An examination of gender differences in the construct validity of the silencing the self scale

Jack’s (1991) theory of self-silencing was originally designed to explain higher rates of depression in women in comparison to men. However, research finding that men score equal or even higher than women on measures of self-silencing has lead theorists to speculate that self-silencing tendencies may be driven by different motivations and have different consequences for women versus men (Jack & Ali, 2010). Using a sample of 247 college students, we examined gender differences in the construct validity of the Silencing the Self Scale (STSS; Jack & Dill, 1992). We hypothesized that women would score higher on the Externalized Self-Perception subscale, but not the other three subscales. Gender differences in the relationship between the STSS subscales and theoretically-relevant constructs were also explored. The results indicated that women on average scored higher than men on the Externalized Self-Perception subscale, whereas men scored higher on the Care as Self-Sacrifice subscale. Further, there was a significant Gender × Care as Self-Sacrifice subscale interaction in the prediction of depression, such that this subscale was negatively correlated to depression in men, and uncorrelated in women. These results clarify how self-silencing might translate into different mental health outcomes for women and men.     

The Effect of Nonverbal Behaviors Associated With Sexual Harassment Proclivity on Women's Performance

We explored whether exposure to nonverbal behaviors that mirror those used by men with sexual harassment proclivity (i.e., high dominance and/or high sociosexual nonverbal behaviors) leads women to perceive those men as potential sexual harassers and lowers women's actual performance on the job. In our first experiment, women's performance was negatively affected when they interacted with a task administrator enacting dominant nonverbal behaviors. The women also perceived the dominant task administrator as more sexual. In our second experiment, viewers rated the task administrator enacting dominant nonverbal behaviors as more likely than the less dominant task administrator to show gender-based attention, social attention, and sexually harassing behaviors. Taken together, our findings suggest an association between perceptions of dominance and sexuality.     

Sex differences in self-silencing

The construct of self-silencing was proposed to account for women's greater vulnerability to developing depression. This study of 1,117 students (795 women and 322 men) explored possible explanations for the empirical finding that men self-silence to the same or greater extent than women. Analysis showed that men reported more self-silencing than women. A factor analysis confirmed the subscale structure of the Silencing the Self Scale for women and men, with relatively few departures from the originally proposed subscales. Depression and self-silencing scores were correlated positively for both men and women. The results of two multiple regressions, performed separately for men and women, showed that depressive symptomatology accounted for a significant percentage of the variance in self-silencing but that social desirability did not account for a significant increment in the variance accounted for in silencing the self. The scores on the Care as Self-sacrifice and the Divided Self subscales were intercorrelated for women, but not for men, indicating that there may be a sex difference in perception of self-silencing behavior.     

拒绝敏感性与边缘型人格特征的关联：一项元分析

运用元分析法整合探究拒绝敏感性与边缘型人格特征关联的已有实证研究, 旨在分析两者间的关联, 并同时考察可能影响该关联的其他变量。经过文献检索和筛选, 共纳入符合要求的原始文献50篇, 含84个效应量, 总样本量为7400人。同质性检验结果表明, 纳入研究的异质性较高, 故进一步对各影响因素变量进行了亚样本及元回归分析。结果发现, 在不同研究设计类型、被试所处地、样本类型、边缘型人格特征指标、拒绝敏感性测量类型的亚样本下, 二者之间的关联存在一定差异, 其中在横向设计、其他地区样本、混合被试、整体边缘型人格特征、量表法测量时所得的拒绝敏感性与边缘型人格特征间的关联最强; 年龄与女性被试比例对该关联不存在显著影响。未来研究可通过纵向研究进一步揭示二者间的预测方向, 考察拒绝敏感性不同成分与边缘型人格特征间的关联, 并在国内开展探索二者关联的研究。     

Regional gray matter volume is associated with rejection sensitivity: A voxel-based morphometry study

Rejection sensitivity (RS) can be defined as the disposition that one tends to anxiously expect, readily perceive, and intensely react to rejection. High-RS individuals are more likely to suffer mental disorders. Previous studies have investigated brain activity during social rejection using different kinds of rejection paradigms and have provided neural evidence of individual differences in response to rejection cues, but the association between individual differences in RS and brain structure has never been investigated. In this study, voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was used to investigate the relationship between gray matter volume (GMV) and RS in a large healthy sample of 150 men and 188 women. The participants completed the RS Questionnaire and underwent an anatomical magnetic resonance imaging scan. Multiple regression was used to analyze the correlation between regional GMV and RS scores, adjusting for age, sex, and total brain GMV. These results showed that GMV in the region of the posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus was negatively associated with RS, and GMV in the region of the inferior temporal gyrus was positively correlated with RS. These findings suggest a relationship between individual differences in RS and GMV in brain regions that are primarily related to social cognition.     

Individual differences in women's perceptions of other women's dominance

Recent research on men's dominance perception suggests that the extent to which men perceive masculine men to be more dominant than relatively feminine men is negatively correlated with measures of their own dominance. In the current studies, we investigated the relationship between indices of women's own dominance and their perceptions of other women's facial dominance. Women's own height and scores on a dominance questionnaire were negatively correlated with the extent to which they perceived masculine women to be more dominant than relatively feminine women. In follow‐up studies, we observed similar individual differences when (i) women separately judged other women's social and physical dominance, suggesting that individual differences in women's dominance perceptions generalize across two different types of dominance judgment and (ii) we assessed the perceivers' dominance indirectly by using a questionnaire that measures the extent to which women view interactions with other women in competitive terms. These findings present new evidence that the extent to which people perceive masculine individuals to be more dominant than relatively feminine individuals is negatively correlated with measures of their own dominance and suggest that competition and conflict among women may have shaped individual differences in women's dominance perception. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Guilt Signals a Crisis of Rejection: Two Types of Individual Differences Related to Social Rejection Have Dissimilar Effects on Guilt and Compensatory Behavior

We investigated whether feelings of guilt, which signal crises in interpersonal relationships (Baumeister, Stillwell, & Heatherton, 1994), are differently evoked by two types of individual differences in social rejection: rejection detection capability (Kawamoto, Nittono, & Ura, 2015) and rejection sensitivity (Downey & Feldman, 1996). Using the hypothetical scenario method, we found that in situations with a potential risk of being rejected as a consequence of causing another person harm (i.e., harm‐present condition), participants with higher rejection detection capability felt more guilt and engaged in more compensatory behavior towards the victims. In addition, guilt mediated the relationship between rejection detection capability and compensatory behavior. Conversely, in situations with no potential risk of being rejected (i.e., harm‐absent condition), participants with higher rejection sensitivity felt more guilt but did not engage in much compensatory behavior. These results suggest that individual differences in social rejection foster different responses to specific threats.     

THE RELATIONSHIP OF GENDER AND ETHNICITY TO SELF-SILENCING AND DEPRESSION AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS

This study expands on the initial work with the Silencing the Self Scale (STSS; Jack, 1991) by presenting data using a more diverse, nonclinical sample. Included were both men and women ( n = 604) who were African American, Asian, Caucasian, and Hispanic. It was expected that women would be more self-silencing than men, and that there would be ethnic differences. There were three principal findings: (a) men were more self-silencing than were women on the STSS; (b) there was a main effect for ethnicity on the STSS, with Asians expressing the highest levels of self-silencing; and (c) there was a positive correlation between self-silencing and depression for all ethnic/gender groups.     

THE CLIMATE FOR WOMEN IN ACADEMIC SCIENCE: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE CHANGEABLE

Deficits theory posits that women scientists have not yet achieved parity with men scientists because of structural aspects of the scientific environment that provide them with fewer opportunities and more obstacles than men. The current study of 208 faculty women scientists tested this theory by examining the effect of personal negative experiences and perceptions of the workplace climate on job satisfaction, felt influence, and productivity. Hierarchical multiple regression results indicated that women scientists experiencing more sexual harassment and gender discrimination reported poorer job outcomes. Additionally, perceptions of a generally positive, nonsexist climate, as well as effective leadership, were related to positive job outcomes after controlling for harassment and discrimination. We discuss implications for the retention and career success of women in academic science.     

The relationship between body weight and perceived weight-related employment discrimination: The role of sex and race

This study provides unique empirical evidence regarding a growing concern internationally: weight discrimination in the workplace. Using survey data from a national sample of 2838 American adults, it responds to Puhl and Brownell’s [Puhl, R., & Brownell, K. D. (2001). Bias, discrimination, and obesity. Obesity Research, 9, 788-805] call for additional research investigating the prevalence of discriminatory experience among overweight employees, and to their more specific call for research that takes sex and race into account when examining weight discrimination. The results indicate that women are over 16 times more likely than men to perceive employment related discrimination and identify weight as the basis for their discriminatory experience. In addition, overweight respondents were 12 times more likely than normal weight respondents to report weight-related employment discrimination, obese 37 times more likely, and severely obese more than 100 times more likely. The implications of the study’s findings for organizations, policy makers, overweight employees, and career counselors are discussed, and future research directions suggested.     

Failure is not an option for Black women: Effects of organizational performance on leaders with single versus dual-subordinate identities

We contribute to a current debate that focuses on whether individuals with more than one subordinate identity (i.e., Black women) experience more negative leader perceptions than do leaders with single-subordinate identities (i.e., Black men and White women). Results confirmed that Black women leaders suffered double jeopardy, and were evaluated more negatively than Black men and White women, but only under conditions of organizational failure. Under conditions of organizational success, the three groups were evaluated comparably to each other, but each group was evaluated less favorably than White men. Further, leader typicality, the extent to which individuals possess characteristics usually associated with a leader role, mediated the indirect effect of leader race, leader gender, and organizational performance on leader effectiveness. Taken together, these results suggest that Black women leaders may carry a burden of being disproportionately sanctioned for making mistakes on the job.     

Predicting the psychological health of older adults: Interaction of age-based rejection sensitivity and discriminative facility

We hypothesize that older adults who anxiously expect, readily perceive, and intensely react to social rejection because of their old age (i.e., have high age-based rejection sensitivity) are vulnerable to depression and poor social functioning. We further hypothesize that the association between age-based rejection sensitivity and poor psychological health would be attenuated among older adults who possess adequate cognitive coping ability—they can discern and respond discriminatively to subtle variations in situational demands (i.e., have high discriminative facility). Based on the results of a focus group study, we constructed an age-based rejection sensitivity measure, which predicts greater depression, poorer social functioning, greater loneliness, and lower life satisfaction among individuals in late adulthood. As hypothesized, the relationship between age-based rejection sensitivity and poor psychological health was weaker among older adults with high (vs. low) discriminative facility.     

ENGINEERING CAREERS: WOMEN IN A MALE-DOMINATED FIELD

A national survey was conducted to compare the background and career characteristics of men and women engineers differing in the number of years since they completed their BS degrees (0–5, 6–10, 11–15, and 16–20 years). The parents of women engineers were more likely to have college degrees and to be employed in professional positions than were the parents of men engineers. Women engineers were less likely to be married and were more likely to be childless than were the men. Both men and women were influenced by courses and work–related factors in their decisions to pursue engineering, but men made their career decisions sooner than women. Although men and women reported comparable levels of technical responsibility in their present jobs, gender differences favoring men were found for supervisory responsibility and salary among those with more than five years of experience, with the gap between men and women increasing with experience. Men with 16–20 years of experience and all four degree cohorts of women endorsed the opinion that there are better opportunities for men than women in engineering.     

Contrapower Harassment in Academia: A Survey of Faculty Experience with Student Incivility, Bullying, and Sexual Attention

This study defines contrapower harassment in academia as student incivility, bullying, and sexual attention aimed at faculty. A U.S., Alaskan sample of 399 professors (50% women, 88% white) at the state’s largest public university was surveyed about their experience with contrapower harassment. Although men reported more sexual attention from students and comparable levels of student incivility–bullying, women reported that such behaviors were more upsetting and had a greater negative impact on their health and work-lives; they were also more likely to take action following such experiences than men. Tenure-track faculty appear to be at increased risk of student hostility. Discussion focuses on how gender and other markers of socio-cultural or institutional power relate to the experience of contrapower harassment.     

How much risk can you stomach? Individual differences in the tolerance of perceived risk across gender and risk domain

Research within the psychological risk–return framework, namely, using the Domain-Specific Risk-Taking scale, has led to a conclusion that risk attitude—measured as an individual's sensitivity to the risk they perceive—is stable across people (e.g., gender) and domains (e.g., recreational, social, financial, & health). Risk taking differences across gender and domain have been interpreted in terms of differences in the magnitude of risk perceived (and expected benefit). Yet the Domain-Specific Risk-Taking scale items, contrived by researchers rather than decision makers themselves, may have failed to detect differences in perceived risk attitude by failing to adequately represent all combinations of risks and benefits across gender and domains. In Study 1, participants generated their own examples of activities, which we selected among in Studies 2 and 3 to construct a new scale representing various levels of perceived risk and expected benefit. Our findings reveal that women are more sensitive than men to risk they perceive (i.e., are less tolerant of risk) in the recreational, social, and financial domains but not in the health domain. Risk attitude also differed across domains, with participants tolerating more risk in some domains than in others. We conclude that gender and domain differences in risk taking stem partly from gender and domain differences in people's sensitivity to perceived risks. Our findings have theoretical implications for the psychological risk–return framework and bridge with other theoretical approaches, such as the expected utility framework. Our studies also provide a new scale for assessing differences in attitudes toward risk that overcomes shortcomings of existing scales.     

Taiwanese junior college students' needs for and perceptions of a career planning course

A 30-item survey was developed to assess the career planning needs of junior college students in Taiwan. 159 men and 493 women were surveyed about career planning needs and perceptions of a proposed course model to answer whether women differ from men in such needs and upper and lower division students differ. A series of two-way analyses of variance identified 7 items on which the women expressed needs more strongly than the men and another 8 items on which the responses of lower division students were significantly different from those of upper division students. Students' perceptions of a course model provided recommendations for a course in career education.     

Professional service involvement of leadership faculty: An assessment of gender,role, and satisfaction

This study explored gender differences among educational administration faculty and their participation in and satisfaction with professional association activities. The study population would be characterized as overwhelmingly male and white, but with women and minority candidates beginning to enter the faculty ranks. Women faculty reported involvement in more professional service activities and a slightly higher satisfaction with their involvement than their male colleagues. However, women participated in different types of and more professional association activities than men.     

Perceived Sexism, Self-Silencing, and Psychological Distress in College Women

The current study aimed to increase knowledge related to the role of a restrictive relational strategy in the well-established link between women’s experiences of sexism and psychological distress. Utilizing self-report data, this study examined whether self-silencing mediated the relationship between perceived sexism and psychological distress in a sample of U.S. college women (n?=?143) from a large, Midwestern university. It was hypothesized that recent sexist events, lifetime sexist events, and self-silencing would predict increased psychological distress and that self-silencing would mediate the relationship between perceived sexism and distress. Higher recalled sexist events both within the past year and over a lifetime predicted increased psychological distress and self-silencing, while self-silencing predicted increased distress. Results from hierarchical multivariate regression analyses and bootstrapping supported the mediating role of self-silencing between lifetime sexist events and distress and between recent (i.e., occurring in the past year) sexist events and distress. Findings support that the adoption of a restrictive relational strategy partially explains the negative psychological consequences of perceived sexism for college women.     

Perceived and Actual Discrimination in the Salaries of Male and Female Managers1

This study uses a sample of over 1000 MBA graduates from a Middle Atlantic University to test for sex differences in perceived discrimination and for the actual effects of various physical characteristics and background factors on the starting salaries and later (1983) salaries of these men and women managers. Women more often reported experiencing discrimination, and they typically identified this as general discrimination against women. Fewer men perceived any discrimination. Those men who did claimed to be the victims of affirmative action programs favoring women and blacks over them. Salary data indicated that women did earn less than men, even when controlling for work experience. Evidence for other forms of discrimination was also found. Controlling for prior work experience and year of first professional employment, age and height had a positive effect on men's starting salaries and being overweight, a negative effect. For women, starting salaries were significantly and positively affected by social class. For 1983 income, taller, non-overweight, and older men earned more, as did those who grew up in a higher social class. For women, a positive salary correlate was again being from a higher social class. Areas for future research are discussed.     

Performance,attitudes, and professional socialization of women in academia

Junior faculty at two universities in the Northeast were surveyed regarding their objective job performance as well as attitudes toward work, availability of role models, self-perception and self-evaluation, and incidence and type of sexual discrimination. There were no significant sex differences in marital status; however, two-thirds of the married females reported having no children, whereas less than one-third of the married males had no children. Female junior faculty reported spending somewhat more time on work-related activities at home, generally less willingness to cancel class, somewhat higher likelihood of editing books and/or journals, but less likelihood of writing books and/or journal articles. Males generally felt they were above average in comparison to their colleagues and contemporaries; and they showed a fairly accurate appraisal of their standing vis-á-vis others on the publication dimension. In contrast, females rated themselves significantly lower than the males in comparison to others and showed little discriminative judgment of their relative standing on the publication dimension. Differences in the early socialization of men and women may result in the differential professional socialization of female faculty. Subtle areas of sexual discrimination in the academic experience are suggested. Finally, the authors caution against overgeneralizing from these results.