The influence of sex and sex role orientation on sexual coercion

One hundred female and 77 male college students completed a questionnaire in which they indicated whether they had ever used physical or verbal coercive strategies to initiate sexual behavior with a partner, or had ever engaged in sexual behavior in response to a partner's coercive initiatives. Results showed that males are far more likely than females to initiate coerced sexual behavior and females are more likely to be victimized. In addition, masculine persons reported using coercive strategies more than other sex role orientation types. However, this was due principally to the fact that males were masculine types much more frequently than females. Therefore, sex (that is, being male or female) seems a more critical factor in determining, initiating, or responding to sexual coercion than sex role orientation.     

Children's perception of parental exercise: influence of sex and age

The purpose of the study was to document children's perception of parental exercise, relating these perceptions to (1) the self-reported parents' habits of exercise, and (2) the children's own activity patterns. The subjects were 198 students of both sexes, aged 12 to 14 yr. and enrolled in school Grades 7 to 9. A standard questionnaire assessed their perceptions of parental and personal physical activity. Both parents of each subject also reported their respective levels of habitual physical activity. Congruence between the children's perceptions and the self-reported exercise habits of the opposite-sex parent differed for boys and girls, increasing for boys and decreasing for girls between Grades 7 and 9. No significant associations were observed between the children's perception of parental exercise patterns and their own like habits. This suggests that during adolescence parental influences are minimized by other factors, personal or environmental.     

The influence of forward and backward associative strength on false recognition

In an experiment, I examined the influence of 2 associative factors on false memory in the Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm (Deese, 1959; Roediger & McDermott, 1995): the strength of the association from studied items to unstudied lure items (backward associative strength, or BAS) and the strength of the association from unstudied lure items to studied items (forward associative strength, or FAS). BAS and FAS were manipulated, and participants were asked to respond rapidly at retrieval or were allowed to respond in a self-paced manner in order to examine the contributions of automatic and controlled memory processes to lure errors. The results of this study demonstrated that both BAS and FAS influenced lure errors under speeded retrieval conditions and under self-paced retrieval conditions, as well as that lure errors generally increased when retrieval time increased. These results favor the explanation of false memory offered by global-matching models over those of activation-monitoring theory and fuzzy-trace theory.     

Fear of success: The influence of sex,sex-role identity,and components of masculinity

Phase I of this experiment was conducted to determine the nature of the relationship between fear of success and sex-role identity. Eighty female and 124 male subjects completed a measure of fear of success (the Sadd Fear of Success Scale, SFOS) and two sex-role scales (the Bem Sex Role Inventory, BSRI; and the Personal Attributes Questionnaire, PAQ). Subjects were subsequently classified by their responses to the BSRI and PAQ as either androgynous, masculine, feminine, or undifferentiated. The results indicated that androgynous and masculine individuals reported less fear of success than feminine or undifferentiated individuals, regardless of their sex. Subsequent analyses revealed that fear of success was more related to the absence of masculine traits than to the presence of feminine traits. Phase II of this investigation was conducted to determine whether a specific component of masculinity was related to the fear of success. The masculinity scales were factor analyzed and factor scores were regressed on the fear-of-success scores. Factor scores reflecting high self-confidence, decisiveness, analyticalness, and independence were related to low levels of fear of success; factor scores reflecting assertiveness, competitiveness, and opinionatedness were not related to the fear of success.     

The influence of sex bias upon compliance with expert power

The present study evolved from the belief that sex bias influences the degree of expert power which the expert has in relation to the perceiver. Therefore, the influence of level of expertise, sex of the expert, sex of the influencee, and sex domination of the expert's occupation upon compliance was examined. Separate experiments were conducted for the male- and female-dominated occupations. Subjects' degree of compliance was measured by their responses to three recommendations contained in an in-basket. The three-way analyses of variance revealed that only expertise significantly affected subjects' degree of compliance. Results are discussed in terms of the presence of outside recognition of competence and legitimate power.     

Reading the road: The influence of age and sex on child pedestrians' perceptions of road risk

The United Kingdom has one of the highest records of child pedestrian accidents in the European Union, and statistics show boys are particularly vulnerable. This study investigated whether there were identifiable developmental or sex differences in the perception of road risk, which might explain the occurrence of such child pedestrian accidents. The study was a between‐participants experimental design with three independent variables: age, sex and task. The sample comprised 119 school children in three age groups (7–8 years; 9–10 years and 11–12 years) with equal sex distribution in each age group. All children, tested individually, completed two sorting tasks. The tasks differed in that children first classified 20 photographs of road scenes on self‐selected criteria (free sort) and then reclassified the scenes on the basis of safety of each scene (cued sort). When children operated a free sort, age differences were apparent in both the number and type of categories produced. However, this age variation was not apparent for the cued sort showing that the younger children were strongly influenced by cueing. Younger children exhibited a more personal and idiosyncratic perspective of the road compared to older children, who were able to view the road from global perspectives. Sex differences in assessing safety were limited but interesting, demonstrating that the males focussed on physical attributes of the scene and females on the actors within the scene. The focus of females on the dynamic attributes of the scene may be a partial explanation of their greater safety record compared to their male peers.     

不同性别比和资源获取能力对未婚男性择偶标准的影响

本研究分别采用文字启动和图片启动两种方式,探讨不同性别比下男性择偶标准的动态变化。实验1和实验2的结果均显示:相比于男多女少启动,在女多男少启动下,男性对女性"好资源"的要求会明显升高。不同性别比启动和男性资源获取能力(而不是童年经济状况)在男性择偶标准上存在着交互效应。相比于男多女少启动,资源获取能力强的男性在女多男少启动下对女性好资源的要求会明显提高,而资源获取能力弱的男性在两种启动下对女性好资源的要求没有显著变化。结论:对资源获取能力强的男性而言,对女性"好资源"的偏好是择偶选择过多时所产生的奢侈需求。     

The valence-specific laterality effect in free viewing conditions: The influence of sex, handedness, and response bias

The right hemisphere has often been viewed as having a dominant role in the processing of emotional information. Other evidence indicates that both hemispheres process emotional information but their involvement is valence specific, with the right hemisphere dealing with negative emotions and the left hemisphere preferentially processing positive emotions. This has been found under both restricted (Reuter-Lorenz & Davidson, 1981) and free viewing conditions (Jansari, Tranel, & Adophs, 2000). It remains unclear whether the valence-specific laterality effect is also sex specific or is influenced by the handedness of participants. To explore this issue we repeated Jansari et al.'s free-viewing laterality task with 78 participants. We found a valence-specific laterality effect in women but not men, with women discriminating negative emotional expressions more accurately when the face was presented on the left-hand side and discriminating positive emotions more accurately when those faces were presented on the right-hand side. These results indicate that under free viewing conditions women are more lateralised for the processing of facial emotion than are men. Handedness did not affect the lateralised processing of facial emotion. Finally, participants demonstrated a response bias on control trials, where facial emotion did not differ between the faces. Participants selected the left-hand side more frequently when they believed the expression was negative and the right-hand side more frequently when they believed the expression was positive. This response bias can cause a spurious valence-specific laterality effect which might have contributed to the conflicting findings within the literature.     

The influence of gender labels on the sex typing of imaginary occupations

Social scientists have been concerned not only with gender stratification within the occupational labor force but with young peoples' recognition and aspiration toward same-gender careers. In this paper we investigate how gender labels influence individuals' evaluational sex typing of occupations. Four gender-marked booklets were constructed such that six imaginary occupations within the story were performed by persons labeled as women, men, both men and women, or individuals. College, high-school, and fifth-and third-grade students were asked to evaluate whether a gender-marked occupation was a position for women, men, or both sexes and possible for girls and boys. Students were also asked to indicate which occupations they preferred. Not only were the occupations classified in relation to the gender labels, but occupational gender barriers were perceived. In essence, males were restricted from engaging in female-labeled jobs and females were restricted from engaging in male-labeled jobs. However, career aspirations     

Preschoolers' use of eye contact while speaking: The influence of sex,age, and conversational partner

The influences of sex, age, and conversational, partner (mother vs. stranger) on eye contact during verbalizations were examined in a longitudinal study of 33 children at 2 and 4 years of age. A free-play sample was obtained of each child interacting with mother and with a male or female experimenter. The amount of eye contact in conjunction with verbalization was analyzed. Significant main effects were found for sex (females engaged in a higher percent of eye contact than males) and conversational partner (more eye contact while speaking exhibited to experimenter than to mother). There was an interaction between age and conversational partner, in that mother received more and experimenter relatively less percent of eye contact during verbalizations as children got older. Notably, there was no main effect for age. These results revealed sex differences at an age (2–2 1/2 years) and in a context (free-play setting) not previously studied, demonstrating the robustness of the effect. Further, age findings seem indicative of unique developmental trends for eye contact during verbalizations for the ages between 2 and 4 years.Mount Saint Vicent University     

The influence of sex and empathy on putting oneself in the shoes of others

We tested whether putting oneself in the shoes of others is easier for women, possibly as a function of individuals' empathy levels, and whether any sex difference might be modulated by the sex of presented figures. Participants (N=100, 50 women) imagined (a) being in the spatial position of front‐facing and back‐facing female and male figures (third person perspective (3PP) task) and (b) that the figures were their own mirror reflections (first person perspective (1PP) task). After mentally taking the figure's position, individuals decided whether the indicated hand of the figure would be their own left or right hand. Contrary to our hypothesis, results from the 3PP‐task showed higher rotational costs for women than men, suggesting that mental rotation rather than social strategies had been employed. However, faster responding by women with higher empathy scores would appear to indicate that some women engaged social perspective taking strategies irrespective of the figures' position. Figures' sex was relevant to task performance as higher rotational costs were observed for male figures in the 3PP‐task for both sexes and for female figures in the 1PP‐task for women. We argue that these latter findings indicate that performance was facilitated and/or inhibited towards figures associated with specific social and emotional implications.     

The effects of subordinate sex,pay equity,and strength of demand on compensation decisions

A decision-making simulation concerning a hypothetical subordinate was used to investigate the effects of subordinate sex, pay equity, and strength of demand on compensation decisions in an organizational setting. Results indicated that subjects recommended higher raises for underpaid subordinates than for equitably paid subordinates. A triple interaction of all three variables was also found. When subordinates were equitably paid, sex and strength of demand had no effect on the compensation decision. However, when subordinates were underpaid, strong-demand females received the largest raise and females making no demand received the smallest. Underpaid males in both demand conditions received a raise less than that of the strong-demand female but greater than that of the nodemand female.     

The influence of sex hormones on functional cerebral asymmetries in postmenopausal women

Studies investigating changes in functional cerebral asymmetries (FCAs) with hormonal fluctuations during the menstrual cycle in young women have led to controversial hypotheses about an influence of estrogen (E) and/or progesterone (P) on FCAs. Based on methodical, but also on principal problems in deriving conclusions about hormone effects from correlational designs, the present study investigated hemispheric asymmetries in postmenopausal women, who received hormone replacement either with E alone (E group, n = 32), an E–P combination (E–P group, n = 29) or no hormone substitution (control group, n = 31). Speed and accuracy of responses to a word- and a face decision task, both presented laterally by means of the visual half field technique, were assessed. The control group showed the typical pattern of hemispheric asymmetry with more correct responses to verbal stimuli presented in the right visual field (RVF) and to face stimuli presented in the left visual field (LVF). A hormone-effect was demonstrable only for the verbal task, in which the E group showed an enhanced performance of the right hemisphere (LVF). The E–P group showed no significant differences to the control group or the E group. The results suggest a role of E in the modulation of FCAs at least with regard to verbal processing.     

The influence of age, sex, and specialized training on the vertical-horizontal illusion

With the aim of investigating the perceptual processes responsible for perceptual illusions, we have studied the influence of age, sex and specialized training on two forms of the vertical-horizontal illusion. In Figure A, the vertical is a short distance away from the horizontal; in Figure B, the vertical meets the horizontal segment at its mid-point. Both figures were presented in brief (0-2 second) and long (I-o second) tachistoscopic exposure, and in unlimited exposure.

When time is unlimited. Illusion A increases up to 9-10 years and then remains constant and Illusion B decreases as a function of age and chiefly as a function of the degree of scientific training. The illusions are stronger in tachistoscopic perception than under conditions of umlimited exposure. Both illusions also increase in tachistoscopic perception with age except for science students. Under condition of unlimited time, women have stronger illusions than men. This difference does not occur in tachistoscopic perception.

These results may be interpreted in terms of the interaction of three processes: interaction among the elements of a figure (field effects); perceptual activity which makes possible the passing from syncretism or multiplicity to organized perception; and the activity of measuring the elements relatively to each other. This latter activity develops with cultural level and especially with scientific training. It is more effective with men than with women, due, it is suggested, to the spatial factor being higher in men.     

The influence of relationship status, mate seeking, and sex on intrasexual competition

Researchers have little explored individuals' perceptions of same-sex attractiveness in terms of the influence of relationship status. By using intrasexual competition as a conceptual framework, the authors predicted that romantically involved individuals would protect their relationship by derogating competitors. Although previous researchers have strongly predicted this result, in the present study the relationship status had a negligible impact on competition, for which relationship commitment, sociosexual orientation, and self-monitoring did not account. Also, among uninvolved individuals, the authors expected those individuals seeking mates would use competitor derogation more than would those individuals not seeking mates, but there was no significant difference. Finally, because the vehicle for this investigation was attractiveness, an area in which women compete, the authors proposed that women would derogate more fiercely than would men. However, the results did not support this hypothesis either. The authors discuss future directions for research.     

Intelligence and neural efficiency: The influence of task content and sex on the brain–IQ relationship

In studying physiological correlates of human intelligence, new brain imaging techniques like positron emission tomography (PET) and electroencephalography (EEG) mapping methods focus on the level and topographical distribution of cortical activation. Actually, there is strong empirical evidence that more intelligent individuals display a more focused cortical activation during cognitive performance resulting in lower total brain activation than in less intelligent individuals (i.e., neural efficiency hypothesis). Former studies have used only single, homogeneous tasks and most of the studies have been performed using males. Therefore, here the influence of different task content and of sex on the relationship between intelligence and cortical activation has been tested. In a sample of 26 males and 25 females, we administered verbal, numerical, and figural versions of a well-known elementary cognitive task, the so-called Posner task. Our results suggest a comparatively low cortical activation in brighter as compared to less intelligent individuals but this expected neural efficiency pattern interacted with sex and task content: In the verbal Posner task, the females were more likely to produce cortical activation patterns in line with the neural efficiency hypothesis, whereas in the figural task, primarily the males displayed the expected inverse relationship between IQ and cortical activation.