WHO CONSIDERS THEMSELVES VICTIMS OF DISCRIMINATION?

We focus on the general issue of how and why individuals might decide if they have been victims of gender discrimination and how social status differences between women and men may change the significance of experiencing gender discrimination. Because both self-protective and situational factors have been found to influence interpretation of prejudicial events, in the present study we explore several individual-difference factors that might differentially predict perceived gender discrimination in women and men. We found that, for men, low self-esteem and high personal assertiveness were related to higher ratings of personal discrimination. Low self-esteem was also related to men's perceptions of discrimination against men as a group. For women, high need for approval was negatively related to perceptions of personal discrimination whereas depression was positively related. Depression was also related to higher ratings of discrimination against women, as was feminism. We argue that perceptions of discrimination serve different purposes for structurally privileged and disadvantaged groups.     

Beliefs About Gender Discrimination in the Workplace in the Context of Affirmative Action: Effects of Gender and Ambivalent Attitudes in an Australian Sample

This study investigated beliefs about gender discrimination in opportunities for promotion in organisations and their relation to gender and gender-focused ambivalent beliefs as measured, respectively, by the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI) and the Ambivalence toward Men Inventory (AMI) (Glick and Fiske, Ambivalent sexism. In M.P. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology, 33: pp. 115-188, San Diego, CA: Academic, 2001a). These two inventories were administered to 225 students at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia along with discrimination items concerning advantage, responsibility, guilt, and resentment about the advancement of men and women in the workplace. Results showed gender differences in discrimination beliefs and in the hostile and benevolent scales from the ASI and AMI. Gender differences and relations between these scales and the discrimination variables were interpreted in terms of system-justification, self and group interests, and the effects of values and beliefs about deservingness and entitlement. This study was supported by a grant from the Australian Research Council.     

Batterer men in prison and in court-referred treatment programmes: what is the difference?

This paper describes the demographic, gender violence and psychopathological characteristics of 399 men in a specialized treatment programme for gender violence. Furthermore, a comparison of all the variables studied among the subjects referred by the court to the treatment programme (n = 276) and those who were imprisoned (n = 123) was conducted. The results showed the existence of numerous statistically significant differences between groups, primarily in psychopathological variables and in cognitive bias about women and violence use. In general, imprisoned batterers showed more irrational beliefs both about women and about violence as a strategy to cope with everyday difficulties. Moreover, batterers in prison had significantly higher scores on all psychopathological symptoms as assessed by SCL-90-R, as well as in most of STAXI-2 subscales. According to these results, batterers in prison showed a higher severity in variables studied than those who were referred by the court to the treatment programme. Implications of these results for further research and clinical practice are also commented on.     

Warding Off the Attacker: Self‐Defense in Theory and in Practice1

Whereas men and women predict that they will have similar responses to a physical attack, women's actual self‐defense behaviors are less effective than are men's. In Study 1, male and female students expected to respond equally quickly and aggressively to a hypothetical attack by a stranger. Women also considered themselves to be more knowledgeable about self‐defense, more physically fit, and less likely to become assault victims than the “average woman,” and both men and women underestimated their victimization risk. In Study 2, a simulated attack situation showed strong gender differences, with men defending themselves more effectively than women. These findings suggest a disparity between beliefs and abilities among young women at risk of violence.     

Antecedents and Potential Moderators of the Relationship Between Attitudes and Hiring Discrimination on the Basis of Sexual Orientation

A sample of 236 undergraduates (most of whom were White women) rated resumes in which gender, masculinity/femininity, and sexual orientation were manipulated while qualifications were kept constant. Overall, participants rated lesbian and gay male applicants less positively than heterosexual male applicants, but more positively than heterosexual women. Religiosity, beliefs in traditional gender roles, beliefs in the controllability of homosexuality, and previous contact with lesbians and gay men were related to attitudes toward lesbians and gay men, which was in turn related to beliefs about employing them. Several factors were hypothesized to moderate the relationship between beliefs about employing lesbians and gay men and discrimination, although the expected relationships were not found. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

When Women’s Gains Equal Men’s Losses: Predicting a Zero-Sum Perspective of Gender Status

Believing that reduced discrimination against women directly corresponds to increased discrimination against men, referred to as a zero-sum perspective (ZSP), may inhibit further attempts toward gender equality. Based on a sample of 313 men and women, we developed and tested both a general measure and a domain-specific measure of the ZSP of gender status then examined sociodemographics (age, education, political orientation, religious beliefs, and past experience with discrimination) and social dominance orientation as predictors of the ZSP of shifts in gender status. Hostile and modern sexism were examined as potential mediators of this relationship. Structural equation models were computed to examine predictive paths separately for men and women. Although some similarities were found, results showed important differences in predictive paths for women and men, and supported the expected mediating role of sexism in the relationships between sociodemographic predictors and the ZSP. Findings have implications for targeting intervention efforts to enhance a win-win or non-zero-sum perspective that may facilitate efforts toward reducing gender discrimination.     

Prototypes and same-gender bias in perceptions of hiring discrimination

The present study investigated the relative importance of two explanations behind perceptions of gender discrimination in hiring: prototypes and same-gender bias. According to the prototype explanation, people perceive an event as discrimination to the extent that it fits their preconceptions of typical discrimination. In contrast, the same-gender bias explanation asserts that people more readily detect discrimination toward members of their own gender. In four experiments (n = 797), women and men made considerably stronger discrimination attributions, and were moderately more discouraged from seeking work, when the victim was female rather than male. Further, a series of regressions analyses showed beliefs in discrimination of women to be moderately correlated with discrimination attributions of female victims, but little added explanatory value of participant gender, stigma consciousness, or feminist identification. The results offer strong support for the prototype explanation.     

GENDER, DISCRIMINATION BELIEFS, GROUP-BASED GUILT, AND RESPONSES TO AFFIRMATIVE ACTION FOR AUSTRALIAN WOMEN

Views of a selection committee's decision to promote a woman over a man on the basis of affirmative action were studied in a random sample of Australians (118 men and 111 women). The relations between perceptions of workplace gender discrimination, feelings of collective responsibility and guilt for discrimination, and judgments of entitlement to and, secondarily, deservingness of affirmative action were examined. AMOS analyses indicated that men's reports of collective guilt predicted attitudes toward women's entitlement. No coherent model was observed for women, which suggested ambivalent attitudes toward affirmative action. Gender differences in discrimination beliefs also suggested that women believe men are unfairly advantaged and that men believe women are responsible for their own disadvantage. Implications for research examining collective emotions and their role in social justice judgments are discussed.     

ORGANIZATION OF INFORMATION AND THE DETECTION OF GENDER DISCRIMINATION

Abstract— This report examines several factors that influence the detection of gender discrimination in organizations We presented subjects with information about the qualifications and salaries of women and men in 10 departments of a hypothetical company The information was created so that one or the other gender was undercompensated relative to its qualifications Subjects rated the fairness of salaries and recalled the average qualifications of the women and men Ordinal inequity, which occurred when the gender with the better qualifications received a lower salary within a department, was easily detected Discrimination that did not violate ordinal equity within a department was more difficult to detect The results indicate that the way information is presented to subjects influences the processing of the information and the ease with which unfairness is perceived In addition, subjects judged the discrimination to be more unfair when women, rather than men, were disadvantaged     

My Place or Yours?

A common stereotype holds that men are more preoccupied with sex than women are. To test the validity of this stereotype, and the degree to which women and men conform to sexually restrictive gender roles, we asked participants to describe and rate their beliefs about sex. We then factor analyzed these beliefs and achieved a simple structure of four factors: (a) Personally and Physically Pleasurable, (b) Beneficial to the Self-in-relationship, (c) Personally Costly, and (d) Sex as a Violation of Social Injunctions. We used scores on these subscales to compare women’s and men’s sexual stereotypes and behaviors. Although men showed significantly greater interest in sex on three of the four factors, when we examined sex in an intimate relationship, women and men were more alike than different. The data provide evidence that gender roles are malleable and that women and men are free to choose the degree to which they conform to sexually restrictive gender roles. Limitations and future directions are discussed.     

Exploring Feminist Women's Body Consciousness

In a qualitative investigation of young feminists' experience of body consciousness, 25 feminist women each participated in one of 6 focus groups examining the ways they experienced body image and negotiated cultural messages about women's appearance. Participants described their experience with objectification and its impact on their body image, sense of self, and relationships with other women. Although feminism provided an alternative way to understand cultural messages and reframe negative thoughts, this understanding did not necessarily affect aesthetic reactions. Participants experienced conflict between their feminist beliefs and their feelings about beauty ideals and their own appearance. This conflict is interpreted in terms of a mere exposure effect and existing gender/power relations. Suggestions of ways feminist psychologists can support young women's strategies for resisting negative cultural messages are provided.     

The Overtaking of Undertaking?: Gender Beliefs in a Feminizing Occupation

How gender beliefs are used to explain the division of labor in an occupation can recreate or disrupt inequality. Our study contributes to the growing body of research examining which narratives about gender segregation in male-dominated occupations are more or less oppressive to women. We asked 13 female and 9 male U.S. funeral directors to account for the shifting gender composition of their field. Most funeral directors explained women’s entry into funeral directing and justified gender segregation in the occupation by drawing on gender beliefs about women’s superior nurturing “natures” and men’s “innate” superior physical strength and scientific ability. Our findings demonstrate the strength of cultural gender beliefs for shaping narratives about gender and work and suggest ways individuals grapple in their everyday interactions with “degendering” skills in feminizing occupations.     

Predictors of feminist social identity among college women

This study employed constructs derived from theories of social identity and collective action to test predictors of feminist social identity. The sample consisted of 95 Anglos, 36 African-Americans, 38 Asians, 43 Latinas, and 14 women who chose not to disclose their ethnicity. A two-step hierarchical multiple regression on these data showed that, as a group, positive evaluation of feminists, positive opinion of the feminist movement, exposure to feminism, recognition of discrimination against women, and belief in collective action contributed significantly to the prediction of feminist social identity, after support for feminist goals was entered into the equation. For a subsample of 36 African-American women, intercorrelations showed that racial identification, as well as a perception of conflict between racial identity and feminist identity, are compatible with aspects of feminist beliefs and values. Nevertheless, substantial differences between white women and women of color were found in willingness to socially identify as a feminist. Results support the importance of distinguishing between private feminist self-labeling and more social forms of feminist identification.     

Masculinity,Femininity, and Reported Paranormal Beliefs

Previous research has found that women are more likely than men to report belief in nonmaterial paranormal phenomena (e.g., psychics). There are inconsistent findings about whether men are more likely than women to report belief in material paranormal phenomena (e.g., bigfoot/sasquatch), and no prior survey research has examined gender expression (as masculine or feminine) as it relates to paranormal beliefs. This paper asks: How do gender identity and gender expression relate to reported paranormal beliefs? It answers this question using a large sample (n = 2504) of Canadians. Femininity helps explain differences between cisgender women and men on reported beliefs about foreseeing the future and telekinesis, but less so about reported belief in ghosts. Intriguingly, reported gender atypicality is associated with reported belief in all paranormal phenomena among cisgender women and among cisgender men. The results highlight the importance of measuring gender expression for beliefs that science cannot verify.     

An exploratory study of early childhood teachers’ attitudes toward gender roles

This study explored the relationship between early childhood teachers’ adult gender role beliefs and their attitudes about children’s gender role behavior. The teachers, most of whom were women, expressed nontraditional beliefs regarding gender roles for adults. This feminist orientation appeared to be related to perceptions about child rearing in that teachers who espoused nontraditional gender role beliefs for adults also did for children. In addition, it was found that teachers were more accepting of cross-gender role behaviors and aspirations from girls than boys, and that this difference was related to homophobia. There were strong relationships found between child rearing gender role beliefs and attitudes toward gay men and lesbians. This study is based on a doctoral dissertation completed by the first author under the direction of Nancy Barbour and Beth Swadener. We wish to thank them for their support, comments, and suggestions.     

Lazos que Atan: The Influence of Normative Gender Beliefs on Sexual Risk Behaviors of Latino Men and Women

Not all Latino men and women conform to proscribed gender roles. Nonetheless, their sexual risk taking may well be influenced by traditional beliefs concerning these roles. We explored the relationship between gender beliefs that are normative in Latino culture, and the sexual risk behaviors of 152 Latino men and women who participated in a behavioral rapid needs assessment survey in Houston, TX. Path—analytic results indicate that normative gender beliefs are influenced by respondents' sex and their levels of acculturation and that these 2 variables influence sexual risk behaviors, including unprotected sex and multi partnerism. Our results suggest that beliefs about gender influence sexual behavior and, therefore, are an important factor that should be considered in understanding sexual risk taking among Latinos.     

Gender and working models of attachment: Consequences for perceptions of self and romantic relationships

Several theorists have proposed that differential socialization experiences lead men and women to differ in the importance they assign to relationships and in how they interpret and respond to relationships. To explore this idea, this study examined whether men and women who reported similar attachment experiences responded differently to information about the same kind of relationship. Men and women with secure, preoccupied, or avoidant models of attachment imagined themselves in a relationship with a hypothetical partner who displayed secure, preoccupied, or avoidant behavior. As predicted, avoidant men and preoccupied women, whose attachment models exaggerated gender-role stereotypes, expressed the most negativity toward themselves and the relationship. Women also were more likely than men to apply specific information about the imagined relationship to general beliefs about their own relationships. In addition, men and women whose attachment models matched the partner's behavior responded more favorably to the relationship if they both expressed security, but less favorably if they both expressed avoidance. Findings for gender and partner matching closely paralleled those for couples in long-term relationships and support the idea that the meaning and consequences of attachment models must be considered within the context of gender roles.     

Two investigations of “female modesty” in achievement situations

Two experiments examined motivations underlying the common finding that females present themselves more modestly than males in achievement situations. In Study 1, 388 first-year college students, primarily European-Americans, predicted their first semester grade point averages (GPAs) in one of 3 public and 2 private conditions, which varied the salience of modesty concerns and/or concerns about the others' feelings. In the public conditions combined, but not in the private conditions, women's predictions were lower than men's, although there were no gender differences in actual GPA. The public condition in which the others' feelings and modesty concerns were made salient accounted for this difference between men and women. In Study 2, 230 first-year college students predicted their first-semester GPAs in private, in public to a “nonvulnerable” other, or in public to a “vulnerable” other (someone who supposedly had earned a low GPA). Women's estimates were lower than men's in the latter condition only and lower than their estimates in the other conditions. These results suggest that relational motivations, rather than a simple lack of self-confidence or modesty alone, are a factor in gender differences in self-presentation of achievement.     

The Failure of the Bona Fide Occupational Qualification in Cross‐Gender Prison Guard Cases: A Problem beyond Equal Employment Opportunity

Knowing the theory of gender that a court is using to understand and assess the issues in a case is vital to ensuring that women are afforded their full rights under the law. Unfortunately, courts often do not explicitly state what understanding of gender is informing their decisions. An exception is found in employment law: specifically, the bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ) exception to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which allows employers to engage in sex‐based discrimination in those instances in which the sex of the employee is a reasonably necessary qualification for the job. In these cases, because the court must analyze how “manness” or “womanness” impacts one's qualification to hold certain kinds of employment, the court must articulate its understanding of gender. This paper examines two BFOQ cases in the cross‐gender prison guard context, those cases in which an individual of one sex seeks to guard inmates of the opposite sex. In these cases the courts created a theory of gender that posits men and women as different in kind. The theory developed in this line of cases is an attack on Title VII protections and a potential barrier to women's equality under the law.     

Religion and Health: Holistic Wellness From the Perspective of Two African American Church Denominations

This study examined differences in beliefs, concerns, practices, and perceptions of susceptibility to illness by gender and religion in 2 Baptist and 3 Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) African American churches. A modified Health Belief Model Questionnaire was completed by 363 African Americans. Health beliefs were more related to gender than to religion. Results revealed that women were concerned about being ill, being susceptible to illness, and expressed confidence in doctors. Men exercised more frequently, were sick less, and felt less susceptible to illness. SDAs believed in following a certain diet and avoiding alcohol and cigarettes. SDA women and Baptist men thought more about health than did SDA men or Baptist women.