Gender Differences in Ways of Knowing: The Context Dependence of the Attitudes Toward Thinking and Learning Survey

In this article we challenge the notion of stable, gender-related differences in the way people acquire and process information, with men more likely to utilize separate knowing and women connected knowing. An alternative analysis highlights malleability and the importance of social context in determining knowing style. We examined the responses of 186 women and 81 men on the Attitudes Toward Thinking and Learning Survey (ATTLS; Galotti, Clinchy, Ainsworth, Lavin, & Mansfield, 1999) across 3 contexts. Results revealed that both men and women were more likely to use connected knowing in the context of similar in-groups compared to the context of dissimilar out-groups. Gender differences were only apparent where gender was made salient. Our data support an analysis of ways of knowing as flexible and context dependent and question the notion that knowing is intrinsically related to gender.     

Profiling a Profession: A Victorian Survey Assessing Lay Attitudes Toward and Knowledge of Counselling Psychologists

The current study employed a mixed‐methods approach to examine perceptions towards and knowledge of counselling psychologists, including perceived differences between counselling and clinical psychologists. One hundred and fourteen adult members of the Victorian general public participated in the study and completed a 65‐item questionnaire, the Counselling Psychology Status Survey. As predicted, results from quantitative analysis showed that counselling psychologists were reported to be highly needed, valued, and respected by the current sample of Victorian residents. Respondents also reported a high level of confidence in counselling psychologists to treat various mental illnesses. Thematic analysis of qualitative textual data derived from written responses to an open‐ended question revealed that compared with clinical psychologists, counselling psychologists were understood to be less qualified, less skilled, and to work with less severe or complex client presentations. Taken together, results from this study suggest that although counselling psychology appears to occupy a positive public image, the importance of public promotion and awareness‐raising of the specialist profession of counselling psychology, and the continuing need for public education into the nature of psychological services and the qualifications, skills, and competencies of practitioners of psychological service provision, particularly compared with clinical psychology, cannot be underestimated.     

Empathy, Ways of Knowing, and Interdependence as Mediators of Gender Differences in Attitudes Toward Hate Speech and Freedom of Speech

Women are more intolerant of hate speech than men. This study examined relationality measures as mediators of gender differences in the perception of the harm of hate speech and the importance of freedom of speech. Participants were 107 male and 123 female college students. Questionnaires assessed the perceived harm of hate speech, the importance of freedom of speech, empathy, relational and collective interdependence, and connected and separate ways of knowing. Gender differences were found for the harm of hate speech, freedom of speech, empathy, and separate learning as a way of knowing. Women were more negative regarding the harm of hate speech and regarded freedom of speech as less important than men. Additionally, the perceived harm of hate speech was positively associated with empathy, connected knowing, and interdependence, and freedom of speech was positively associated with separate learning and negatively with empathy. Empathy mediated gender differences in the perceived harm of hate speech, and separate learning mediated gender differences in the importance of freedom of speech.     

The Social Roles Questionnaire: A New Approach to Measuring Attitudes Toward Gender

Innovative research is constrained by instruments that assume gender to be captured by dichotomous categories. This article presents the results of two studies that document the psychometric properties of the Social Roles Questionnaire (SRQ), a new measure of gender role attitudes. A social constructivist perspective guided the development of the instrument that was designed not only to capture the diversity in people’s thinking about social roles for men and women, but also to identify attitudes that transcend binary categories. The article details the process of assessing reliability and validity based on data from 414 undergraduates. Findings revealed the SRQ is reliable and valid and that women were more likely than men to endorse egalitarian and gender transcendent beliefs. Additional possible uses of the SRQ are discussed.     

The Attitudes Toward Women Scale for Adolescents (AWSA): A study of reliability and validity

This study describes the development of the Attitudes Toward Women Scale for Adolescents (AWSA), an instrument based on the short form of the Spence-Helmreich Attitudes Toward Women Scale (AWS). The AWSA has been tested in four samples of adolescents. Internal consistency estimates and test-retest stability indicated high reliability. Hypotheses formulated to test the construct validity of the scale were largely supported. AWSA permits the examination of how boys' and girls' attitudes toward women influence the life paths that adolescent girls begin to pursue.This research was supported by grants to A. Petersen from the Spencer Foundation, the National Institute of Mental health (MH 30252/38142), and the Judith Baskin Offer Fund.     

Toward Assessing and Improving Survey Questions on Religion: The ARDA's Measurement Wizard

Developing survey measures of religion is deceptively difficult. As religion in America becomes more diverse and research projects become more global, finding a shared vocabulary that taps into concepts of interest and selecting response categories that capture the full range of choices becomes ever more challenging. This research project introduces new tools and techniques for exploring and evaluating past survey measures of religion, including a new software tool that draws on the ARDA's massive collection of survey measures. We offer two examples to demonstrate how these resources can serve to evaluate past survey measures of religion and improve future measures.     

The Formation of Attitudes Toward New Immigrant Groups1

People often receive information about new immigrant groups prior to any direct contact with group members. However, it is not clear how this information shapes attitudes toward the groups. To explore this issue, 204 subjects were told about an unknown immigrant group that was presented as high or low in personal relevance. Subjects were then given positive or negative consensus information about the emotions that group members elicit from others, group members' personality traits, and group members' values. As expected, results indicated that the presentation of positive information about emotional reactions, personality traits, and values caused attitudes to be more favorable than did the presentation of negative information. Importantly, however, the combined impact of the emotion and personality trait information depended on whether the group was perceived to be of high or low personal relevance. Specifically, when the information about emotions and personality traits was similarly valanced (i.e., both were positive or both were negative), attitudes toward the group tended to be less favorable in the high personal relevance condition than in the low personal relevance condition. In contrast, when mixed information was presented (i.e., positive emotions and negative personality traits or negative emotions and positive personality traits), attitudes tended to be more favorable in the high personal relevance condition. In addition, attitudes, once formed, predicted further perceptions of the group and behavioral intentions toward group members. The implications of the findings for the reduction of prejudice toward new immigrant groups are discussed.     

Testing Practices and Attitudes Toward Tests and Testing: An International Survey

On behalf of the International Test Commission and the European Federation of Psychologists' Associations a world-wide survey on the opinions of professional psychologists on testing practices was carried out. The main objective of this study was to collect data for a better understanding of the state of psychological testing worldwide. These data could guide the actions and measures taken by ITC, EFPA, and other stakeholders. A questionnaire was administered to 20,467 professional psychologists from 29 countries. Five scales were constructed relating to: concern over incorrect test use, regulations on tests and testing, internet and computerized testing, appreciation of tests, and knowledge and training relating to test use. Equivalence across countries was evaluated using the alignment method, four scales demonstrated acceptable levels of invariance. Multilevel analysis was used to determine how scores were related to age, gender, and specialization, as well as how scores varied between countries. Although the results show a high appreciation of tests in general, the appreciation of internet and computerized testing is much lower. These scales show low variability over countries, whereas differences between countries on the other reported scales are much greater. This implies the need for some overarching improvements as well as country-specific actions.     

The Projective Way of Knowing: A Useful Heuristic That Sometimes Misleads

For many purposes, people need a reasonably good idea of what other people know. This article presents an argument and considers evidence that people use their own knowledge as a basis for developing models of what specific other people know in particular, that they tend to assume that other people know what they know. This is a generally useful heuristic, but the assumption is often made uncritically, with the consequence that people end up assuming that others have knowledge that they do not have.     

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.     

Ways of Knowing: The Creative Process and the Design of Technology

ABSTRACT This paper draws upon the already extensive epistemology of science, both to provide a yardstick of comparison for the emergent epistemology of design, and to establish some starting points from which we might begin to construct the epistemology of design.
In approaching the problem of how designers design, the paper employs Heidegger's distinction between 'know-how'and 'knowledge-that', popularised by Ryle, and shows it to be central to the distinction between the implicit processes of design employed by craft technologies, and the explicit processes employed by modern scientific technology. Borrowing from recent work by post-structuralists, it explores the nature of the phases of analysis or 'deconstruction', synthesis or construction, and evaluation, by which scientifically informed design is supposed to proceed, paying particular attention to the relationship between deconstructive analysis and constructive synthesis, in order to re-construct the creative moment/movement by which designers 'leap' from problem to solution.     

Attitudes Toward Affirmative Action: A Comparison of Color-Blind Versus Modern Racist Attitudes

In the hotly contested issue of affirmative action, detractors maintain that the use of race-conscious policies to remedy past discrimination is contraindicative of a color-blind society. Supporters of affirmative action maintain that while a color-blind society may be desirable, acts of past discrimination and current institutional racism make it necessary to use race-conscious policies. Past research has shown that the demographic variables of race and sex, as well as modern racist attitudes predict attitudes toward affirmative action. This investigation examined the relationship between color-blind attitudes, modern racist attitudes, and attitudes toward affirmative action. Results confirmed a positive relationship between modern racism and color-blind attitudes. After controlling for race and sex, colorblind attitudes emerged as the strongest predictor of attitudes toward affirmative action, followed by modern racism.     

On the (In)Compatibility of Attitudes Toward Peace and War

Although attitudes toward peace and war are usually treated as two opposite poles of one dimension, in this article we argue that they may represent two distinct dimensions. To investigate this idea, we developed and tested a new balanced measure, the Attitudes Toward Peace and War (APW) Scale, in three studies (N = 4,742) in the United States and Denmark. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses showed that attitudes toward peace and war formed two distinct, though negatively related, factors. Structural equation modeling showed that antecedents of attitudes toward peace included egalitarian ideological beliefs, the values of international harmony and equality, and empathic concern for others, and consequences included intentions to engage in peace‐related activities. On the other hand, antecedents of attitudes toward war included authoritarian ideological beliefs, the values of national strength and order, and less personal distress, and consequences included intentions to engage in warlike activities. Results also showed that political affiliation had an impact on the relationship between peace and war attitudes, with conservatives less likely to find the attitudes incompatible. The findings support the view that attitudes toward peace and war represent two distinct dimensions.     

The Broaching Attitudes and Behavior Survey (BABS): An Exploratory Assessment of Its Dimensionality

The continuum of broaching behavior is a conceptual framework explicating how counselors broach or have explicit discussions about racial, ethnic, and cultural factors with their clients during treatment ( Day‐Vines et al., 2007 ). Counselors can assume 5 particular broaching orientations: avoidant, isolating, continuing/incongruent, integrated/congruent, and infusing. The authors operationalized the continuum of broaching behavior using the Broaching Attitudes and Behavior Scale and found support for a 4‐factor model of broaching behavior. El espectro de comportamiento de abordamiento es un marco conceptual que explica cómo los consejeros abordan o tienen discusiones específicas sobre factores raciales, étnicos y culturales con sus clientes durante el tratamiento ( Day‐Vines et al., 2007 ). Los consejeros pueden asumir 5 orientaciones de abordamiento particulares: evasiva, aislante, continua/incongruente, integrada/congruente e infundida. Los autores operativizaron el espectro de comportamiento de abordamiento usando la Escala de Actitudes de Abordamiento y Comportamiento y hallaron respaldo para un modelo del comportamiento de abordamiento de 4 factores.     

Attitudes Toward Immigration: The Role of Personal Predispositions

This article examines if deep‐seated psychological differences add to the explanation of attitudes toward immigration. We explore whether the Big Five personality traits matter for immigration attitudes beyond the traditional situational factors of economic and cultural threat and analyze how individuals with different personalities react when confronted with the same situational triggers. Using a Danish survey experiment, we show that different personality traits have different effects on opposition toward immigration. We find that Openness has an unconditional effect on attitudes toward immigration: scoring higher on this trait implies a greater willingness to admit immigrants. Moreover, individuals react differently to economic threat depending on their score on the traits Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. Specifically, individuals scoring low on Agreeableness and individuals scoring high on Conscientiousness are more sensitive to the skill level of immigrants. The results imply that personality is important for attitudes toward immigration, and in the conclusion, we further discuss how the observed conditional and unconditional effects of personality make sense theoretically.     

Religiosity and Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men: A Meta-Analysis

Meta-analysis was used to examine the relationships between seven forms of religiosity (fundamentalism; frequency of attendance at religious services; endorsement of Christian orthodoxy; self-ratings of religiosity; and intrinsic, extrinsic, and quest orientations) and attitudes toward lesbians and gay men. All forms of religiosity except quest and extrinsic orientation had at least small negative relationships with these attitudes. Higher quest orientation was related to positive attitudes toward lesbians and gay men and extrinsic orientation had no relationship to these attitudes. In contrast, most forms of religiosity had small relationships with positive racial/ethnic attitudes; the exceptions were fundamentalism and extrinsic orientation, which had small negative relationships with racial/ethnic attitudes. A number of moderator variables of the relationship between religiosity and attitudes toward lesbians and gay men were identified.     

The Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Questionnaire (SATAQ-3): reliability and normative comparisons of eating disordered patients

The Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Questionnaire-3 (SATAQ-3) is a measure of one’s endorsement of societal appearance ideals. The measure has received extensive evaluation in normative samples, but only minimal evaluation in clinical groups. In this study, 440 patients with eating disorders completed the SATAQ-3. Internal consistencies were excellent for the four SATAQ-3 subscales. Groups did not differ by diagnosis on the Information subscale, however, individuals with bulimia nervosa scored higher than individuals with both subtypes of anorexia nervosa (restricting and binge eating/purging) on levels of Internalization-General and Internalization-Athlete. The findings provide informative normative data, along with preliminary results indicative of the potentially greater role of media messages and images in the formation and/or maintenance of bulimia nervosa than anorexia nervosa.     

Development and Validation of the Sexist Attitudes Toward Women Stale (SATWS)

Although sexism is now defined as a major social problem, there have been very few empirical studies investigating its correlates and determinants. One primary reason for this is that there are no published sexism scales, and hence it is difficult to assess individual differences in sexism. This article describes the development and validation of a 40-item Sexist Attitudes Toward Women Scale (SATWS). On rational-intuitive grounds, it is hypothesized that sexism toward women has seven components and, accordingly, items were written to reflect these. It is suggested that scales measuring only one of these components (e.g., sex-role stereotype scales and women's liberation movement scales) lack content validity as measures of sexism. On empirical grounds it is argued that the SATW scale also has stronger construct validity as a measure of sexism toward women than other such scales. The SATW scale has high internal consistency reliability for both college students and nonstudent adults and the SATW scale scores are independent of social desirability scores. Relationships to age, sex, and education are presented.