Sex differences in attributions for sex-typed tasks1

Recent studies have indicated that males make more egotistical attributions than females, that is, males make more internal attributions for success and more external attributions for failure than females do. These sex differences in attributions were examined in terms of male/female differences in expectancies for success and ego-involvement in the tasks. Male and female subjects succeeded or failed on a masculine or a feminine task. It was found that males made more egotistical attributions than females on the masculine task, but females made more egotistical attributions than males on the feminine task. A covariance analysis revealed that these sex differences in attributions could be explained in terms of the differences between the males and females in expectancy for success and in ego-involvement. Finally, it was found that ego-involvement was a more important determinant of egotisical attributions in the present study than was expectancy.     

Developmental analysis of human figure drawings in adolescence, young adulthood, and middle age.

Analyzed 195 human figure drawings (HFDs) of adolescents, young adults, and middle-aged adults in terms of developmental differences in anxiety signs, grouped into aggressive-hostile and insecure-labile categories, and according to sex-role stereotype, as measured by the Broverman Sex-role Stereotype Scale. Adolescent males and females were significantly more likely to obtain more anxiety signs than the two adult groups, although young adults and middle-aged adults did not differ from one another in HFD performance. The most reliable sex difference was that males reveal significantly more aggressive-hostile indices in the HFDs relative to females; no significant sex differences were obtained for number of insecure-labile indices. The degree to which one has adopted a conventional sex-role stereotype was not predictive of anxiety sign differences in HFD performance for either sex or for any age group.     

Sex differences in pain

Are there sex differences in pain? For experimentally delivered somatic stimuli, females have lower thresholds, greater ability to discriminate, higher pain ratings, and less tolerance of noxious stimuli than males. These differences, however, are small, exist only for certain forms of stimulation and are affected by many situational variables such as presence of disease, experimental setting, and even nutritive status. For endogenous pains, women report more multiple pains in more body regions than men. With no obvious underlying rationale, some painful diseases are more prevalent among females, others among males and, for many diseases, symptoms differ between females and males. Sex differences in attitudes exist that affect not only reporting, coping, and responses to treatment, but also measurement and treatment. So many variables are operative, however, that the most striking feature of sex differences in reported pain experience is the apparent overall lack of them. On the other hand, deduction from known biological sex differences suggests that these are powerful sex differences in the operation of pain mechanisms. First, the vaginal canal provides an additional route in women for internal trauma and invasion by pathological agents that puts them at greater risk for developing hyperalgesia in multiple body regions. Second, sex differences in temporal patterns are likely to give rise to sex differences in how pain is "learned" and stimuli are interpreted, a situation that could lead to a greater variability and wider range of pains without obvious peripheral pathology among females. Third, sex differences in the actions of sex hormones suggest pain-relevant differences in the operation of many neuroactive agents, opiate and nonopiate systems, nerve growth factor, and the sympathetic system. Thus, while inductive analysis of existing data demonstrate more similarities than differences in pain experience between females and males, deductive analysis suggests important operational sex differences in its production.     

Sex differences in attraction to infants: When do they occur?

Harlow (1971) observed that all-female college audiences responded to a pictured infant rhesus monkey with an “ecstasy response,” while males were “completely unresponsive,” and females in coeducational audiences “inhibited the ecstasy response,” explaining these differences in terms of innate sex differences. The present study compared college students' self-reported attraction to pictures of 15 infant and adult nonhuman primates under several conditions. Infant pictures were of two types: infants which were engaged in typical infant behaviors (Infant Behavior), and those which were not (Infant). Subjects made judgments in same- or mixed-sex groups and reported degree of attraction publicly or privately. Ratio scores were used to represent each subject's attraction to infant or infant-behavior pictures compared with his or her attraction to pictures of adults. There were no significant sex differences in attraction to infant or infant-behavior pictures, and sex did not interact with any other variable. However, situational variables significantly affected the response. Males as well as females reported greater attraction to infant and infant-behavior pictures when they viewed the pictures in same-sex compared with mixed-sex groups. Both sexes reported greater attraction to infant and infant-behavior pictures privately than publicly.     

Sex differences in reactions to outperforming same‐sex friends

The current studies were designed to examine whether female adolescents have more negative reactions than male adolescents to achieving more than their same‐sex friends. In Study 1, 51 females and 48 males from grades 8 and 10 were administered questions assessing their reactions to performing better than their closest same‐sex friends in four domains. Across domains, females reported more negative reactions than males. Further, compared with males, female participants believed that their same‐sex friends would have more negative reactions if they performed better than their friends. In Study 2, 48 females and 49 males age 18 years were asked how they felt about performing better than and equal to their closest same‐sex friends in the domains of romance and academics in both hypothetical and actual situations. Females reported feeling more positive when they received the same outcomes as opposed to better outcomes than their friends. Males did not differ in the valence of their responses to the two outcomes. The implications for sex differences in achievement and friendship are discussed.     

Male-Female Performance in Learned Helplessness

The impact of uncontrollability and failure on adult males and females in a learned helplessness situation was investigated. It was hypothesized that females would show more helplessness effects. Twenty-four males and 24 females enrolled in a university psychology course were studied. Helplessness was induced through a series of anagram tasks used in earlier research by one of the authors. As expected, females showed more helplessness effects in the helplessness-induction manipulations of the anagram tasks. Discussion is offered in terms of possible sex differences in childhood training with regard to handling frustration and failure.     

Effect of sex and joystick experience on pursuit tracking in adults

Using a joystick, adults (n = 39 males, 40 females in Experiment 1; n = 35 males, 40 females in Experiment 2; and n = 18 males, 18 females in Experiment 3) performed a computerized pursuit tracking task. Contrary to previously reported findings, the males were not more accurate than the females when performance was adjusted for prior perceptual-motor experience. Although no sex differences were found in a speeded tracking task, in an inverted tracking task the males exhibited a significant performance advantage; that advantage remained after several blocks of practice. Because participants' performance was adjusted statistically for prior perceptual-motor experience, the male advantage in inverted tracking was not related to experience. Rather, more proficient inverted tracking performance was associated with higher 3-dimensional mental rotations scores. In sum, sex differences in normal pursuit tracking may be better explained by differences in perceptual-motor experience. Inverted tracking, however, may depend on proficiency with spatial transformations.     

Come-ons and Put-offs: Unmarried Students' Strategies for Having and Avoiding Sexual Intercourse

One-hundred and twenty male and 109 female unmarried college students participated in a questionnaire study of actual and expected male-female differences in the use of 10 strategies for having and avoiding sexual intercourse. As predicted, both men and women viewed strategies for having sex as used predominantly by males and strategies for avoiding sex as used predominantly by females. However, sex-role attitudes were unrelated to students' expectations of sexual encounters. Both traditional and profeminist students expected that strategies for having sex would be used predominantly by males and strategies for avoiding sex would be used predominantly by females. It appeared that students still stereotyped having sex as a male goal and avoiding sex as a female goal. Men and women were unexpectedly similar in their personal strategies for influencing a sexual encounter. Both men and women reported using more indirect strategies to have sex and more direct strategies to avoid having sex. These findings suggest that when men and women share the same goals (such as having or avoiding sex), expected differences between male and female influencing agents disappear     

Sex Differences, Attributional Style, and Depressive Symptoms Among Adolescents

This study examined attributional style, sex, and depressive symptoms and diagnosis in high school students. The results revealed that (1) for females and males, higher levels of depressive symptoms correlated with a more depressive attributional style; (2) females and males who met diagnostic criteria for a current depressive disorder evidenced more depres-sogenic attributions than psychiatric controls, and never and past depressed adolescents; (3) although no sex differences in terms of attributional patterns for positive events, negative events, or for positive and negative events combined emerged, sex differences were revealed on a number of dimensional scores; (4) across the Children's Attributional Style Questionnaire (CASQ) subscale and dimensional scores, the relation between attributions and current self-reported depressive symptoms was stronger for females than males; and (5) no Sex × Diagnostic Group Status interaction effects emerged for CASQ subscale or dimensional scores. Implications of the complex findings from this large-scale, methodologically sophisticated study are addressed.     

Sex differences in the adolescent brain

Adolescence is a time of increased divergence between males and females in physical characteristics, behavior, and risk for psychopathology. Here we will review data regarding sex differences in brain structure and function during this period of the lifespan. The most consistent sex difference in brain morphometry is the 9–12% larger brain size that has been reported in males. Individual brain regions that have most consistently been reported as different in males and females include the basal ganglia, hippocampus, and amygdala. Diffusion tensor imaging and magnetization transfer imaging studies have also shown sex differences in white matter development during adolescence. Functional imaging studies have shown different patterns of activation without differences in performance, suggesting male and female brains may use slightly different strategies for achieving similar cognitive abilities. Longitudinal studies have shown sex differences in the trajectory of brain development, with females reaching peak values of brain volumes earlier than males. Although compelling, these sex differences are present as group averages and should not be taken as indicative of relative capacities of males or females.     

The relationship of sex and sex role to trait and situationally specific anxiety types

While considerable research has investigated the relationship of sex and/or sex role to general or trait anxiety, little is known about their relationship to more specific anxiety types. Based on the postulate that sex and sex-role differences may depend on the extent to which an anxiety-producing situation represents a sex-stereotypic domain, the present study compared their relationships to four measures of anxiety: Math anxiety, test anxiety, and two measures of trait anxiety. Subjects were 180 undergraduate students enrolled in introductory psychology courses. Although females reported higher levels of anxiety on all four scales than did males, a discriminant function analysis indicated that math anxiety was the strongest contributor to the separation of the sexes. Significant score differences as a function of sex role were found using the STAI A-Trait scale, and a significant sex × sex-role interaction was found for scores on the S-R Inventory of Anxiousness. Feminine-typed males and undifferentiated females reported highest anxiety levels in comparison to same-sex individuals. Implications for the understanding and treatment of both general and situationally specific anxiety are discussed.     

Self-posed behaviors of females and males in photographs

In a previous study, Ragan (1982) found systematic sex differences in the poses of persons photographed by professional photographers. In this study, 34 female and 34 male subjects posed themselves for a confederate, allegedly a photography student, who took the photographs from which data were drawn to assess sex differences in self-posed photographs. A MANOVA revealed overall significance with females smiling, canting, and orientating away from the camera more than males. An ANOVA produced significant sex differences for only the smiling data. Results are discussed in terms of Goffman's (1976) suggestion that photographers introduce their distortions into photographs and in terms of Duval and Wicklund's theory of objective self-awareness (1972).The author gratefully acknowledges the photographic assistance of Pam Bugg, Clay Langley, Jim Hamilton, and Susan Moore.     

Spatial configurations: Erikson reexamined

In a 1951 study, Erik Erikson reported differences in preadolescents' play constructions. He claimed that his findings reflected differences between males and females in their experience and perception of space. The present study replicated but also expanded the original design. In order to control for possible sex bias of materials, a constructed scene using only blocks was added to Erikson's original design. The results failed to replicate Erikson's findings. In fact, in the construction of scenes from blocks, more females than males built erected structures; this was true across all ages. These findings are in direct contrast to Erikson's results, and they lead to the conclusion that the materials provided, not innate anatomical sex differences, account for the resulting spatial configurations.The research reported here was part of the first author's dissertation. The authors gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of Holy Innocents Episcopal School and Georgia State University.     

Competence,guilt, and victimization: Sex differences in attribution of causality in television dramas

Sex differences in attribution of causality are investigated in three types of television programs: prime-time family, violent, and daytime serial shows. Both frequency and type of causal statements were studied, using DeCharm's conceptualization of personal causation as origin-like (internal to the self) or pawn-like (external to the self). There were striking sex differences in violent programs, with males modeling more origin behavior and females modeling more pawn behavior. In soap operas there were no sex differences, but both origin and pawn ideas were expressed in terms of personal responsibility, with fewer references to more competent origin behaviors such as goal setting, planned decision making, or self-confidence. These findings have implications for differential socialization of competent coping skills for males and females.The authors would like to express appreciation to Katie Henry and Jennifer Mardoyan, who assisted with this research.     

Fer cryin' out loud — There is a sex difference

Self-reported crying behavior of 307 female and 285 male university students was studied. Female subjects reported crying significantly more frequently and intensely than did male subjects. In all six interpersonal situations female subjects indicated greater likelihood of crying than did male subjects. Significantly more females than males indicated they would cry in 17 of 20 stimulus situations. Where there were significant sex differences in reporting of postcrying affect, a higher percentage of females than of males indicated that they experienced the feelings described. The sample, with few exceptions, viewed females as crying more frequently than males. Despite these sex differences, many evidences of similarity between the sexes in crying behavior were found.An earlier version of this article was presented at the Western Psychological Association Meetings in San Diego, April 1979.     

SEX DIFFERENCES IN CONFORMITY: STATUS AND GENDER ROLE INTERPRETATIONS

The experiment examines status and gender role explanations of the tendency for women to conform more than men in group pressure settings. Subjects believed they were assigned to groups containing two males and two females in addition to themselves and received these other group members' opinions, which were represented as deviating from the opinions that subjects had given earlier. Subjects then gave their opinions with the other group members either having or not having surveillance over these opinions. In addition, subjects were required to form impressions of each other's likability or expertise. The findings indicate that subjects' sex and age affected the extent of their conformity. Among older (19 years and older) subjects, females conformed more with surveillance than without it, whereas surveillance did not affect males' conformity. Among younger (under 19 years) subjects, surveillance had no effects. Analysis of sex differences revealed that older females were significantly more conforming than older males when under surveillance as well as when subjects formed impressions of one another's likability. Among younger subjects, there were no sex differences. These findings are discussed in terms of the theories that (a) both sex and age function as status characteristics and (b) gender roles determine conformity.     

Adolescent Sex Differences in Response to a Mindfulness Intervention: A Call for Research

Research on mindfulness interventions with adolescents has burgeoned over the last ten years, and findings have demonstrated increases in overall emotional wellbeing post-intervention. However, little is known about the sex differences in response to mindfulness interventions in this age group. In the present study we examine sex differences in outcomes of physiological stress markers during the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and emotional wellbeing measures before and after a mindfulness intervention (N?=?15) with 10 female and 5 male adolescents. Additionally, we examine sex differences in course engagement and post-intervention use of mindfulness skills during the TSST. Overall, we found some evidence that females were more engaged than males in the class and also reported less stress post-intervention. We conclude by strongly encouraging future research in this area to more clearly elucidate the different ways in which adolescent males and females engage and respond to mindfulness interventions.     

Slang: A male domain?

A brief overview of various definitions of the problematic term “slang” precedes a discussion of stereotyped perceptions of slang and whether it is a male or female linguistic characteristic. Following this is a report on an investigation carried out on 160 South African adolescents, which attempted to measure the effect of the following variables on the use of slang: sex, age and type of school. Although interesting sex-related differences are revealed in the results, which can be correlated with the theme of social power and status, it is argued that the expected differences between males and females in this area are not as striking as one is led to believe by literature in the field, and that the gap is likely to close: it is probably not the sex of the speaker alone that influences slang usage, but also, and perhaps more importantly, his/her age and scholastic environment.     

Expectancy of success on sex-linked tasks

College subjects undertook nine cognitive tasks with different perceived sex linkages, stating their expectancy of success prior to each task and attributing causality for their perceived performance following each task. As hypothesized, two components were present in the overall sex difference in expectancy of success, even when differences in actual task performance were statistically controlled. One component was attributable to a general tendency of females to state lower expectancies; the other was a function of the accord between the perceived sex linkage of the task and the subject's sex. The attribution data suggest that females tend to be more external for success and more internal for failure than males.The research reported here was partially supported by Grant #10692 from the Research Foundation of the City University of New York. The assistance of Bruce Eisman in testing subjects and of Rudy Lorber in data analysis is gratefully acknowledged.     

Effect of Sex and Joystick Experience on Pursuit Tracking in Adults

Using a joystick, adults (n = 39 males, 40 females in Experiment 1; n = 35 males, 40 females in Experiment 2; and n = 18 males, 18 females in Experiment 3) performed a computerized pursuit tracking task. Contrary to previously reported findings, the males were not more accurate than the females when performance was adjusted for prior perceptual-motor experience. Although no sex differences were found in a speeded tracking task, in an inverted tracking task the males exhibited a significant performance advantage; that advantage remained after several blocks of practice. Because participants' performance was adjusted statistically for prior perceptual-motor experience, the male advantage in inverted tracking was not related to experience. Rather, more proficient inverted tracking performance was associated with higher 3-dimensional mental rotations scores. In sum, sex differences in normal pursuit tracking may be better explained by differences in perceptual-motor experience. Inverted tracking, however, may depend on proficiency with spatial transformations.