Exploring a Predictive Model

The purposes of this study were (a) to explore the utility of a model for predicting reporting of sexual harassment and (b) to collect data on the incidence of sexual harassment using the Sexual Experiences Questionnaire (SEQ; Fitzgerald et al., 1988). The sample included 214 tenuretrack faculty women and 276 women graduate students. The full model postulated that age, marital status, feminist ideology, and frequency of behavior would be directly related to perceived offensiveness at the behavior. In turn, perceived offensiveness, normative expectations for reporting, and perceived outcomes of reporting would directly influence reporting. As predicted, perceived offensiveness showed a direct influence on reporting, and feminist ideology and frequency of behavior were significant predictors of perceived offensiveness. Incidence data showed that the most frequently experienced situations involved gender harassment and seductive behaviors. Results suggest that educating women about the offensiveness of sexual harassment might increase frequency of reporting. Also, further exploration of the model seems warranted.     

Perceived Consensus in Estimates of the Prevalence of Driving Errors and Violations

This paper reports a study of perceptions of the prevalence of certain driving errors and violations in a large ( N = 1,656) sample of drivers. In keeping with previous research on perceptions of social consensus, it was predicted that (a) drivers who reported that they themselves regularly commit these errors and violations would make larger estimates of the percentage of other road users who regularly engage in these behaviors, by comparison with drivers who reported that they do not regularly commit these errors and violations; (b) comparison of estimates of social consensus for own behavior with the actual numbers of respondents reporting that they did or did not engage in these behaviors would show that those who do commit the behaviors regularly would overestimate consensus for their position, while those who do not commit the behaviors regularly would underestimate consensus for their position; and (c) these tendencies to overestimate or underestimate actual consensus for own position would be correlated with the perceived offensiveness to others of the behavior concerned, such that departures from actual consensus would be greater for behaviors rated as more offensive. The results provide strong support for the first two predictions but none for the third; indeed, the degree of over- or underestimation tended to be inversely related to offensiveness. In addition, there were unanticipated but highly consistent sex and age differences in perceptions of the prevalence of the target behaviors, with female and younger respondents making higher estimates than male and older respondents, respectively. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Citizen participation and emprowerment: The case of local environmental hazards

Local environmental hazards place millions of citizens at risk of physical, emotional, and financial harm. While the discovery of such hazards can be fundamentally disempowering for individuals and communities, few scholars have examined the dynamics of empowerment in this context. We explore the relationships among forms of empowerment, citizen participation, and local environmental hazards, and offer a model of the processes of empowerment and disempowerment appropriate to a broad range of citizen issues. On the basis of this analysis we recommend a partnership approach to community decision making that is designed both to reduce the likelihood that local environmental hazards will develop and to minimize the disempowering impact of any threats that do occur.     

Impact of Ethnicity,Gender, and Previous Experience on Juror Judgments in Sexual Harassment Cases1

To examine the influence of gender, having been the target of sexual harassment, and ethnicity on jury decisions, 215 respondents reviewed 17 sexual harassment cases ranging on a continuum from relatively innocent to severe. Respondents indicated their perception of the offensiveness of the cases as well as whether they would vote for the plaintiff or for the defendant. Jurors voting for the plaintiff also indicated whether monetary damages should be awarded. Results of the study indicate that gender and prior experience with sexual harassment affect the outcomes in sexual harassment cases when behaviors can be classified as ambiguous. Results were mixed for the influence of gender and having been sexually harassed for relatively innocent and severe cases. No ethnicity effects were found. A discussion of the legal implications of these findings is included.     

NOT WANTED IN THE INBOX!: EVALUATIONS OF UNSOLICITED AND HARASSING E-MAIL

This study was designed as a first step to explore sexual harassment in the electronic domain. One hundred six students read 10 e-mail messages ranging from jokes to spam to a sexual proposition from a stranger and rated them on an offensiveness evaluative scale. Participants also completed social desirability and attitudes toward sexual harassment scales. Messages with sexual content were generally perceived less favourably than e-mail without such content. Gender was critical to the experience of receiving many types of e-mail messages. When the e-mail content was perceived to be offensive, women found it more offensive than did men. Marked gender differences emerged in response to the sexual proposition, which women perceived to be extremely offensive while men rated it as somewhat enjoyable. Tolerance of sexual harassment and familiarity with a type of e-mail were also related to lower offensiveness evaluations for some messages.     

THE DISEMPOWERING EFFECTS OF MEDIA VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ON COLLEGE WOMEN

This study investigated the disempowering effect of exposure to media violence against women on female students. An initial study involving 284 female students described the development and evaluation of two forms of a scale measuring disempowerment. The second study investigated the effect of media violence using a Solomon Four-Group experimental design. Fifty-seven female students were divided into four groups that were shown video clips depicting scenes of violence directed either toward female or male victims. Half the groups completed the first form of the disempowerment scale prior to the viewing. All groups completed the second form of the scale after the viewing. Analysis confirmed that completion of the pretest scale did not differentially affect the participants viewing the female-victim clips. The results of the main analysis revealed that exposure to media aggression against women heightens feelings of disempowerment in female viewers.     

On the Gender-Typed Nature of Dominant and Submissive Acts

Two studies were conducted to determine whether dominant and submissive acts could be considered gender-typed behaviors. These studies were designed to test three key assumptions stemming from contemporary views of gender role socialization: that self-reported dominant and submissive acts are bidimensional (as opposed to bipolar), that dominant and submissive acts are perceived to be equally desirable for men and women to perform, and that dominant acts are perceived to be more stereotypic of men whereas submissive acts are seen as more stereotypic of women. Each of these assumptions was supported. Discussion focuses on the development of shorter versions of the dominant and submissive act reports, as well as possible directions for determining construct validity.     

PERCEPTIONS OF RELATIONAL AND PHYSICAL AGGRESSION AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS: EFFECTS OF GENDER OF PERPETRATOR, TARGET, AND PERCEIVER

This study examined gendered perceptions of relational and physical aggressive behaviors and personal experiences with both types of aggression. Prior research suggested that physical aggression by males and relational aggression by females would be perceived most negatively. College students (186 female, 128 male) rated the acceptability and harmfulness of aggression in scenarios in which type of aggression and perpetrator and target gender were varied. As predicted, relational aggression by female characters and physical aggression by male characters were rated as less acceptable and more aggressive/harmful than the same behavior by the other gender. Thus, expectations regarding the gender-appropriateness of aggression appear to affect perceptions of such acts. Despite popular conceptions that females use and are harmed by relational aggression more than males, there was no gender difference in experience with relational aggression, nor were female targets viewed as more harmed by such aggression than their male counterparts.     

An Attributional (Causal Dimensional) Analysis of Perceptions of Sexual Harassment1

Female and male subjects read one of three scenarios depicting a social-sexual interaction between a man and a woman. The scenarios varied in severity of the stimulus male's behavior according to whether sexual harassment had occurred. Subjects then rated the offensiveness of his behavior and whether it constituted sexual harassment. Subjects also rated the stimulus male's behavior on Weiner's (1986) three basic dimensions of causality: locus of causality, or the perceived cause of the behavior as internal or external; stability, or the likelihood of its recurrence; and controllability, or the amount of volitional influence he exercised during the interaction. Additionally, subjects reported their anger at the target male and sympathy for the target female. Findings generally indicated that for both women and men, as the scenarios increased in severity, these ratings were elevated. Gender comparisons also showed elevations in these ratings for female but not for male subjects, and only in the scenarios of lesser severity. Regression analyses revealed attribution variables—control, stability, and anger—as reliable predictors of perceived offensiveness and harassment in the most severe scenario, whereas affects were the most reliable predictors in scenarios of lesser severity. The implications of these findings for perception of sexual harassment are discussed.     

Perceptions of non‐target confronters in response to racist and heterosexist remarks

Research has established that targets who express disagreement with prejudicial comments directed toward their social group may be viewed negatively by those they confront or by members of social outgroups. Less research has examined how non‐target individuals who confront prejudicial remarks are perceived. The current studies were designed to examine how non‐targets who confronted racist (Study 1) and heterosexist (Study 2) comments would be perceived as a function of the level of offensiveness of the comment and the confrontation style used. The studies also examined whether confronting behavior would affect perceptions of the individual who made the prejudicial comment. Undergraduate participants read vignettes depicting a situation with a high or low offensive prejudicial comment in which a non‐target individual confronted assertively, unassertively, or not at all. Participants provided judgments of both individuals. Results indicated that non‐targets who confronted highly prejudicial comments either assertively or unassertively were liked and respected more than those who failed to confront. Additionally, commenters who were assertively confronted were respected less than commenters who were not. These findings suggest that non‐targets may be especially effective in confronting prejudicial comments, as they do not suffer the same negative consequences as targets who confront. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Preemployment screening procedures: How human resource managers perceive them

A survey of Human Resource practitioners' perceptions of pre-employment screening procedures was conducted. The results indicated differences between tests in terms of perceived accuracy and offensiveness, as well as other attributes. Regression analyses suggested that beliefs about validity, the number of other companies using these procedures, perceived offensiveness of the test, and ease in passing the test were important factors in the willingness to use a particular test. Conversely, perceptions regarding the discriminatory impact of the test and the cost of using the test generally were not related to willingness to use the test. Limitations of this study, which was primarily exploratory, are noted.     

Stress and Distress as a Function of Jenkins Activity Survey-Defined Type A Behavior and Control Over the Work Environment

Although laboratory studies have demonstrated that situational factors which are particularly threatening to Type A individuals induce both Type A behaviors and cardiovascular reactivity, field studies have failed to demonstrate consistent differences between Types A and B in response to stress. Rhodewalt, Hays, Chemers, and Wysocki (1984) argued that this inconsistency is caused by the failure to take into account the individual's perception of the situation. They demonstrated that Type A individuals who perceived high levels of job stress reported more psychological and physical health problems than Type As under low stress or Type Bs under high or low stress. This study attempted to replicate this earlier finding, as well as identify factors in the situation which lead Type A individuals to perceive their job as stressful. Three hundred thirty-six male school principals (categorized as Type A or Type B by the Jenkins Activity Survey [JAS]) completed questionnaires assessing their degree of control in their work environment, perceived job stress, and physical and psychological well-being. A path mediation analysis indicated that Type A individuals reported more job stress under lower levels of perceived control, and that higher job-stress levels subsequently lead to greater incidence of physical and psychological symptoms, especially for Type As.     

Health Is Associated With Antiparasite Behavior and Fear of Disease-Relevant Animals in Humans

Evolutionary arms races between humans and parasites resulted in a set of behavioral adaptations that serve as parasite-avoidance mechanisms. We investigated associations among reported health of the respondent, antiparasite behavior, and sensitivity to disgust and fear of disease-relevant and irrelevant animals. Ninety-seven participants (15–19 years old) rated their fear and disgust at 25 colorful pictures of disease-relevant and disease-irrelevant invertebrates. Consistent with previous work, we found that participants reported greater fear and disgust of disease-relevant invertebrates relative to disease-irrelevant invertebrates. Better perceived health correlated with lower fear of disease-relevant invertebrates. Sensitivity to disgust correlated with reported antiparasite behaviors. Contrary to expectations, we found a positive correlation between antiparasite behavior and reported health, which suggests that antiparasite behavior influences perceived health (but not vice versa), and we found that males perform more antiparasite behaviors than females. These results support the idea that disgust and fear of disease-relevant objects are adaptive emotions that prevent contact with contagious objects, especially in individuals with low perceived health.     

How perceived discrimination and professional rejection sensitivity impact women's career success

Professional rejection is a widespread phenomenon—most, if not all, of us have or will experience it in our lifetimes. However, some are more adept at handling it than others. This paper examines individual differences in how people interpret and handle professional rejection, proposing a construct called professional rejection sensitivity. We focused on whether this construct predicts decreased self-promoting behaviors and increased self-silencing behaviors and, subsequently, whether that impacts career success for junior faculty. Moreover, we investigated whether women may be disproportionally predisposed to professional rejection sensitivity because they tend to experience more discrimination in the workplace than men. We collected self-report data (i.e., individual differences) and biodata (i.e., curriculum vitae) from 300 junior faculty and found evidence of gender differences, such that women perceive more discrimination and report higher professional rejection sensitivity than men. We also found that individuals who are higher in professional rejection sensitivity are more likely to practice self-silencing behaviors, and individuals who perceive more discrimination have lower career success. This paper serves as the first step in demonstrating the existence of professional rejection sensitivity, which can guide future research that addresses how individuals can overcome this disposition. To support this path of research, we conclude with suggestions for potential interventions.     

Duty of Care,Safety, Normalisation and the Mental Capacity Act: A Discourse Analysis of Staff Arguments about Facilitating Choices for People with Learning Disabilities in UK Services

The benefits of having choice and control for people with learning disabilities 1 are well documented, and front‐line carers often make efforts ensuring that these are facilitated. However, despite this, government policy reports that disempowerment within learning disability services in the UK is a persistent problem. Using critical discursive psychology, 15 interviews with support workers about empowering people with learning disabilities were analysed. Interpretative repertoires about ‘duty of care’, ‘safety’ and ‘normalisation’ and discursive strategies involving ‘comparative evaluations’ were found, which opened speaker positions of granting or withholding choice, assuming responsibility for those in care and constructing service users as lacking capacity. These resources also allowed speakers to regulate the choices of service users and to normalise limited choice in ways that undermined taking up more empowering practices. The findings may explain the persistence of disempowerment within services by indicating how such discourses are deeply entrenched in service talk and are invoked to justify disempowering practices. This is discussed in view of the implications for empowerment and also current legislative frameworks such as the Mental Capacity Act. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sports Participation and Self-Esteem: Variations as a Function of Gender and Gender Role Orientation

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of gender, sports participation, and gender orientation in predicting individuals' domain-specific and global self-esteem. A sample of 100 Grade 11 students completed measures of self-perception, body image, gender orientation, and sports participation. The results showed that although boys reported greater satisfaction with weight and appearance, there were no gender differences in general self-worth. In addition, more feminine individuals who participated in competitive sports reported lower levels of perceived athletic competence and global self-worth, but reported higher self-esteem when they participated in more noncompetitive sports. Although sports participation does predict self-esteem, participants' gender orientation and the type of sports in which they participate are moderating factors.     

The effect of acculturation and discrimination on mental health symptoms and risk behaviors among adolescent migrants in Israel

This study examines the role of acculturation, perceived discrimination, and self-esteem in predicting the mental health symptoms and risk behaviors among 1.5 and second generation non-Jewish adolescents born to migrant families compared with native-born Jewish Israeli adolescents in Israel. Participants included n = 65 1.5 migrant adolescents, n = 60 second generation migrant adolescents, and n = 146 age, gender, and socioeconomic matched sample of native-born Jewish Israelis. Participants completed measures of acculturation pattern, perceived discrimination, and self-esteem as well as measures of mental health symptoms and risk behaviors. Results show that migrant adolescents across generations reported worse mental health symptoms compared with native-born Jewish Israelis. However, only the 1.5 generation migrants reported higher engagement in risk behaviors compared with second generation migrants and native-born Jewish Israelis. Our findings further showed that acculturation plays an important role in predicting the mental health status of migrant youth, with those characterized with integrated acculturative pattern reporting lower mental health symptoms compared with assimilated acculturation pattern. Importantly, contextual factors, such as higher perception of discrimination in the receiving culture as well as individual factors such as lower self-esteem and female gender were strongly associated with worse mental health symptoms. The findings manifest the complex relationship between contextual factors and individual level variables in the acculturative process of migrants as well as the importance of examining the effect of migration generation on mental health outcomes.     

Effects of perceived parental school support and family communication on delinquent behaviors in latinos and white non-latinos

The authors examined the roles of perceived parental school support and family communication in the context of delinquent behaviors in Mexican American and White non-Latino adolescents. Family communication was defined as the degree to which adolescents endorsed that they communicated with their parents about a variety of topics. The Parental School Support scale was administered to assess adolescents' perceptions of parental support for academic pursuits. Data analysis included the relationship between these variables and their predictive relationship to delinquency, and the relationship to gender and ethnicity. Results demonstrated that adolescents' perceptions of family communication and parental school support were related to the likelihood of committing delinquent acts. There were no significant differences in gender or ethnicity in perceived levels of family communication and parental school support.     

Expectancies, Setting, Age, and Beverage Choice as Predictors of Sexual Behaviors in Hypothetical Dating Situations

Brief vignettes depicting heterosexual dates were used to examine how date location (bar/restaurant), age (21/35), female character's beverage choice (alcohol/soda), and respondents' gender interacted to determine participants' estimations of the likelihood of sexual behaviors between daters. Participants were randomly assigned to read vignettes that combined these factors in a factorial design. Younger, alcohol-drinking females in a bar date were perceived as more likely to engage in sex than were nondrinking females at a restaurant. For older daters, neither factor was relevant. The drinking female was perceived as more likely to initiate sex than was the nondrinker. Alcohol use by the male target was not related to perceived initiation likelihood. Participants with stronger alcohol expectancies gave higher estimates of likelihood of sex.     

Gender-atypical personality or sexual behavior: What is disgusting about male homosexuality?

Research consistently finds that homosexuality elicits strong feelings of disgust, but the reasons remain unclear. In the current research, we investigate responses to gay men who violate social norms governing the expression of gender and sexuality. Two hundred forty-three college undergraduates read a vignette about a gay male college student whose personality traits (masculine, feminine, or neutral) and sexual behavior (active vs. passive) varied and reported their affective responses to and cognitive appraisals of the target. The gay target who displayed a feminine personality elicited more disgust and was perceived as lower in gender role conformity than a gay man who displayed a masculine personality. Similarly, the gay target who assumed a passive sex role elicited more disgust and was perceived as lower in gender role conformity than a gay man who assumed an active sex role. The sexual behavior/disgust relationship was mediated by perceived gender role conformity.