Women's and Men's Reactions to Man-to-Man Sexual Harassment: Does the Sexual Orientation of the Victim Matter?

We manipulated the sexual orientation of the victim in a hypothetical case to address 3 key questions: Is it harassment, does the case need to be investigated further, and is the harasser's behavior punishable? Our sample comprised 433 undergraduates (91.5% of whom were White). We hypothesized that women would rate the case as more sexually harassing, as needing further investigation, and as more punishable than men would. We also hypothesized that the sexual orientation of the victim would affect perceptions of the case; specifically, students would significantly rate the incident as more harassing, as needing further investigation, and would recommend more punishment when the victim was homosexual rather than heterosexual. We hypothesized that female respondents would perceive more categories of inappropriate behaviors perpetrated by men on other men as constituting sexual harassment than would male respondents. Furthermore, we hypothesized that lewd comments and enforcement of the traditional masculine gender role would predict responses to the 3 key questions asked about the case. With the exception of recommending greater punishment when the victim was homosexual rather than heterosexual, all hypotheses were supported.     

Wage Differentials in the United States: Does Religious Participation Matter?

Using data on non‐Hispanics from the 2005 Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), this article examines the within‐religion association between religious participation and wages for mainline Protestants, conservative Protestants, and Catholics, the three major religious groups in the United States. While previous studies have examined this relationship for women only and using ordinary least squares (OLS), this article further analyzes gender differences and differences along the wage distribution using a quantile regression (QR) approach. The results indicate that high participation in religious services is associated with lower wages among mainline Protestant women and men, and among Catholic men. Among Catholic women, those who are not participating in religious activities earn higher wages relative to those who participate on a weekly basis. Furthermore, this advantage is more pronounced at high wages, as the QR estimates show. These results suggest the importance of defining religious participation in a manner that allows the detection of nonlinear effects. In addition, the findings speak to the importance of religion in the lives of individuals and may benefit policies dealing with male‐female wage differentials.     

Beneficence: Does Agglomeration Matter?

When it comes to the duty of beneficence, a formidable class of moderate positions holds that morally significant considerations emerge when one's actions are seen as part of a larger series. Agglomeration, according to these moderates, limits the demands of beneficence, thereby avoiding the extremely demanding view forcefully defended by Peter Singer. This idea has much appeal. What morality can demand of people is, it seems, appropriately modulated by how much they have already done or will do. Here we examine a number of recent proposals that appeal to agglomeration. None of them, we argue, succeeds.     

Does the Cover Letter Really Matter?

Many journals require a covering letter alongside the submission process. Some of them, particularly elitist journals, pay a particular attention to the cover letter to such extent an editor may decide not to send a paper out for external peer-review because of a ‘bad’ or absence of a covering letter. As stated in the instructions of many journals, the goal of the covering letter is to emphasize the novelty and to communicate the potential implications of the reported findings. Authors are also invited to tell the handling editor how the topic is related to the journal’s scope and to demonstrate how the results fit in broader context of the literature. Here, I briefly discuss if the cover letter is really necessary.     

Does Gender Matter in Personality Psychology?

In this essay, we assess whether gender is important to personality in the eyes of mainstream personality psychologists and in the eyes of feminist psychologists. We discover that these two perspectives are in fact widely divergent. Most research on personality published today in top‐tier ‘mainstream’ personality journals does not take gender seriously. Moreover, frequently‐used textbooks on personality – whether focused on theories or themes – pay little attention to issues of gender. In contrast, most research on personality published in journals focused on the psychology of women and gender treats gender as an important feature of personality. In that research, gender is fully theoretically integrated into the research, testable hypotheses are developed, and analyses include considerable attention to gender. The current segregation of perspectives on the relevance of gender to personality strikes us as deeply problematic for progress in developing a complete picture of personality in context.     

The Gender Gap in Delinquency: Does SES Matter?

Some researchers argue that the gender gap in delinquency will vary by socioeconomic status (SES); others argue instead for similarity in the gender gap in delinquency across SES. An important shortcoming of the existing research is the paucity of studies that disaggregate the data on delinquent outcomes to consider the possible impact of socioeconomic status on both the extent of overlap in predictors of females' and males' delinquency, and the extent to which these predictors help to explain the gender gap in delinquency. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, this study addresses the shortfalls in empirical research by examining the gender gap for the juvenile population as a whole as well as across specific SES groupings, focusing on these key mediators of delinquency: grades, parental attachment, and delinquent peers. Data support the argument for similarity in the gender gap across SES, though the effect of predictors varies.     

In the Eye of the Beholder: Do Behavior and Character Affect Victim and Perpetrator Responsibility for Acquaintance Rape?1

Acquaintance rape attributions of responsibility were investigated. In Study 1, participants viewed videotapes that varied the female victim's resistance (verbal, physical, verbal/physical) and the reaction of the perpetrator (anger, no reaction) or a control videotape. The victim was held less responsible and the perpetrator was held more responsible when the victim resisted. In Study 2, participants viewed videotapes that manipulated victim and perpetrator reputation. Victims were held more responsible when they had a bad reputation; perpetrators were held more responsible when the victim had a good reputation or the perpetrator had a bad reputation. Hostile sexism predicted victim responsibility in both studies; rape myth predicted victim and perpetrator responsibility in Study 2. Implications for the legal system are discussed.     

Designing Organizations: Does Expertise Matter?

From an organizational cognition standpoint, we approach organizational design as an ongoing creative sensemaking process. This study examined the role of expertise in the cognitive problem-solving patterns underlying design processes and the resulting organizational forms. The simulated problem elicited the mental models applied by naives, novices, and experts in designing an organization. The thinking-aloud protocol analysis revealed quantitative and qualitative expert/nonexpert differences in problem-solving strategies, the time spent on problem representation, and the justifications and difficulties expressed in the course of the design process. In addition, our results showed that naives created organizations consistent with mechanistic structures, while novices and experts created organizations consistent with organic structures. We discuss the implications of these findings for the understanding of the cognitive basis of organizational design and the development of effective training programs.     

Practice Effects in Bimanual Force Control: Does Age Matter?

ABSTRACT

The authors examined age-related differences in fine motor control during a bimanual coordination task. The task required the modulation of fingertip forces in the precision grip according to a visually presented sinusoidal antiphase pattern (force range 2–12 N; frequency 0.2 Hz). Thirty-four right-handed participants of three age groups (young, early middle-aged, and late middle-aged) practiced 30 trials of the task. Accuracy and variability of relative timing and relative forces at minima and maxima of the sine wave were analyzed for hand–hand and hand–stimulus couplings and compared between age groups. Analysis showed for relative timing and force weaker hand–hand than hand–stimulus coupling as well as lower accuracy and higher variability for minima as compared to maxima. Further, we analyzed practice effects by comparing the first and last trials and characterized the course of practice by detecting the transition of a steeper to a shallower acquisition slope for the different age groups. Late middle-aged participants demonstrated poorer performance than both other groups for all parameters. All groups improved performance to a similar amount. However, an age-related difference in acquisition strategy is visible. Late middle-aged participants seemed to have focused on improvement of force amplitude, whereas young and early middle-aged focused on timing.     

Does Proximity Matter in Promoting Interfaith Dialogue?

This paper explores the role of physical proximity of places of worship in facilitating interfaith dialogue. The research focuses on a religious cluster within the Greater Toronto Area, which emerged due to incremental zoning changes over time. Using key informant interviews as the method and Allport’s contact hypothesis as the guiding theoretical framework, it explores the effects of proximity and contact (interaction or encounters) on intergroup relations. The findings suggest that physical proximity is not a strong factor in facilitating interfaith dialogue initiatives. However, proximity does seem to have an effect in creating a space for interactions and encounters to occur, which can lead to attitudinal shifts concerning the religious “other.”     

Wishful Thinking about the Future: Does Desire Impact Optimism?

The notion that desire for an outcome inflates optimism about that outcome has been dubbed the desirability bias or wishful thinking. In this paper, we discuss the importance of distinguishing wishful thinking from the more general concept of motivated reasoning, and we explain why documenting overoptimism or correlations between preferences and optimism is not sufficient to infer a desirability bias. Then, we discuss results from a review and meta-analysis of the experimental literature on wishful thinking. These findings, in conjunction with more recent work, not only highlight important moderators and mediators of the desirability bias but also point out limitations of the empirical research on the bias. These results also reveal an important difference between how likelihood judgments and discrete outcome predictions respond to desirability of outcomes. We conclude by presenting avenues for future research useful for understanding wishful thinking's manifestation in everyday environments and its integration with related phenomena.     

Does Maintenance Treatment Matter?

This study examined the effects of a two-year maintenance treatment assessed at 1 and 2 years following Parent–child Interaction Therapy (PCIT). Sixty-one of 100 clinic-referred children (M age?=?4 years, 4 months) originally diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) completed the standard treatment and were then randomized to PCIT maintenance treatment (MT) or to an assessment-only follow-up condition (AO). Rating scale and observational measures from fathers, mothers, and children were collected before and after standard treatment and at one- and two-year follow-up assessments. Maintenance treatment involved monthly telephone contacts from the original therapist focused on relapse prevention based on principles of PCIT. At the two-year follow-up, MT families showed few changes from post-treatment, as expected. However, the expected decrements for AO control families were not seen. Few differences between MT and AO were found at either follow-up assessment, and there were no significant differences in the rates of change during follow-up. The maintenance of gains among AO families may have resulted from the continuous enhancement of standard treatment or from inadvertent reinforcement for maintenance provided by the assessments of change alone.     

Examining the Outcomes of Having a Calling: Does Context Matter?

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to examine the cognitive, affective, and behavioral outcomes of calling. Further, the study examined the conditions under which individuals with a calling thrive, specifically focusing on the moderating role of work discretion and participative decision making.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Data were collected using surveys from 298 teachers and aides working in 68 child care centers.

Implications

The study results demonstrate that having a strong work calling is beneficial for both individuals and organizations. Results show that individuals who have a strong work calling are more committed to their organizations, have less emotional exhaustion and exhibit higher levels of contextual performance. Thus, in order to reap positive outcomes from their work individuals should engage in work that enables them to pursue their calling. Also, organizations will have increased work outcomes by hiring individuals who have a strong work calling. Further, organizations will benefit greatly by creating conditions that enable individuals to pursue their calling. Findings indicate that individuals with a high calling thrive in organizations that have more participative decision-making practices and which offer high work discretion.

Originality/Value

The study significantly contributes to the scant literature on calling by examining the affective, cognitive, and behavioral outcomes of calling. The study also responds to calls for research on the conditions under which calling leads to positive individual and work outcomes and identifies the conditions under which workers with a strong calling thrive.

     

Does Religion Matter to Employment Protection? Evidence from Chinese Private Firms

Journal of Religion and Health - The upper echelons theory states that organizational engagements may replicate the experiences, personalities and values of dominant players within a firm. Based on...     

Does Teaching Experience Matter?

49 pairs of counselors with and without teaching experience were asked to rate their relationships with others and their ability to perform certain school-related and guidance tasks. The pairs were obtained from throughout the United States. Counselor educators were asked to identify pairs who had graduated from their institution, were of the same sex, and were working in approximately the same situation. Ratings were then obtained using a mailed questionnaire. The major findings were: (1) After counselors had been on the job for 8 weeks or more they perceived no difference in their relationships with others in the school. (a) Counselors with teaching experience had significantly higher ratings of their ability to perform 4 of the 6 routine school tasks listed. (3) No significant differences were found in ratings of their ability to perform guidance tasks with the exception of providing vocational information. Counselors with teaching experience had higher ratings in this area.     

Does Global Inequality Matter?

Global economic and political inequalities are in most respects greater today than they have been for decades. From one point of view inequality is a bad thing simply because it involves a deviation from equality, which is thought to have value for its own sake. But it is controversial whether this position can be defended, and if it can, whether the egalitarian ideal on which the defense may depend applies at the global level as in individual societies. Setting aside directly egalitarian reasons for concern about global inequality, this paper explores several reasons for concern that derive from nonegalitarian values – primarily those associated with poverty and material deprivation, humiliation, the impact of inequality on the capacity for self-control and self-government, and the unfairness of political decision-making procedures with large economic inequalities in the background.     

Electoral Politics and Immigration in Canada: How Does Immigration Matter?

The conventional wisdom about the relationship between immigration and national electoral politics in Canada, albeit based on limited research, is that immigration is non-partisan and does not feature prominently during election campaigns. This paper examines the last two federal elections, in 2004 and 2006, employing a multi-pronged approach to party platform, media and survey analysis, in order to determine if immigration is discussed and, if so, how. It finds a political debate does take place but is not easily discernible using traditional research methods. This discourse is framed in terms of alternatives of inclusion, and not exclusion, something facilitated by the complexity of the Canadian immigration programme and the geographical and political landscape, and appears to be especially evident during more competitive elections.     

Does Perceived Realism Really Matter in Media Effects?

Memory, perceived realism, and emotional responses to documentary and fictional film excerpts were investigated experimentally using adult participants. Documentary stimuli were perceived as more factual than their fiction counterparts at both semantic and syntactic levels. However, contrary to expectations, memory for visual and verbal information and the intensity of emotional reactions were greater overall for fiction films. Films whose content corresponded to well-known social themes and film genres also had a greater influence on memory and emotions. In general, it appears that perceived factuality does not have as compelling an influence on adults as it does on younger viewers. Results are interpreted in terms of the differences between cinematic attributes of documentary and fiction films and between the cognitive processes activated by these two film genres and by different themes.