COURTSHIP BEHAVIORS, RELATIONSHIP VIOLENCE, AND BREAKUP PERSISTENCE IN COLLEGE MEN AND WOMEN

This study assessed college men's ( n = 85) and women's ( n = 215) courtship persistence behaviors (approach, surveillance, intimidation, mild aggression), which have been linked to stalking, and examined their relations to initial courtship interest, relationship development, and future violence and persistence, while also exploring the role of gender in these relations. Findings showed individuals performed surveillance when initially more interested than the other. Whereas approach behaviors were positively associated with relationship establishment, surveillance and intimidation were negatively associated. As predicted, results showed continuity in persistence and violence over the course of dating relationships. For both genders, courtship mild aggression predicted relationship violence, and persistence behaviors predicted similar persistence at breakup. Early behaviors may foreshadow violence and stalking-related behaviors in both men and women.     

GROUP-LEVEL COPING AS A MODERATOR BETWEEN HETEROSEXISM AND SEXISM AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS IN SEXUAL MINORITY WOMEN

The purpose of this study was: (1) to examine concurrently the relationship between heterosexist events and sexist events and psychological distress and (2) to investigate sexual orientation–based and gender-based group-level coping as potential moderators of the heterosexism–distress and sexism–distress links among 282 lesbian and bisexual women. Findings from the Internet survey revealed that, when examined together, both heterosexism and sexism were unique and additive predictors of psychological distress. Results also supported a moderating role of feminist group-level coping in the link between number of sexist events and psychological distress, with the difference between the high– and low–feminist-activity groups occurring at the lower levels of sexism. Thus, it appears that high involvement in feminist activities may provide a buffer against the negative effects of sexism, but only when sexist events are relatively low in number.     

SELF-OBJECTIFICATION, RISK TAKING, AND SELF-HARM IN COLLEGE WOMEN

Objectification theory proposes that the objectification of women's bodies causes women to self-objectify, adopting an outsider's view of themselves. Engaging in a high amount of self-objectification is thought to place women at increased risk for mental health problems such as body dissatisfaction and depression. It was hypothesized that self-objectification would contribute to negative body regard and depression, which would increase participation in risk-taking and self-harmful behaviors. Structural equation modeling was used to test a model of risk for self-harm based upon objectification theory in a sample of 391 college women. Results indicate that the model provided a good fit to the data, but only the paths from self-objectification to negative body regard, negative body regard to depression, and depression to self-harm were significant. Implications of these findings for objectification theory and our understanding of self-harm in women are discussed.     

SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES IN RELATIONAL BOUNDARIES AMONG HETEROSEXUALS, GAY MEN, AND LESBIANS

This study investigated the relative contributions of gender and sexual orientation as factors associated with the formation of boundaries in dyadic intimate relating in both same- and opposite-sex couples. The study examined a relational pattern previously not empirically investigated but widely accepted as an actuality unique to lesbians; specifically, that lesbians tend to remain connected to ex-serious-relationship partners after breakup. The study utilized a research design approach emphasizing the methodological utility and heuristic value of including sexual orientation as an independent variable in studies of gender dynamics. Two general classes of theoretical frameworks, those emphasizing gender role socialization influences and those emphasizing systems influences, were discussed in terms of their relative goodness of fit as conceptual bases for the data. Questionnaires were completed by 60 lesbians, 37 gay men, 45 heterosexual women, and 39 heterosexual men. Lesbians and gay men reported higher levels of connection to ex-serious-relationship partners than heterosexuals. The data reflect how inclusion of sexual orientation can broaden understandings of gender differentiated phenomena beyond more traditional gender-only based accounts.     

WOMEN, MEN, AND INTIMACY MOTIVATION

Using a projective method with college students, this study assessed sex differences in the motivation to share personal concerns in a friendship context. As expected, women were found to be significantly more likely than men to imagine that they would confide worries to a friend (Intimacy Imagery). Women's Intimacy Imagery stories included positive outcomes significantly more often than did men's Intimacy Imagery stories, and the theme of self-enhancement as a consequence of confiding occurred in one-quarter of the women's Intimacy Imagery stories and in none of the men's. For men, Intimacy Imagery was associated with high social confidence and a strong preference for confiding in women. For women, stories suggesting avoidance of confiding or anxiety around confiding were associated with low social confidence.     

POOR WOMEN IN PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

For the most part, theory and empirical study in the psychology of women have failed to recognize many distinctions among women. Indeed, the focus of feminist theory and research has been directed to the explication of women's essential experience of gender, as if this could be separated from the confounds of class and race. This presentation raises the issue of the diversity among poor women, the need to disentangle ethnicity and class, and the limitation of adopting a middleclass White perspective. In addition to racism, other possible causes of exclusion are explored. Silencing of poor women is also discussed in terms of causes and impact on the discipline of psychology. We have not provided sufficient mechanisms to allow diverse groups of women to tell their own stories; instead, we have felt comfortable in making assumptions and drawing parallels that may be inappropriate and incorrect. Suggestions for achieving feminist goals are provided.     

WOMEN AND THE AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION

Women have been active in the American Psychological Association (APA) almost from the beginning. In general, however, they did not attain high-level office, editorships, and significant committee posts at the same level as their male counterparts. During one 51-year period, for example, no women were elected to the APA presidency. Despite protests, little changed. Finally, in the 1970s, the climate in the APA shifted. The Committee on Women in Psychology was formed, as was the APA Division of the Psychology of Women. From then on, women's issues have remained an important concern of the association.     

GENDER AND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MARITAL-ROLE QUALITY AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS

In this paper, we estimate the association between marital-role quality and psychological distress in a sample of 300 full-time employed women and men in dual-earner couples. We control for such individual-level variables as age, education, occupational prestige, and job-role quality, and for such couple-level variables as length of marriage, parental status, and household income. We then compare the magnitude of this effect for men and for women and for parents and nonparents. Results indicate that in dual-earner couples marital-role quality is signifycantly negatively associated with psychological distress for women as well as men and that the magnitude of the effect depends little, if at all, on gender or on parental status. These findings challenge the view that marital experiences more significantly influence women's mental health states than men's. The results are discussed in the context of identity theory.     

EVALUATING COMPETENCE OF WOMEN AND MEN

College students (78 females, 79 males) were placed in all-female, all-male, or mixed-gender groups. In the presence of a male or female experimenter, subjects evaluated an article written by a female or male job applicant. Subjects in mixed-gender groups generally evaluated the female applicant more favorably in the presence of the female experimenter than the male experimenter. Subjects in mixed-gender groups also rated the female applicant more favorably than the male applicant in the presence of the female experimenter. Male subjects generally were more influenced than were females by the experimenter's gender, tending to give higher ratings to the applicant of the same gender as the experimenter.     

大学生的压力与心理健康

目的是探讨大学校园压力对大学生心理健康的影响。其意义在于根据压力与心理健康的不同关系,有的放矢地制定干预策略,使大学生在压力之下仍然能够保持心理健康。大学校园压力被定义为学习压力,个人压力和消极生活事件,并由相应的量表所测量。心理健康被定义为：一般健康状况和自尊,也由相应的量表所测量。研究问题是：（1）大学校园压力对大学生的心理健康是否有负面影响？（2）学习压力对大学生的心理健康是否有负面影响？（3）个人压力对大学生的心理健康是否有负面影响？（4）消极生活事件对大学生的心理健康是否有负面影响？同时建立了4个相应的理论假设。研究所采用的是横断和相关设计原则,并采用回溯性调查问卷方法对来自北京市3所高校的788名大学生进行了研究。研究结果证明了全部4个理论假设。研究结论是：大学校园压力对大学生的心理健康有负面影响,而与心理问题呈正相关     

THE RELATIONS AMONG FEMINIST IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT, GENDER-ROLE ORIENTATION, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING IN WOMEN

This study examined relations between feminist identity development, gender-role orientation, and psychological well-being in 244 women of varying ages and backgrounds. As hypothesized, both feminist identity development and gender-role orientation contributed independently to the explanation of variance in psychological well-being. Instrumentality, expressiveness, and a more developed feminist identity were all related positively to psychological well-being. In addition, instrumentality and a more developed feminist identity were correlated positively. Implications of these findings as well as limitations and future directions are discussed.     

ANTECEDENT FACTORS DIFFERENTIATING WOMEN AND MEN IN SCIENCE/ NONSCIENCE CAREERS

Factors that differentiate women and men who choose a science career from those who do not were investigated using longitudinal data from 1980 and 1990. The participants (N = 459) were ninth or twelfth graders at six midwestern high schools in 1980. Women in science compared to women in other careers were significantly more likely to value math and science for their future career goals, whereas men in science compared to men in other careers had significantly higher high school grade point averages in natural science and higher career aspirations. Not unexpectedly, both women and men in science careers compared to those in nonscience careers took more high school elective science courses because they wanted to, aspired to higher prestige careers as young adults, and attributed their math successes more to their ability. The male model accounted for more than twice the variance accounted for by the female model, and context variables were not predictive for either model. Suggestions for revising the model and improving the assessment of context influences are made. Implications for research and practice include designing and evaluating programs to increase the number of intellectually able girls valuing math and science as these relate to their future goals.     

ALCOHOL AND SEXUAL AGGRESSION IN A NATIONAL SAMPLE OF COLLEGE MEN

Alcohol use prior to sexual assault by both offenders and their victims may be associated with the severity of sexual aggression men commit against women. Little research has explored the pathways (e.g., social context, behavior) through which alcohol may affect outcomes of sexual attacks. The present study analyzed the role of alcohol in sexual assaults (N = 694) committed by men identified from a national sample (N = 2,972) of male college students completing a survey. Interactions of alcohol use with assault variables did not suggest any synergistic role of alcohol use in predicting sexual aggression severity. Path analysis showed, however, that offender propensity to abuse alcohol and victim preassault alcohol use were each both directly and indirectly related to sexual aggression severity, whereas offender preassault alcohol use was not directly related to sexual aggression severity. This study suggests that alcohol use plays both direct and indirect roles in the outcomes of sexual assaults. Rape and alcohol abuse prevention efforts can benefit from incorporating information about alcohol's role in different assault contexts.     

THE ATTITUDES TOWARD WOMEN SCALE AND ATTITUDE CHANGE IN COLLEGE STUDENTS

To determine cohort changes in gender-role attitudes, responses to the 15-item form of the Attitudes Toward Women Scale (AWS; Spence & Helmreich, 1972a, 1978) were compared for students at the same university tested in 1972, 1976, 1980, and 1992. In both males and females, members of the 1992 cohort were the most egalitarian, and members of the 1972 cohort were the least egalitarian. In all groups, women were significantly less traditional in their attitudes than men. As has been found in previous studies, detailed analyses of the data from the 1992 cohort revealed that the scale was unifactorial, but that the score distributions were skewed. There was also some indication of ceiling effects at the egalitarian end of the scale, particularly in women. The implications of these latter results for the usefulness of the AWS in current research were explored.     

WHAT'S IN A LABEL? JUDGMENTS OF FEMINIST MEN AND FEMINIST WOMEN

Although significant progress has been made on research concerning stereotypes of feminist women, very little is known about the stereotypes of feminist men. College students rated one of four terms—"feminist man,""feminist woman,""man," or "woman." Compared to "feminist woman,""feminist man" was evaluated more positively, but as less potent (i.e., lower in stereotypically masculine characteristics) and less heterosexual. Although feminist man had the highest evaluative ratings of the four terms and was rated similarly in confidence to woman and man, compared to the other terms it was rated low in attractiveness and potency. These results suggest that at least on some dimensions a feminist man's masculinity may be questioned, which in turn may be a hindrance to men in adopting the feminist label.     

STRESS, SOCIAL SUPPORT, AND HEALTH IN MARRIED PROFESSIONAL WOMEN WITH SMALL CHILDREN

Two hundred married professional women with small children were surveyed to investigate what types of occupational and role-conflict stresses are associated with physical and depressive symptoms, and whether social support could protect individuals from the negative health effects of stress. Six stress indices predicted physical and depressive symptoms, both Concurrently and 1 year later. These stresses reflected perceptions of lack of authority and influence on the job, sex discrimination, a heavy work load, work imposing on relaxation, family imposing on relaxation, and overall suffering from role conflict. Social support yielded no stress-buffering effects.     

JOB ATTRIBUTE PREFERENCES AND WORK COMMITMENT OF MEN AND WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES

The extent of assumed sex differences in preferences for work attributes is explored utilizing data from five representative national samples. The results indicated only minimal differences in preferred job attributes between males and females. Both sexes identified meaningfulness of the work as the most important job attribute, and rank ordered the other four attributes studied in the following sequence: promotion, income, security, and hours. Factors such as education, occupational prestige, age and one's commitment to continue working were more important than sex of the respondent as predictors of job attribute preferences. However, these status variables did not affect the relationship of sex and job attribute preferences. Furthermore, these factors had approximately the same relative predictive value for both males and females. Nevertheless, these statistically significant predictors explained a small proportion of the variance in job attribute preferences. Implications for research and practice are discussed.