Attitudes Toward Technologies for Conception: A 15-Year Follow-Up

The attitudes of students toward technologies related to conception were assessed in 1984 and again in 1999. It was expected that increased routinization of such technologies over time would result in higher approval ratings in the second survey. This hypothesis was not supported by the results; there were no changes in approval for most methods that were included in both surveys, and in some cases, approval decreased. It was also hypothesized that methods included in the 1984 survey would receive higher approval than would newer technologies added in 1999, and this was supported by the data. Differences in approval of specific items were found by the gender and religion of respondents. Results suggest that methods involving donors continue to be unacceptable to most students, that the "older" methods are not becoming more acceptable, and that newer methods (gestational surrogacy, egg donation, and cloning) are even more problematic.     

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.     

Gender Role Identity and Attitudes Toward Feminism

In this study we examined relationships among gender role identity, support for feminism, nontraditional gender roles, and willingness to consider oneself a feminist in a sample of college students (N=301). For female participants, we found positive relationships among higher masculinity on the PAQ (Personal Attributes Questionnaire), nontraditional attitudes toward gender roles, and the combined SRAI (Sex Role Attitudinal Inventory). A negative correlation was also found between lower scores on the PAQ masculinity–femininity index and the combined SRAI in women. For male participants, we found positive relationships among high femininity on the SIS (Sexual Identity Scale), willingness to consider oneself a feminist, positive attitudes toward the women's movement, and the combined SRAI. We also found a negative relationship between high masculinity on the PAQ and willingness to consider oneself a feminist in men. The implications of these findings for the feminist movement are discussed.     

A Decade Later: Black-White Attitudes Toward Women's Familial Role

A comparison of the perceptions of Black and White undergraduate students of the 1960's (n = 396) and 1970's (n = 587) of women's familial role using the Maferr Inventory of Feminine Values indicated an increasing liberalization of role concept across the decade. Most discrepancy occurred between white males' view of the Ideal woman and white females' view of man's Ideal Woman, with white women not believing the degree of liberalization of the white male's conception of Ideal Woman. Blacks in general have a more liberalized view of women's familial role, and there is less discrepancy between black males' and females' views of women's familial role than amongst whites. Women's Ideal Self is more traditional currently, than women's Actual Self.     

The Role of Attitudes in Reactions Toward Diversity in Workgroups1

The present study examined attitudes toward diversity as a moderator of outcomes of diversity in workgroups. Two studies were conducted that focused on the development of the Attitudes Toward Diverse Workgroups Scale (ADWS) and on the impact of diversity attitudes on task performance and psychological reactions in actual face‐to‐face diverse brainstorming groups. The first study supported the internal consistency and stability of the ADWS and revealed that it was related, in the predicted way, to the Big Five and general prejudice. The second study revealed that high scores on the productive and affective dimensions of the ADWS enhanced brainstorming performance (quality of ideas) in actual diverse groups and positive psychological reactions to the group experiences, respectively.     

Understanding Public Attitudes Toward Tobacco Harm Reduction: The Role of Attitude Structure1

The present research examines whether and to what extent the underlying structure of attitudes toward harm reduction and specific reduced‐exposure products contributes to an understanding of public attitudes toward harm reduction. Past research has focused on the extent to which some attitude objects are primarily affective or cognitive. Using survey data from a 5‐state Upper Midwest sample, we tested the relevance of 4 pertinent properties of attitudes for predicting overall attitudes toward tobacco harm reduction: affective and cognitive bases of attitudes; knowledge; experience with smoking and reduced‐harm products; and affective/cognitive consistency. We found that feelings about harm reduction are most predictive of overall attitudes toward harm reduction and specific reduced‐harm products. Theoretical and policy implications are discussed.     

College Students' Attitudes Toward Abortion: The Role of Knowledge and Demographic Variables1

The present study sought to determine the role that knowledge of abortion information and various demographic variables play in discriminating between those who approve and those who disapprove of abortion. Four hundred and fifty-four college students completed the Abortion Knowledge Test, constructed by the researchers, as well as an abortion attitudes questionnaire which asked subjects to indicate their degree of approval or disapproval of abortion in the case of 7 different scenarios. Attitudes toward abortion were significantly predicted by knowledge of abortion-related information above and beyond the significant influence of degree of religiosity, religion, and age. No significant gender differences were found. Respondents who indicated approval of abortion scored significantly higher on the Abortion Knowledge Test and tended to be older, less religious, and non-Catholic compared to those who disapproved of abortion.     

Promoting Positive Attitudes Toward People With Down Syndrome: The Benefit of School Inclusion Programs1

The effects of school inclusion programs on male and female nondisabled students' stereotypes and attitudes toward people with Down syndrome were studied. Nondisabled students (11–15 years of age) from schools with and without inclusion programs reported positive and negative attitudes toward people with Down syndrome. As hypothesized, girls and students attending schools with inclusion programs showed more favorable attitudes toward people with Down syndrome than did boys and students attending schools without inclusion programs, respectively. Interaction effects of school system and sex of participant suggest that boys' attitudes, in particular, benefit from inclusive schooling. The study provides evidence for the effectiveness of inclusion programs in ameliorating prejudice and intergroup anxiety; and in promoting positive attitudes, affect, and trust.     

Using Television to Create More Favorable Attitudes Toward Community Facilities for Deinstitutionalized Psychiatric Patients

Prebroadcast screenings were organized to measure the impact of a TV documentary, "Back Wards to Back Streets", on information levels, attitudes toward community-based treatment facilities, and beliefs about mental illness. Audiences of mental health professionals, political decision makers, and public TV subscribers were invited to screenings in New York City and Albany, New York. Based on an experimental design, half of each audience was randomly selected to respond to both pre- and postfilm questionnaires; others responded to postfilm questionnaires only. Among the New York City audience the film raised information levels, created more favorable attitudes, and changed beliefs about mental illness. One methodological implication is that small-scale screenings are a viable technique for studying TV's impact.     

The Role of Death Qualification in Venirepersons' Attitudes Toward the Insanity Defense1

Three hundred venirepersons from the 12^th Judicial Circuit in Florida completed a booklet of stimulus materials that contained the following: one question that specified participants' level of support for the death penalty; one Witt death‐qualification question; a case scenario that included a summary of the guilt and penalty phases of a capital case; verdict and sentencing preferences; a 16‐item measure that required participants to rate their receptiveness to the insanity defense on a 6‐point Likert scale; and standard demographic questions. Results indicated that death‐qualified venirepersons, when compared to excludables, were more likely to endorse certain insanity myths, find the defendant guilty, and sentence the defendant to death. Legal implications are discussed.     

The Role of Threat in Attitudes Toward Affirmative Action and Its Beneficiaries1

This set of two studies employed the integrated threat theory to examine attitudes toward affirmative action (AA). The first study found that opposition to the policy of AA was predicted by realistic threats, symbolic threats, and personal relevance; while attitudes toward the beneficiaries of AA were predicted by three of the four threat variables (symbolic threats, intergroup anxiety, and negative stereotypes), and in‐group identity. The second study replicated and expanded on the first study and found that the effects of several individual‐difference variables (racism, anti‐Black affect, and political conservatism) on opposition to AA were mediated by three of the threats in the integrated threat theory (realistic threats, symbolic threats, and negative stereotypes). The implications of the results are discussed.     

Reducing Implicit Stigmatizing Beliefs and Attitudes Toward Depression by Promoting Counterstereotypic Exemplars

Stigma prevents people with depression from seeking professional help, and effective strategies to reduce implicit stigmatizing beliefs and attitudes toward depression are needed. We developed stepwise strategies to promote counterstereotypic exemplars of people with depression and conducted an experiment (N?=?105) with a pretest–posttest control group design to examine effects of these strategies. Our results showed that implicit stigmatizing beliefs and attitudes were reduced more in the experimental group, in which the counterstereotypic strategies were implemented in addition to the provision of education regarding basic knowledge of depression, than in the control group, which received only education.     

Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Help for an Eating Disorder: The Role of Stigma and Anticipated Outcomes

This study examined the relationship between self‐stigma, anticipated risks and benefits associated with seeking counseling, and attitudes toward seeking counseling among college students with disordered eating attitudes and behaviors. The results of hierarchical regression analyses demonstrated that self‐stigma and the anticipated risks and benefits significantly predicted attitudes toward counseling for people with disordered eating. In addition, self‐stigma had a stronger relationship with men's attitudes toward counseling than with women's, and anticipated benefits had a stronger relationship with women's attitudes toward counseling than with men's.     

The Impact of Self-Components on Attitudes Toward Sex Among African American Preadolescent Girls: The Moderating Role of Menarche

The purpose of this study was to identify the protective factors that help to prevent attitudes that are tolerant of risky sexual behavior among inner-city, African American, preadolescent girls. It was hypothesized that aspects of the self would significantly predict attitudes toward sexual behavior among this population. It was also expected that the predictive power of the self-components (i.e., ethnic identity, self-concept, and masculine and feminine gender role orientation) would be increased in African American girls following menarche. Two hundred and five African American, preadolescent girls from a northeastern, inner-city community participated in this study. The age for this sample ranged from 10 to 13. Findings of this study lend partial support to the hypotheses. Examination of the predictive relationship between the self-components and attitudes toward sex indicated that self-concept and the masculine and feminine gender role characteristics were significant predictors of attitudes toward sex. In addition, the impact of ethnic identity on functioning was found to be most significant for girls who had experienced menarche.     

The Backyard Politics of Attitudes Toward Immigration

Using two survey experiments, I reconsider the role that the racialized physical traits and level of assimilation of salient immigrants play in shaping attitudes toward immigration. In the first experiment, a nationwide sample of 767 White, non‐Latino adults was exposed to a story about a family of undocumented immigrants living in the Unites States who were at risk of deportation. Subjects were randomly assigned to view a version of the story in which the immigrants were depicted with light skin and stereotypically Eurocentric features, or dark skin and stereotypically Afrocentric features, and their level of assimilation to mainstream American culture was suggested to be high or low. Similar to previous research, the study's results show that assimilation has a direct effect on attitudes toward immigration. Yet in contrast to previous studies, the racialized physical traits proved to be a much more important factor in shaping attitudes toward immigration than previously demonstrated. The role of an immigrant's racialized physical traits was replicated in a second survey experiment of 902 White, non‐Latino adults. Overall, the findings shed new light on how media depictions of immigrants are affecting immigration attitudes, as well as the nuanced ways that race continues to shape public opinion in the United States today.     

The Role of Dehumanization in Attitudes Toward the Social Exclusion and Rehabilitation of Sex Offenders

We examined the role of dehumanization in people's attitudes toward the rehabilitation of sex offenders. In Study 1, the more participants dehumanized sex offenders, the less they supported their rehabilitation and the longer the sentences they recommended. In Study 2, the more participants dehumanized sex offenders, the more likely they were to support their exclusion from society. In Study 3, the more participants dehumanized sex offenders, the more they supported their violent ill treatment. In Study 4, within a sample of correctional staff, good quality contact with sex offenders was related to less dehumanization and more support for rehabilitation. Mediation analyses indicated that the relationship between quality of contact and support for rehabilitation was mediated via dehumanization.     

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.     

The Role of Ambivalent Sexism and Religiosity in Predicting Attitudes Toward Childlessness in Muslim Undergraduate Students

The aim of the current study was to investigate the relationship between ambivalent sexism, specifically hostile sexism (HS) and benevolent sexism (BS), religiosity, and attitudes toward childlessness in Muslim undergraduate students. The sample consisted of 157 (79 women, 78 men) Turkish Islamic undergraduate students studying in North Cyprus, aged between 17 and 30 years-old and originating from various regions in Turkey. Participants completed measures of ambivalent sexism and attitudes toward childlessness as well as rated their level of religiosity. It was expected that due to its emphasis of traditional gender roles, benevolent sexism and high Islamic religiosity would predict negative attitudes toward childlessness in the Turkish sample. Results showed that in women, higher levels of religiosity and benevolent sexism predicted negative attitudes toward childlessness, whereas in men, benevolent sexism alone was predictive of negative attitudes toward childlessness. The results are discussed in accordance with literature on ambivalent sexism and the religion of Islam.