Gender Role and Feminism Revisited: A Follow-Up Study

In this follow-up to our earlier study (Toller, Suter, & Trautman, Gender role identity and attitudes towards feminism, Sex Roles, 51, 85–90, 2004) we examine the interrelationships among gender role, support for feminism, and willingness to self-label as feminist. Ten percent of college students previously surveyed participated in qualitative interviews, which elicited characterizations of feminists, whether students self-identified as feminist, suggestions for garnering support for feminism, and for interpretation of the initial study’s findings. Students were asked to speculate why we found that highly masculine men and highly feminine women were neither likely to self-identify as feminist nor to support the feminist movement and why more feminine men and more masculine women were found to be more willing to self-label as feminist and more likely to support the feminist movement.     

Giving Back and Growing in Service: Investigating Spirituality,Religiosity, and Generativity in Young Adults

Generativity investigations have explored the manner by which adults derive meaning and fulfillment from their life activities (e.g., Erikson in Identity, youth, and crisis W.W. Norton & Company Inc.,NY, 1968; McAdams and Logan in American Psychological Association, 15–31, 2004). Faith and religious practice have often been central features of adult meaning making, yet the relationship between one’s spiritual identity and one’s generative concern or activities has received only limited investigation. Lesser still has been investigated examining the degree to which young adults demonstrate generative concern. The current study examined the relationship between aspects of faith (religiosity and spirituality) and generativity (concern and action). A sample of 94 undergraduates from a religiously affiliated college were recruited through door-to-door invitation and were surveyed using a new measure of religiosity (Steger and Frazier in Journal of Counseling Psychology 52(4):574–582, 2005) and two measures of generativity (Loyola Generativity Scale and Generative Behavior Checklist, McAdams et al. 1992). Support was found for a relationship between spirituality and generative concern. These findings are discussed in relation to recent demographic shifts and are compared with earlier work investigating secular spiritual trends on generativity (e.g., Dillon and Wink in The generative society American Psychological Association Press, Washington, DC, 153–174, 2004).     

The Effects of Images of African American Women in Hip Hop on Early Adolescents’ Attitudes Toward Physical Attractiveness and Interpersonal Relationships

This qualitative study was designed to identify African American early adolescents’ subjective meanings of African American women’s sexuality through an examination of Stephens & Phillips (2003) sexual images—the Diva, Gold Digger, Freak, Dyke, Gangster Bitch, Sister Savior, Earth Mother, and Baby Mama. These eight sexual images both inform and reflect beliefs about African American women’s physical attractiveness. Interpersonal relationship decision making processes also were influenced by these conceptual frameworks of African American women’s sexuality. Findings from this study are important given the tendency of previous researchers to ignore race and intraethnic variations in studies of beliefs about attitudes toward sexuality.     

Gender attitudes, feminist identity, and body images among college women

Cultural forces influence body-image development in gender-contingent ways, such that women in our society possess more dysfunctional body-image attitudes than men do. However, few studies have examined how women’s body-image experiences relate to their own gender attitudes and ideologies. This investigation of 122 college women assessed multiple parameters of body image (i.e., evaluation, investment, and affect) and different facets of gender attitudes and feminist identity development. Results revealed minimal relationships between body-image attitudes and either feminist identity or adherence to traditional gender beliefs at individual/stereotypic or societal levels. On the other hand, traditional gender attitudes at the level of male-female social interactions were associated with stronger and more dysfunctional investments in cultural and personal appearance standards. The scientific, social, and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Paths to Late Midlife Well-Being for Women and Men: The Importance of Identity Development and Social Role Quality

Theories of adult development suggest that personality development and social role involvements are sources of adult well-being for both men and women. However, previous research on this topic has focused mainly on (a) women, and (b) early stages of adulthood. We tested an alternative model for predicting late-midlife adults’ well-being, with role quality, number of roles, and healthy adaptation to late midlife (reflected in lower concern about aging) as mediators of the relationship between young adult identity development and well-being in late midlife. Results indicated that the model fit women’s experience very well, and men’s experience somewhat. Follow-up analyses indicated that the model fit men’s experience with respect to family role quality, but that young adult identity played a lesser role in men’s well-being in later midlife, and that problems in the late-midlife work role were reflected in concerns about aging for men, but not for women.     

Piety as a concept underpinning Muslim women’s online discussions of marriage and professional career

In this article, I address piety as a concept shaping Muslim women’s online discussions about gender roles, marriage and professional careers. I also investigate cross-cultural religious encounters in these women-only groups as I am interested in the potential of such online environments to facilitate women’s religious reflection and intellectual engagement. Finally, I explore motivations and religious interpretations of three categories of participants in these discussions: egalitarians, for whom gender equality is a necessary component of piety (Barlas 2006); traditionalists, identified by other authors as Islamists (Karam 1998) or social conservatives (Gül and Gül 48:1–26, 2000; Mahmood 2005) and finally, holists, a group that cannot be mapped out on the political landscape by using the progressive–conservative binary (Badran, Agenda 50:41–57, 2001) and which exists and acts outside of it, neither subverting nor enacting norms of any dominant system, be it secular–liberal or patriarchal. Following Mahmood’s argument that formulating an analysis based exclusively on such a binary is simplistic (Mahmood 2005), I argue that actions of holists can be only addressed by formulating a set of questions different to those used to analyse self-defined egalitarians or traditionalists.     

‘How Can I Feel for Others When I Myself Am Beaten?’ The Impact of the Armed Conflict on Women in Israel

This research presents an initial documentation of Israeli women’s sense of insecurity during the Second Intifada (2001–2005). Drawing on feminist security theory and the intersectional approach to gender, we hypothesized that women’s familiar tendency to develop high levels of stress following political violence would be related to previous sexual and domestic victimization, to economic distress and ethnic discrimination among minority women, and to the cultural role of care workers among women of all socio-economic backgrounds. A sample of 552 women self-completed a cluster of questionnaires addressing a broad array of topics, and results confirmed most of the research hypotheses. The discussion highlights the multiple articulations of gender, militarism, and security and their possible implications for policies of conflict resolution.     

Men’s and Women’s Change and Individual Differences in Change in Femininity from Age 33 to 85: Results from the Intergenerational Studies

This investigation illustrates men’s and women’s change in femininity, and individual differences in change in femininity from early (age 33 or 35) to late (age 78 or 85) adulthood. Members of three long-term longitudinal samples (total N = 327) provided California Psychological Inventory (CPI) Femininity scale scores, collected a maximum of five times. Application of longitudinal hierarchical linear modeling indicates: (1) both men and women show significant variability in initial level and change in femininity, (2) gender predicts both individuals’ initial level and change in femininity—the average man, initially low in femininity, becomes significantly higher in femininity across the lifespan; the average woman, initially high in femininity, becomes significantly lower in femininity across the lifespan, (3) change in femininity is unconnected to marital or parental status, and (4) change in femininity is connected to psychological health level for women only—more psychologically healthy women show a decline in femininity, while less healthy women increase their femininity level. Overall, results support Jung’s androgyny hypothesis of a cross-over of gender roles in men and women, but do not support Gutmann’s hypothesis that such cross-over is tied to “parental emergency.” Additional exploration of the data indicates Gough and Bradley’s (1996) CPI-derived personality types also predict femininity initial level for women and femininity change for men.     

Feminist identity development: Psychometric analyses of two feminist identity scales

N. E. Downing and K. L. Roush [(1985) “From Passive Acceptance to Active Commitment: A Model of Feminist Identity Development,”The Counseling Psychologist, Vol. 13, pp. 695–709] proposed a five-level developmental model of feminist identity that charts development from passive acceptance of traditional gender roles toward active commitment to feminist ideals and an egalitarian society. A Bargad and J. S. Hyde [(1991) “Women’s Studies: A Study of Feminist Identity Development in Women,”Psychology of Women Quarterly, Vol. 15, pp. 181–201] and K. M. Rickard [(1989) “The Relationship of Self-Monitored Dating Behaviors to Level of Feminist Identity on the Feminist Identity Scale,Sex Roles, Vol. 20, pp. 213–226] developed questionnaires to measure the Downing and Roush levels. The goal of the present study was to further explore the reliability and validity of the two feminist identity development scales. Participants included 198 female students who were taking either a women’s studies class or a general psychology class. They were administered Rickard’s and Bargad and Hyde’s scales of feminist identity development and a measure of cognitive development both at the beginning and end of the semester. Sixty-six percent of the participants classified themselves as Caucasian, 13% as Asian, 7% as African American, 4% as Hispanic, 3% as Indian, 5% as Other, and 2% left the item blank. Within this framework, we demonstrated support for (1) the psychometric/statistical properties of each scale, including (a) internal consistency and reliability, (b) component structure, (c) the relationship among the two scales, and (d) discrimination from social desirability; and (2) construct validity, as determined by (a) distinction between general psychology students who were interested in taking a women’s studies class in the future and those who were not, (b) the impact of a women’s studies class on feminist identity development, and (c) relationship of the scales to a measure of cognitive development. The authors wish to thank Richard Ashmore and Erich Labouvie for their helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper. We also would like to thank the instructors of the general psychology and women’s studies classes, especially Barbara Balliet, for allowing us to recruit participants in their classes.     

Reclaiming the Person: Intersectionality and Dynamic Social Categories Through a Psychological Lens

Psychology’s conventionally treatment of individuals’ engagement with and resistance to the societal processes in which they are embedded has come under scrutiny amid the rise of postmodernist and critical feminist perspectives (among many others) in the social sciences. A sample of social psychology’s responses to these critiques is presented in the recently published book, Social Categories in Everyday Experience edited by Shaun Wiley et al. (2011). In this essay, the challenges of seriously addressing the critiques of psychology’s conventional treatment of social categories, which implicate fundamental assumptions of the discipline, are discussed. Further, it is argued that in order to effectively construct psychological accounts of political activism and social change amid theories that are increasingly cognizant of the complexities and contingencies of social embeddiness, the person must be reclaimed and revisioned. Notions of agency that complement an intersectional and systemic vision of the social world are discussed.     

Motivating political preferences: Concerns with promotion and prevention as predictors of public policy attitudes

Motivation is an important component of many political decision making theories. However, different definitions of motivation have led to different conclusions as to how influential motivation is on political attitudes. When motivation has been defined in terms of personal interest, its predictive value has been questioned (Sears and Funk in Advances in experimental social psychology, vol 24. Academic Press, New York, pp. 1–91, 1991); however, other motivational variables like Schwartz’ (Advances in experimental social psychology, vol 25, Academic Press, New York, pp. 1–65, 1992) values have been found to be strong predictors of such attitudes. This article investigates the influence of another type of motivational variable. Specifically, two studies examined how chronic concerns with fundamental needs for security (i.e., prevention) and growth (i.e., promotion) relate to public policy attitudes. In samples of both college students and nationally representative US households and across a variety of policy areas, stronger prevention concerns predicted support for government intervention to maintain public and personal safety, whereas stronger promotion concerns predicted support for government intervention to ensure opportunities for growth and enrichment.     

Social Determinants of Attitudes towards Women’s Premarital Sexuality among Female Turkish University Students

This paper explores the effects of demographic and attitudinal variables on attitudes toward women’s premarital sexuality in a sample of 277 undergraduate female students at Istanbul University, Turkey. The results of the research demonstrated that sexual attitudes best predicted the dependent variable in regression analysis. Once the variable sexual attitudes was excluded from the equation, mother’s education and personal religiosity were the best predictors of attitudes toward women’s premarital sexuality. For a more extensive version of this study, see     

The Dynamics of Visual Speed,Time, and Space: A Reply to Cartwright,Koehler, and Wallach

The political attitudes of 50 feminist women in relation to “feminism” as a dimension were examined and contrasted with those of 50 of their contemporary female peers. They were administered the Attitudes Toward Feminism Belief-Pattern Scale (3), the Conservatism-Radicalism Opinionnaire (4), and a questionnaire providing biographical information and personal opinions regarding various timely political and feminine issues.

The feminist women and their peers were found to differ significantly in the attitudinal dimensions of feminism and political conservatism-radicalism. The feminist women manifested more feminism than their peers, as well as being more politically radical. Feminism as a dimension was also found to be positively correlated with political radicalism.

Both goups were also compared in their sentiments and opinions on several noteworthy issues; e.g., the potential influence of the women's vote in en- hancing the status of women. Surprisingly, the feminist women and their peers failed to differ on some of the more salient of these.

In order to understand and appreciate the feminist personality, the forces potentiating the Women's movement, and the apparent similarities and differences between the feminist women and their peers, the variables of feminism, political conservatism-radicalism, and activism seem to deserve consideration.     

Indecent Exposure: Self-objectification and Young Women’s Attitudes Toward Breastfeeding

The sexualization of the breast may lead women who internalize the sexual objectification of their bodies to have more negative attitudes toward breastfeeding. The purpose of the present study was to examine self-objectification in relation to young women’s attitudes toward and concerns about breastfeeding. Two hundred and seventy-five female undergraduates completed a survey with questions that assessed their plans for infant feeding, attitudes toward breastfeeding, concerns about breastfeeding, and self-objectification. Women who scored higher on measures of self-objectification were more likely to view public breastfeeding as indecent and to be concerned that breastfeeding would be embarrassing and would negatively impact their bodies and sexuality. Self-objectification was not related to general attitudes toward breastfeeding or to young women’s future infant feeding plans. Implications for theory and future research are discussed. An earlier version of this study was presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Washington, DC (August, 2005).     

Political ideology as motivated social cognition: Behavioral and neuroscientific evidence

Ideology is a potent motivational force; human beings are capable of committing atrocities (as well as acts of generosity and courage) and sacrificing even their own lives for the sake of abstract belief systems. In this article, we summarize the major tenets of a model of political ideology as motivated social cognition (Jost et al. in Psychol Bull 129:339–375, 2003a, Psychol Bull 129:389–393, 2003b, Person Soc Psychol Bull 33:989–1007, 2007), focusing on epistemic, existential, and relational motives and their implications for left-right (or liberal-conservative) political orientation. We review behavioral evidence indicating that chronically and temporarily activated needs to reduce uncertainty, ambiguity, threat, and disgust are positively associated with conservatism (or negatively associated with liberalism). Studies from neuroscience and genetics suggest that right- (vs. left-) wing orientation is associated with greater neural sensitivity to threat and larger amygdala volume, as well as less sensitivity to response conflict and smaller anterior cingulate volume. These findings and others provide converging evidence for Jost and colleagues’ model of ideology as motivated social cognition and, more broadly, reflect the utility of an integrative political neuroscience approach to understanding the basic cognitive, neural, and motivational processes that give rise to ideological activity.     

What Do Women Want? A New View of Women’s Sexual Problems

Recent attempts to medicalize women’s sexual “dysfunction” are critiqued and a “New View” of women’s sexual problems is introduced. The author argues for a female-centered perspective on women’s sexual desires and problems, based on a review of the literature on women’s sexuality and her observations of young women’s sexual experiences from 25 years of teaching Human Sexuality to undergraduate women. The review suggests that a pill or a patch cannot adequately address the sexual problems commonly experienced by US women.     

Biological Essentialism, Gender Ideologies, and Role Attitudes: What Determines Parents’ Involvement in Child Care

This study draws on Bem’s conceptualization (The lenses of gender: Transforming the debate on sexual inequality. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1993) of biological essentialism to explore fathers’ and mothers’ involvement in child care. The relationships between parental essentialist perceptions, gender ideology, fathers’ role attitudes, and various forms of involvement in child care were examined. Two hundred and nine couples with 6–36-month-old children completed extensive questionnaires. Analyses revealed that fathers’ essentialist perceptions predicted involvement in child care tasks and hours of care by the mother, whereas mothers’ essentialist perceptions predicted hours of care by the father. Parents’ attitudes toward the father’s role predicted involvement in child care tasks. Parents’ attitudes and perceptions contributed to involvement in child care even after the effects of the parents’ employment were controlled. The importance of examining various aspects of parents’ views, and distinguishing different forms of involvement in child care is discussed.     

The case for responsibility of the IT industry to promote equality for women in computing

This paper investigates the relationship between the role that information technology (IT) has played in the development of women’s employment, the possibility of women having a significant influence on the technology’s development, and the way that the IT industry perceives women as computer scientists, users and consumers. The industry’s perception of women and men is investigated through the portrayal of them in computing advertisements. While women are increasingly updating their technological skills and know-how, and through this process are entering some positions in the workplace traditionally occupied by men, these achievements are not mirrored in their social and occupational status. The computer industry and higher education have worryingly low numbers of women, while the possibility of women influencing the development of computer technology is just emerging in feminist research. This paper argues that, though the IT industry, through their self-regulatory codes, subscribes to equal treatment of sexes, races and persons with disabilities, the industry nevertheless paints a stereotyped picture of inequality when portraying men and women in computer advertisements. As long as such a perception of women prevails within the industry, it will stand as a barrier to women having equal access to computer technology. If advertisements influence the way society perceives major social constructs and issues, then the computing industry has a social responsibility to portray men and women in an equal and non-stereotypical fashion. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the ETHICOMP98 Conference, Rotterdam, Holland, March 1998.     

The Deadly Sins: How They Are Viewed and Experienced Today

The results of a survey conducted in 1988 on the traditional deadly sins and the schedule of virtues formulated by Erik H. Erikson were previously reported by Capps (Pastoral Psychology 37:229–253, 1989). The results of a second survey conducted in 1998 were reported by Capps and Cole (Pastoral Psychology 48:359–376, 2000). This article reports on a third survey conducted in 2008–2009. All three surveys employed a research instrument constructed by Capps titled Life Attitudes Inventory. Major findings of the third survey are that lust and melancholy are considered the deadliest of the deadly sins, with anger rounding out the top three. Envy is thought to be the least deadly sin. The sins most personally struggled with are pride, envy, and apathy, with both genders accounting for the high ranking of pride, women for envy, and men for apathy. Men’s and women’s views whether individual sins are more characteristic of men or of women were also reported, with greed especially ascribed to men and envy to women. Similarities and differences between young, middle and mature adults’ views on and experiences of the deadly sins are reported, as are comparisons between the members of two Christian denominations (Presbyterians and Methodists).     

Dark Side of the Mothering Role: Abuse of Mothers by Adolescent and Adult Children

Mothering is generally considered women’s major source of identity and satisfaction. But mothering can also bring misery when children develop anti-social behaviors. The rather limited literature on this topic refers to by the term “parent abuse,” with mothers reportedly the usual victims. The present study analyzed the types of abuse by adolescent and adult children reported by women in a community sample. The data come from in-depth life review interviews with 60 women aged between 40 and 65 when initially interviewed, and re-interviewed 5 years later. All women lived in the lower-income western suburbs of Sydney, Australia. Two major categories of abuse were identified: acting-out (including physical attacks and threats) and psychological. Seventy percent of perpetrators were male. Mothers’ explanations for the behavior included family dysfunction, child’s personality, child’s mental illness, social and cultural influences, and gender power imbalance. Strategies used to handle the behaviors were related to these explanations. Compared to older mothers, those aged in their 40s were likely to see the problem as belonging to the child rather than themselves, and were more proficient in accessing community services.