Are Transgender Persons at Higher Risk for HIV Than Other Sexual Minorities? A Comparison of HIV Prevalence and Risks

SUMMARY

Recent studies have shown that transgender people are at high risk for HIV. Few studies, however, have directly compared the HIV risks and sexual health of transgender persons with that of other sexual minority populations. This study used baseline data of intervention studies targeting transgender persons, men who have sex with men, and women who have sex with women and men to compare their HIV risk behavior and sexual health. No significant differences were found between transgender persons and nontransgender men or women in consistent condom use or attitudes toward condom use. Transgender persons were less likely to have multiple partners and more likely to be monogamous than men who have sex with men; no differences were found between transgender persons and the women in this respect. When combining data on condom use, monogamy, and multiple partners, transgender persons did not differ from either nontransgender group in their overall risk for HIV. Transgender persons were less likely than the men or the women to have been tested for HIV. With regard to HIV prevalence, 17% of the men compared to only one transgender person and none of the women reported being HIV-positive. Transgender persons were also less likely than men who have sex with men to use drugs; no differences were found in the use of alcohol. However, with regard to mental health, transgender persons were more likely than the men to have experienced depression and more likely than men or women to have considered or attempted suicide. Finally, transgender persons reported the lowest levels of support from family and peers. Thus, in our sample, transgender persons appear to be at lower risk for HIV but at higher risk for mental health concerns than men who have sex with men. Remarkably few differences were found between transgender persons and women who have sex with women and men-a finding which might reflect the impact of social stigma on sexual health and have implications for the design of future HIV/STI prevention efforts.     

Direct and Indirect Effects of Adolescent Self-Control of Emotions and Behavioral Expression on Adult Health Outcomes

In the ongoing Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development, we examined the direct and indirect effects of self-control of emotions and behavioral expression, as rated by teachers at age 14, on various self-reported health outcomes at age 36 in 123 women and 129 men. The relation between independent and dependent variables was expected to be mediated by health-related behaviors at age 36 (exercise, tobacco use, heavy drinking). Path analysis showed that, in men, low self-control of emotions was linked to self-assessed poor health and physical symptoms indirectly via health-risk behaviors, but directly to disabilities. Behavioral expression at age 14, indexed by social activity, was directly linked to disabilities. In women, behavioral expression was unrelated to health outcomes, but low self-control of emotions was indirectly linked to self-assessed poor health, physical symptoms, and disabilities via health-risk behaviors.     

Interrelations among gender-role conflict, typicality of occupations, and self-esteem

The present study was conducted with 549 women and men who were employed in gender-typical occupations or who were in vocational training, further qualification, or retraining for one of these job. We examined whether a gender-typical occupation is related to gender-role conflicts of women and men in work settings and whether self-esteem moderates the experiences of conflict. Generally, we cannot confirm influence of gender-typical jobs on experience of conflict. The results, however, supply evidence for the fact that women experience higher gender-role conflicts than men in all occupations. Women and men of low self-esteem engaged in typically female occupations experience especially high gender-role conflict.     

Implicit self-esteem is associated with higher levels of trait gratitude in women but not men

ABSTRACT

Higher levels of trait gratitude have been associated with measures of greater self-reported self-esteem. However, such self-report measures may be influenced by self-report biases. In this study we investigated for the first time whether implicit measures of self-esteem would be associated with greater trait gratitude in a sample of 88 undergraduate students (41 female). We observed that, in women (but not men), higher levels of trait gratitude were associated with higher implicit self-esteem (r = .26, p = .05), even when accounting for depressive symptoms. This finding may be of particular importance, as implicit measures of self-esteem have been more strongly associated with psychological health than explicit measures. Future research should further investigate whether the experience of gratitude affects self-esteem differently in men and women, as this knowledge may be important in informing the design of future gratitude interventions aimed at improving psychological health in men and women.     

Anxiety, self-esteem and self-perceived satisfaction as predictors of health: differences between men and women

The main objective of this research is to analyze whether there are differences in physical health between men and women when considering their working situation. Three psychological variables are analyzed (anxiety, self-esteem and satisfaction) as well as several indicators of physical health for different working situations. The results seem to indicate that although women have worse health than men (when the group is analyzed in general), these differences vary when we take into account the working condition of the participants, and the differences even disappear. The psychological variables used in this survey only explain the variance of the subjective indicators of physical health, most of all, the Physiological Anxiety, which is responsible for the highest rate of the explained variance. The psychological variables predict women's physical health more than men's, what seems to indicate that women's physical health is closely related to psychological health.     

The stability of self-concept during adolescence and early adulthood: a six-year follow-up study

The stability and gender differences of self-concept during adolescence and early adulthood were studied in 894 randomly selected Finnish subjects using the shortened version of the Coopersmith (1967) Self-Esteem Inventory. There were no differences between the men and women in the total score for self-concept. In early adulthood, men scored higher than women on general self-esteem, and women scored higher on the home-parents factor in each developmental period from pre-adolescence to adulthood. The stability of self-concept, as well as its different components, was rather high. General self-esteem showed the highest predictive value for the total score 6 years later.     

The Stability of Self-Concept During Adolescence and Early Adulthood: A Six-Year Follow-Up Study

The stability and gender differences of self-concept during adolescence and early adulthood were studied in 894 randomly selected Finnish subjects using the shortened version of the Coopersmith (1967) Self-Esteem Inventory. There were no differences between the men and women in the total score for self-concept. In early adulthood, men scored higher than women on general self-esteem, and women scored higher on the home-parents factor in each developmental period from preadolescence to adulthood. The stability of self-concept, as well as its different components, was rather high. General self-esteem showed the highest predictive value for the total score 6 years later.     

Clarifying the Relationship Between Organizational Citizenship Behaviors, Gender, and Knowledge Sharing in Workplace Organizations in Taiwan

This study examines the relationships between organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) and knowledge sharing using gender as a moderator. In the proposed model, five components of OCBs—altruism, courtesy, conscientiousness, sportsmanship, and civic virtue—influence knowledge sharing. Gender stereotypes have a moderating effect on each path and a main effect on each antecedent. These moderating effects are simultaneously examined using data obtained from employees at various companies who attend evening college classes for advanced study in Taiwan. A moderating test reveals that the influence of altruism on knowledge sharing is stronger for women than for men, while the influences of courtesy and sportsmanship on knowledge sharing are stronger for men than for women. Lastly, the influences of conscientiousness and civic virtue on knowledge sharing are similar between women and men. Implications of empirical findings are also discussed.     

Impact of daily mood, work hours, and iso-strain variables on self-reported health behaviors

Four hundred and twenty-two employees completed daily diaries measuring positive affect, negative affect, work hours, and health behaviors (snacking, smoking, exercise, alcohol, caffeine consumption) on work days over a 4-week period. In addition, measures of job demands, job control, and social support (iso-strain variables) were completed on 1 occasion. Multilevel random coefficient modeling was used to examine relationships between the job characteristics, daily work variables, and self-reported health behaviors. Results indicated a more important role for within-person daily fluctuations than for between-persons variations in predicting health behaviors. Whereas negative affect was negatively related to health behavior for both men and women, work hours had negative impacts for women only. Iso-strain variables showed few main effects and a modest number of interactions with daily variables (mainly for men). Findings point to the limited impact of stable features of work design compared to the effects of daily work stressors on health behaviors.     

Endorsing a negative in-group stereotype as a self-protective strategy: Sacrificing the group to save the self

This work examined if stigmatized targets will embrace negative in-group stereotypes in order to protect their self-esteem from the threat of stereotypic failures. All studies focused on the stereotype that women have lower math ability than men. In Study 1, women who failed a math test showed buffered self-esteem if they were first given the opportunity to endorse this stereotype. Study 2 replicated this effect and showed that women, but not men, increased their endorsement of this stereotype following math failure. Study 3 showed that the tendency to embrace this stereotype in response to failure was most pronounced among women with high trait self-esteem. Together, these findings suggest that there are contexts in which stigmatized individuals can protect their self-esteem in the face of stereotypic failures by embracing the very stereotypes that would have predicted their failure.     

The Influences of Sex and Gender-Role Identity on Moral Cognition and Prosocial Personality Traits

The relations of sex and gender-role identity to moral thought and prosocial personality traits were examined. Two hundred and nine men and women rated the importance of real-life, care-related, justice-related, and mixed (both care- and justice-related) moral dilemmas. Responses on the real-life and mixed dilemmas also were scored for care and justice orientations. Women and feminine persons viewed moral conflicts as more important than did men and masculine people. On the mixed dilemmas, women scored higher than men on care reasoning, whereas men scored higher than women on justice reasoning. Regardless of sex or gender role, relational real-life dilemmas evoked higher importance and care reasoning scores than did nonrelational ones. Women and persons high in femininity showed more empathic concern for other people. Masculine persons scored lower on personal distress, whereas androgynous persons reported more helpful behaviors than did all others.     

Membership in a Devalued Social Group and Emotional Well-Being: Developing a Model of Personal Self-Esteem,Collective Self-Esteem,and Group Socialization

We proposed and tested a theoretical model that links membership in a devalued social group to emotional health. People who identify with devalued social groups (e.g., ethnic minorities, gay men/lesbians, bisexuals, women) may be at increased risk for distress via 3 different pathways. First, some members of devalued groups may internalize negative stereotypes about their group, which negatively impact personal self-esteem. Second, being devalued simply on the basis of one's group membership could lead to emotional distress independent of one's own personal self-esteem. Third, some members of devalued groups may be socialized to develop attitudes and behaviors that increase their risk for emotional distress. Data were collected from a sample of White, middle-to-upper-class undergraduate women and men with respect to personal self-esteem, collective self-esteem on the basis of their gender group, attitudes and behaviors associated with female socialization, and emotional distress. Results supported the direct effect of each pathway in predicting concurrent depression and partially supported the prediction of concurrent anxiety. Each pathway fully accounted for women's greater levels of depression relative to men's. Implications for the study of devalued groups are discussed.     

Homeless men and women: Commonalities and a service gender gap

Gender differences among homeless persons on a host of variables were examined. A stratified random sample of 248 homeless persons staying in shelters in St. Louis provided data for the study. More similarities than differences between men and women were found. However, men tended to be homeless for longer periods and were more likely than women to sleep on the streets. Men were also more likely than women to have a drinking problem and to have been convicted of a crime. Men were less likely than women to ever have been married and to be caring for dependent children. The most striking gender differences occurred on service utilization variables; women were much more likely than men to have received social services. Comparison of our data with previous studies and potential explanations for the gender gap in service utilization are offered.     

Gender moderates the relation between implicit and explicit self-esteem

Relative to men, women are more strongly socialized to trust their feelings and intuitions. We thus expected that the association between implicit and explicit self-esteem would be stronger for women than for men. That is, if implicit self-esteem contains a large intuitive, experiential or affective component, then people who are in touch with their feelings and intuitions should be more likely to report explicit self-esteem scores that are congruent with their implicit self-esteem scores. Six studies supported this idea by showing that the association between implicit and explicit self-esteem is indeed stronger for women than for men. This finding held in three different cultures and for two different measures of implicit self-esteem. We discuss the implications of this finding for debates regarding the nature and validity of implicit self-esteem.     

Sex differences in the nature,realism, and correlates of body image

The present study examined sex differences in the nature and realism of body-image satisfaction, and the extent to which sex and sex role ideology moderated the relationships of body image to other indices of self-esteem and well-being. Accordingly, scales assessing body cathexis, self-esteem, depression proneness, and sex role ideology, as well as a questionnaire assessing perceptions of weight and dieting activities, were completed by 135 college women and 129 college men. As expected, women indicated significantly greater dissatisfaction with their bodies than did men. Women were likely to perceive themselves as overweight or slightly overweight, regardless of their actual weight, and most wanted to lose weight. Men who were dissatisfied tended to perceive themselves as underweight and wanted to gain rather than to lose weight. For both sexes, less positive attitudes to ward one's body were related to lower levels of self-esteem, although the relationship was significantly stronger for women than for men. The relationship between body attitudes and self-esteem was of approximately equal magnitude among traditional vs feminist women. For both sexes, more negative attitudes towards one's body were related to greater proneness to depression. Implications for further research are discussed.     

Knowledge and perceived risk of major diseases in middle-aged and older women.

Women's (N = 200; 41-95 years) knowledge of mortality risks and their perceived general risk, personal risk, control, and preventability of coronary heart disease (CHD) and breast, colon, and lung cancer were examined. Middle-aged (MA) women were more accurate in their mortality knowledge for MA men than for MA women and were more accurate for MA than for older (OA) men and women. OA women, in contrast, were least accurate in their mortality knowledge for OA women compared with all other target groups; only 34% knew that CHD is the leading cause of death in OA women. Participants also overestimated a woman's risk of death from breast cancer and underestimated the risk from lung and colon cancer. Ratings of perceived risk, control, and preventability varied as a function of disease. OA women in particular appear to lack knowledge regarding women's risk of major diseases. Results have implications for women's health behaviors and medical decisions.     

Gender-typical responses to sexual and emotional infidelity as a function of mortality salience induced self-esteem striving

The authors propose that gender-differentiated patterns of jealousy in response to sexual and emotional infidelity are engendered by the differential impact of each event on self-esteem for men and women. Study 1 demonstrated that men derive relatively more self-esteem from their sex lives, whereas women's self-esteem is more contingent on romantic commitment. Based on terror management theory, it is predicted that if gender-differentiated responses to infidelity are motivated by gender-specific contingencies for self-esteem, they should be intensified following reminders of mortality. In Study 2, mortality salience (MS) increased distress in response to sexual infidelity for men and emotional infidelity for women. Study 3 demonstrated that following MS, men who place high value on sex in romantic relationships exhibited greater distress in response to sexual infidelity, but low-ex-value men's distress was attenuated. The authors discuss the implications for evolutionary and self-esteem-based accounts of jealousy as well as possible integration of these perspectives.     

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN INTERNAL BELIEFS ABOUT WEIGHT AND NEGATIVE ATTITUDES TOWARDS SELF AND OTHERS

Previous research has found that people with an internal weight locus of control (beliefs in self-control over weight) are more likely to join and stay in weight-loss programs and have higher self-esteem than those who have an external locus of control (e.g., belief that weight is due to luck, genes). There has been no research on how weight locus of control affects the self-esteem of people who are not average weight or not satisfied with their weight. The present study predicted that for people who are overweight, weight locus of control would be negatively related to self-esteem. The results confirmed this interaction between weight locus of control and weight on self-esteem for women, but not for men. The second prediction was that internal weight locus of control would have negative social consequences in terms of greater negative stereotyping of obese people, and this was also confirmed for women. Because weight loss is rarely permanent, it would seem important to change people's attitudes about the lack of control that they (and others) have over body weight.     

The Effects of Weight and Achievement Messages on the Self-Esteem of Women

We examined whether priming achievement causes lower self-esteem and more negative mood in women who believe they are overweight and 0whether it does so by increasing women's dissatisfaction with their bodies or with their performance. Thirty-five self-perceived overweight women and 43 self-perceived normal weight women participated in the experiment. Half of the women read a message stressing the importance of achievement pursuits, and the other half read a message stressing the importance of nonachievement pursuits. All women then completed a measure of global self-esteem, read a message about the negative effects of being overweight, and completed several dependent measures. Controlling for initial self-esteem, overweight women who read the achievement prime had lower mood and global self-esteem and lower performance self-esteem but not lower appearance self-esteem or greater body dissatisfaction when compared to the overweight women who read the nonachievement prime and the normal weight women regardless of prime type.     

Quality of Family and Work Roles and Its Relationship with Health Indicators in Men and Women

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate whether the perceived qualities of work-related, marital, and parenting roles differentially predict distress symptoms, cardiovascular risk, anxiety, depression, and self-esteem. Also, I sought to evaluate whether there are interactions among the quality of different roles (work, marital, and parenting) and whether there are differences between men and women. Participants were 340 women (ages 30–55 years) and 279 men (ages 21–66 years) who lived and worked in Bogotá, Colombia. The questionnaire included valid self-report scales, and questions of specific interest for this study. Results indicate that the perceived quality of the roles differentially predicts the health indicators studied. Psychological health indicators are more strongly predicted than the cardiovascular health indicators by role quality. Self-esteem and anxiety in men and depression in women are more strongly predicted by the perceived quality of the roles. There were differences as well as similarities between genders.