Gender and distributive justice: The influence of gender-related characteristics on allocations

The influence of dispositional and situational gender-related factors on the distributive justice behavior of males and females was examined in this research. Using the self-other allocation paradigm, traditional and andrognyous subjects outperformed traditional or androgynous opposite-sex co-workers (Experiment 1) or same-sex co-workers (Experiment 2). The task gender-linkage and the physical attractiveness of the opposite-sex co-workers were also considered. The results indicated that androgynous persons were more generous in their allocations and were less influenced by the gender-related characteristics of an opposite-sex co-workers than traditional persons. In same-sex dyads, males were more equitable than females and were uninfluenced by gender-related factors. Traditional, but not androgynous, females adjusted their allocation behavior according to the gender-linkage of the task, allocating more equitably on gender-congruent tasks than on gender-incongruent tasks. The significance of these findings to understanding sex differences in distributive justice behavior is discussed.     

The influence of diverse interaction contexts on students' sociometric status

Despite there being numerous studies on sociometric status, research that analyzes this variable from a contextualized viewpoint taking into account the different school settings in which a pupil establishes relationships is rare. The aim of this study is to analyze the stability of sociometric status in different school settings. For this purpose, 522 students filled in a sociometric questionnaire that investigated two different settings: the academic setting, which refers to the formal classroom setting; and the leisure setting, which investigates a more informal and playful setting like the playground. The main results indicate that identification percentages are almost the same in both settings. Nonetheless, all sociometric types are contextually dependent, and some are more dependent than others. Thus, rejection is observed as being the most independent of context, whereas the most dependent is that of controversial pupils. Differential analyses show that sex modifies the results obtained. It is shown that, excluding a few exceptions, combinations of sociometric types in both settings investigated can be made. These results are discussed in connection with the methodology used to identify sociometric types and their practical implication for better school adjustment.     

Contextualized personality: traditional and new assessment procedures

We describe our ongoing program of research related to the assessment of contextualized personality, focusing on social roles and cultural cues as contextual factors. First, we present our research employing the traditional assessment approach, wherein participants are asked to rate explicitly their personality across several different roles. We argue that this hypothetical approach is potentially susceptible to the influence of stereotypes, social desirability, and demand characteristics. We therefore describe the development of three novel and subtle assessment procedures that are based on obtaining online self-representations that are activated while occupying a specific context. Finally, the strengths and limitations of all four approaches, as well as directions for future research in the study of contextualized personality, are discussed.     

Gender-related personality traits and ego development: Differential patterns for men and women

Two studies were designed to test the hypothesis that enhanced ego level affords the capacity to express those gender-related traits stereotypical for the opposite sex. In Study 1, 209 white male and female college students completed the Personal Attributes Questionnaire and the Loevinger Sentence Completion Test, a semiprojective measure of ego development. Analyses revealed that for women, instrumentality was related to ego development; for men, expressiveness was associated with ego level. Study 2 further tested this hypothesis using a more heterogeneous sample and several alternative measures of gender-related traits, including the Bem Sex-Role Inventory. Nontraditional gender role traits and ideals (masculinity for females, femininity for males) were associated with higher levels of ego development. Implications of the findings for ego development theory are discussed.     

Sex differences in gender-related childhood memories

Based on theories of gender development, especially the one proposed by Nancy Chodorow, it was predicted that boys' gender-related childhood memories will be different from girls' on five dimensions related to activity, emotionality, and sex appropriateness. Forty-five men and 45 women were asked to describe their earliest gender-related childhood memories. The memories were analyzed by two judges. The data document a significant sex difference in the activity and emotionality of the memories. Men's memories were more active and women's more emotional. The predictions that men's memories of sex-appropriate behavior will be more positive, will have fewer deviations from sex-appropriate behavior, and when such deviations occur, they will be associated with more negative emotions were not confirmed. It is suggested that childhood memories can be seen as reflecting actual differences between the sexes in childhood experiences, or as the result of a process of memory selection that reflects men's and women's different gender-related experiences as adults.The author would like to thank Beni Feinholtz and Naftali Menashe, both students at Tel Aviv University, for their help in the data collection.     

The dynamics of masculine-agentic and feminine-communal traits: findings from a prospective study

A reciprocal impact hypothesis posits an influence of gender-related traits (agency and communion) on role enactment and a reciprocal impact of role enactment on gender-related traits, for both men and women. Specifically, in this study it was predicted that agency influences career success and career success influences agency. In addition, the reciprocal influence of communion and family roles was examined. A prospective study with almost 2000 university graduates, who were tested after graduation and 1.5 years later, clearly supported the reciprocal impact hypothesis for agency and career success. Communion influenced family roles, but there was no reciprocal influence. Implications for theories of career success and of sex and gender are discussed.     

Effects of global and contextualized personality on relationship satisfaction

Researchers have made great strides in conceptualizing and assessing contextualized personality—how people’s personalities vary across different contexts (e.g., among friends, co-workers, and relationship partners). We investigated how global and contextualized personality traits are linked to relationship satisfaction. In Study 1, longitudinal associations between global and contextualized personality and relationship satisfaction were examined in a sample of adults in committed dating relationships. Study 2 investigated actor and partner effects of global and contextualized personality on relationship satisfaction in undergraduate couples. Study 3 used observer ratings of contextualized personality traits expressed in couples’ daily Instant Messages (IMs). These results demonstrate that contextualized personality—in particular neuroticism—is linked to the quality of both current and future romantic relationships.     

Reproducing gender in counseling and psychotherapy: Understanding the problem and changing the practice

In this article I argue that the concept of gender is misunderstood by the majority of psychologists. Increasingly the term “gender” is mindlessly replacing the term “sex,” obfuscating decades of theory and research that elucidated gender as a complex social-psychological variable rather than a bifurcated individual-difference variable tied to biological sex. As a consequence, gender is largely ignored as an “active” variable in counseling research and practice. Current theory and research on gender as they apply to counseling and psychotherapy are first described. Then ways in which gender processes are often reproduced in counseling and psychotherapy and factors contributing to this practice are illuminated. Finally, areas particularly vulnerable to reproducing gender are described and some examples provided of the reproducing, and the disrupting, of gender processes in counseling.     

Contextualized personality measures in employee selection: Extending frame‐of‐reference research with job applicant samples

This study compared contextualized and non‐contextualized personality measures in operational hiring situations, unlike previous research which has largely relied on student or job incumbent samples. Comparisons were made with regard to (A) the frames‐of‐reference adopted by applicants when responding to the measures, (B) relations with subsequent employment interview scores, (C) applicant reactions, and (D) mean scores for the personality scales. The findings highlight potential concerns with using non‐contextualized personality measures for employee selection, as job applicants will likely adopt various frames‐of‐reference unrelated to the intended focus of measurement (i.e., work). Results also indicated that it may be premature to assume contextualized measures elicit improved applicant reactions despite their apparent job‐relatedness. The discussion concludes with suggested directions for future research.     

A Matter of Context: A Meta‐Analytic Investigation of the Relative Validity of Contextualized and Noncontextualized Personality Measures

The empirical evidence that has accumulated in support of the notion that personality is a valid predictor of employee performance is vast, yet debate on the matter continues. This study investigates frame‐of‐reference effects as they relate to the validity of self‐report measures of personality. Specifically, we compare the validities of general, noncontextualized personality measures and work‐specific, contextualized measures. The findings suggest that personality measures are a more valid predictor of performance when the scale items or instructions are framed specifically so as to reference work‐specific behaviors. We found that the validities for noncontextualized measures of personality ranged from .02 to .22, with a mean validity of .11. The validities for contextualized measures ranged from .14 to .30, with a mean of .24 . Additional moderator analyses were conducted in an effort to examine several alternate explanations for these validity differences. Specifically, we examined differences between the developmental purpose (general use vs. workplace use) and reliabilities of each type of personality measure. We also compared the validities from published studies to those from unpublished studies. Results suggest that these moderators did not have an impact on the validity differences between noncontextualized and contextualized measures.     

The relationship between 16 fear factors and psychiatric status

Although originally designed as a guide to therapy, the Wolpe-Lang Fear Survey Schedule (FSS) has been the subject of increasing study of its psychometric characteristics. A recent factor analysis of the records of psychiatric patients yielded 16 fear factors. The present study attempted to evaluate the clinical relevance of these factors by comparing the factor scores of adult psychiatric outpatients (AOP) with those of parents of child psychiatry patients (CPC). On 13 of the 16 factors the AOP group scored higher (with 3 of these 13 differences modulated by sex), indicating a strikingly consistent relationship between clinical status and the fear factors. These results suggest that future research of the patterns of fear factor scores as they relate to clinically relevant variables might well be fruitful. In the present study, females scored higher than males on all 16 fear factors (with 3 of these 16 differences appearing only in the AOP group). These results suggest the importance of treating sex as a moderator variable in future research on the FSS and its factors.     

Vocational interests,personality, and sociosexuality as indicators of a general masculinity/femininity factor

Several individual difference domains include variables that show substantial sex differences and may be considered indicators of masculinity/femininity (M/F). We examined the structure of gender-related characteristics from three domains (vocational interests, personality characteristics, and sociosexually relevant sexual fantasies) to determine whether a general factor of M/F can be derived even when participant sex is controlled, and if so, which domains and which variables within those domains are the best indicators of that factor. In a sample of 198 undergraduate students, we found strong intercorrelations between indicators of M/F across domains in the combined-sex sample but only weak intercorrelations within sex. The results also indicated that a general masculinity/femininity factor could be obtained, even when participant sex was controlled, and was defined more strongly by personality characteristics and sociosexuality of sexual fantasies than by vocational interests.     

Gender stereotypes of parents with two-year-olds and beliefs about gender differences in behavior

A sample of British parents of two-year-olds was asked about gender-related adult roles, beliefs about gender differences in children's behavior, and whether they perceived their own child in terms of gender-specific behaviors. The majority of the children were perceived as conforming to gender stereotypes, and in particular, boys were seen this way by fathers. Parents cited as evidence behavior that corresponds closely to the content of adult sex role inventories. The parents were not positive about changes in the traditional gender-related work/child care division of labor.     

Social interactions and cardiovascular reactivity during problem disclosure among friends

The authors examined the relations of social interactions with cardiovascular response in the context of two friends disclosing a problem. They also examined the relations of the sex composition of the dyad and partner gender-related traits (communion/agency) with social interactions. Same-sex and opposite-sex dyads (N = 79) came to the lab. One friend disclosed a real-life problem while the partner provided support; cardiovascular response was monitored. Women provided more emotional support than men, and this sex difference was due to women's higher levels of communion. Agency was linked with greater advice, whereas unmitigated communion was linked with greater negative interactions. Negative interactions predicted slower diastolic blood pressure (DBP) recovery, whereas advice predicted slower heart rate (HR) recovery. Sex composition of dyad moderated some of these effects.     

Gender roles and the categorization of gender-relevant behavior

Biological sex has been assumed to be a basic category that importantly influences perceptions people have of others. However, it has recently been proposed that there are individual differences in this presumed generic propensity to use sex in person perception — that some people have schemas with regard to sex and gender, whereas others do not. Prior attempts to demonstrate these differences have frequently operationalized their variables in such a way that activation of hypothesized elaborate and dense gender schemas (schemas relating to psychological masculinity and femininity) could not be disentangled from activation of very shallow schemas related simply to biological sex or sex stereotypes. This study provides initial support for the conceptual distinction between cognitive processing based on biological sex vs. psychological gender. Independent manipulation of both sex-stereotyped information and less salient, nonstereotyped gender-relevant behavioral cues demonstrated that two levels of cognitive operation seem to be used. All subjects, regardless of gender role, used surface information regarding biological sex to make inferences regarding targets' masculinity and femininity. However, only some subjects made use of gender-related behavioral cues when assessing masculinity and femininity on indirect measures. Masculine males demonstrated their expertise in sex appropriateness in judging a male target who behaved sex appropriately, whereas cross-sex-typed subjects demonstrated expertise in sex inappropriateness in judgments of a male target who behaved sex inappropriately. The results are consistent with self-schema theory predictions regarding individual differences in schematic processing.An earlier report of this research was presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, New York, 1987, and additionally received Honorable Mention in the 1986 Association of Women in Psychology/APA Division 35 Student Research Competition. This research was supported by university funds to the second author, and was completed while the first author was at the University of California, Berkeley. The authors would like to thank Lauren Heim, Brad Elman, and Rosa Shen for their assistance with data collection and coding, and Sheri Matteo and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper.     

Tovrard a Multidimensional View of Personality and Health

Health status has in effect become an external criterion for various personality traits. It seems unlikely, however, that a unidimensional approach to personality actually will be productive, even when something as concrete as physical health serves as a criterion variable. Instead, the benefits of a more multidimensional, contextualized approach to the prediction of health status are emphasized. Additional comments concern the distinction between cooccurence and correlation of two variables, some ambiguities regarding the appropriate criterion variables for health psychology, and some logistical issues in the domain of personality and health psychology.     

On the Margin: Power and Women's HIV Risk Reduction Strategies

HIV risk and prevention research has failed to investigate adequately the effects of gender-related factors such as relationship power, sexual communication, abuse, and gender roles on women's abilities to engage in protective actions. We propose that women's HIV risk from heterosexual transmission is embedded in the context of gender, race/ethnicity, and class oppression. This context has central implications for interpersonal relationship factors relevant to women's HIV risk. We suggest a framework for understanding women's HIV risk within the context of oppression and the role of power in intimate sexual relationships. Three common dynamics of oppression are considered: (1) Silencing, (2) Violence and Fear of Violence, and (3) Internalized Oppression. These dynamics are based on characteristics of oppression discussed in the work of Jean Baker Miller on gender, Hussain Bulhan on race, and Paulo Freire on class. These dynamics are discussed in the context of findings reported in this journal issue and those of other authors. Finally, the discussion identifies common patterns across studies, as well as areas of disagreement and directions for future research and public health prevention efforts.     

Creative potential: assessment issues and the EPoC Battery / Potencial creativo: temas de evaluación y batería EPoC

Abstract

Creative potential can be conceptualized as an ability to produce original ideas that have value in their context. This ability can be measured in three different ways, namely by examining (a) accomplishments or (b) ingredients (abilities and traits) underlying creativity or (c) through contextualized tasks that simulate real-world creative work. The Evaluation of Creative Potential (EPoC) Battery offers a contextualized measure of divergent-exploratory and convergent-integrative thinking processes applied in several content domains (visual art, verbal-literary, social, scientific, maths, music and body movement). The domain specificity of creative ability is represented by a profile of scores. Creative giftedness can be detected using this type of battery. The assessment of creative potential provides an opportunity for identification, orientation, individualized educational programmes and analyses of the effects of creativity training programmes.     

Self-verification and contextualized self-views

Whereas most self-verification research has focused on people's desire to verify their global self-conceptions, the present studies examined self-verification with regard to contextualized selfviews-views of the self in particular situations and relationships. It was hypothesized that individuals whose core self-conceptions include contextualized self-views should seek to verify these self-views. In Study 1, the more individuals defined the self in dialectical terms, the more their judgments were biased in favor of verifying over nonverifying feedback about a negative, situation-specific self-view. In Study 2, consistent with research on gender differences in the importance of relationships to the self-concept, women but not men showed a similar bias toward feedback about a negative, relationship-specific self-view, a pattern not seen for global self-views. Together, the results support the notion that self-verification occurs for core self-conceptions, whatever form(s) they may take. Individual differences in self-verification and the nature of selfhood and authenticity are discussed.