differences may not be effective.

Originality/Value

This is the first known quantitative review of research on generational differences in the workplace.     

The Association Between Female College Students' Reports of Depression and Their Perceptions of Parental Attitudes Regarding Gender

This study related female college students' ( n = 377) reports of symptomatology to their reports of parental attitudes suggesting limitations inherent in being female. Young women completed a scale measuring their perceptions that their fathers would have been prouder of them if they were male, and a scale measuring their distress over the limitations experienced by their mothers. Respondents who scored high on either scale exhibited much higher prevalence than other respondents of self-reported depression accompanied by anxiety, somatic symptoms including headaches, insomnia, dyspnea, fatigue, disordered eating, and poor body image/preference for thinness (labeled anxious somatic depression ). Compared to men ( n = 191), women exhibited much higher prevalence of anxious somatic depression, but not higher prevalence of depression unaccompanied by the other symptoms.     

Relationships Between Contraceptive Behavior and Love Attitudes,Sex Attitudes,and Self-Esteem

The current research took into account two previously developed models of effective contraceptive behavior, a model emphasizing interpersonal variables and a model emphasizing intrapersonal variables. The purpose was to identify variables related to contraception that could be addressed during contraceptive counseling and to aid persons in deciding the most effective contraceptive method within the context of an intimate relationship. The research used questionnaire responses from 350 male and female college undergraduates. Results indicated some support for aspects of both models, with modest relationships between contraceptive behavior and attitudes toward both love and sex, and self-esteem. The difficulties of developing a comprehensive model of contraceptive behavior are discussed, as are some practical implications of this research.     

Explaining Demographic Group Differences in Affirmative Action Attitudes1

This research identified mediators and a moderator of the relationship between demographic category and attitudes toward affirmative action (AA). Data were collected from national samples of sociologists and business academics. The results indicate that racism, traditional attitudes toward women, and belief in the existence of gender and race discrimination in academe were significant predictors of AA attitudes. Several findings provide support for the prediction that these factors mediate the relationship between demographic group membership and AA attitudes. Additionally, male sociologists who believed they personally experienced discrimination had more negative attitudes toward AA. Perceiving personal discrimination increased support of AA among female business academics. Implications for attitude and intergroup conflict theories are discussed.     

Therapists: Their Attitudes and Information About Women

The Therapists'Information About Women Scale (TIWS) and Therapists'Attitude Toward Women Scale (TAWS) are presented. Results from a sample of 184 therapists (social workers, psychiatrists, and psychologists) showed no significant differences among professions; however, women therapists were significantly better informed, more liberal, and less stereotyped in their attitudes. Information and attitudes were correlated.57. Though attitudes were more liberal than stereotyped, many therapists showed a lack of pertinent information and attitudes likely to conflict with those of their women patients.