Utilization of global attributions in recognizing and responding to gender discrimination among college women

Although learned helplessness theories suggest that global attributions for gender discrimination may serve to promote feelings of helplessness about responding to discrimination, group consciousness theories suggest they may instead be a precursor to enhancing collective actions against discrimination. To examine this theoretical discrepancy, college women completed measures of attributions for gender discrimination, political consciousness (as measured by common fate), participation in collective action, and helplessness behavior among college women. To examine the unique role of global attributions, participants were included if they made external and unstable attributions for discrimination (N = 231). Structural equation modeling showed that recognizing discrimination occurs globally was associated with an increased sense of common fate, which in turn was related to greater collective action and less helplessness behavior. Theoretical (attributions in an intergroup context) as well as practical (institutional policies on publicizing discrimination) implications were discussed.     

Academic achievement and attributions among college students: Effects of gender and sex typing

Attribution questionnaires were completed by 137 students in an introductory economics course immediately preceding the first exam in their class and immediately after their exams were returned. Results indicate that males and females used attributions differently, although not as a function of perceived outcome. In contrast, sex-typing groups varied their attribution as a function of perceived outcome. Self-esteem is proposed as a possible mediating variable. It was concluded that sex typing in relation to perceived successful and unsuccessful performance is an important variable in attributional research.     

Mood as information in making attributions to discrimination

Previous research demonstrates that people use their mood as information when making a variety of judgments. The present research examines the extent to which people use their current mood as information when making attributions to discrimination. Women were given a positive or negative mood induction and either provided with an external attribution for their current mood state or not. They then reported on discrimination occurring to themselves and other women. When an external attribution for induced mood was not provided, women in positive moods were less likely to report discrimination across three measures than were women in negative moods. When an external attribution was provided, mood had no effect. Implications for understanding the effects of context and individual differences in the perception and reporting of experiences with discrimination are discussed.     

Nontraditional sex role aspirations,gender identity conflict,and disordered eating among college women

Many studies point directly to the role played by sex roles and indirectly to the role played by gender identity in the onset of disordered eating. In this study, women who report adhering to nontraditional sex role aspirations are almost twice as likely as other women to report purging or frequent bingeing. Women who exhibit gender identity conflict by drawing a male or androgynous figure on the Draw-A-Person Test or by reporting a pattern of wishing they had been born a male are more likely than other women to report purging or frequent bingeing. The results are consonant with a hypothesis regarding the etiology of disordered eating that implicates gender identity conflicts among women, particularly women who exhibit nontraditional sex role aspirations.     

Causal attributions, self-monitoring, and gender differences among four virginity status groups

Sexual choices and behavior involve complex cognitive and affective processes. Attribution theory remains a prominent social-cognitive model that may help explain such phenomena. In the present study, 198 undergraduates, separated by self-reported virginity status, completed Russell's Causal Dimension Scale and Snyder's Self-Monitoring Scale. The purpose was to determine whether different virginity status groups make different causal attributions about virginity and sexual choices, whether self-monitoring influences this attribution process, and whether males and females differ in this regard. Results indicated a variety of statistically significant virginity status and gender differences in causal attributions. Self-monitoring, however, was not a significant covariate. Possible explanations for these results, and their implications, are discussed.     

Denial of gender discrimination is associated with better subjective well-being among women: A system justification account

Despite the fact that women face socially and politically sanctioned disadvantages every day, a large percentage of women and men report that gender discrimination is no longer a problem. Across three studies, which together include over 20,000 participants from 23 countries, we test the hypothesis that denial (vs. acknowledgement) of gender discrimination is associated with higher subjective well-being among women (Studies 1–3), and this is because denying gender discrimination promotes the view that the system is fair (Study 1). We further show that this happens above and beyond personal experiences with sexism (Study 1) and that the association is stronger in countries where sexism is relatively high (vs. low; Study 3). We argue that denial of discrimination is an individual-level coping mechanism and that, like other self-group distancing strategies, it may perpetuate gender inequality.     

Hookups and sexual regret among college women

Research has suggested that women are prone to sexual regrets of action. In the present study, the authors examined "hooking up" as a predictor of sexual regret in 152 sexually active college women. Results indicate that two sexual behaviors were particularly predictive of participants' regret: (a) engaging in sexual intercourse with someone once and only once and (b) engaging in intercourse with someone known for less than 24 hr. Noncoital hookups (performing and receiving oral sex) were not significantly related to regret, indicating that college women may be underestimating the health risks associated with oral sex. Although hookups are a common feature of contemporary college life, the results counter the popular assumption that hookups are inconsequential for college women. The authors discuss the preventative health implications of their findings.     

Motivation to manage among women: Studies of college students

Studies were conducted with samples of students from four different universities to determine if male-female differences in motivation to manage existed. Although differences were not found among students majoring in the field of education, females in business administration and the liberal arts did prove to have lower managerial motivation scores than the comparable male samples. These findings are discussed in terms of their relationships to sex discrimination, prospective managerial talent shortages and the vocational guidance of female college students.     

Pupillary attributions of college students to happy and angry faces.

As evidence for an hypothesis that pupil size plays an important role in nonverbal communication, Hess (1975) has reported that adults draw in appropriately sized pupils on his happy and angry faces task. However, he did not report a statistical test of his data. In this study, we replicated Hess' research and found congruent with his hypothesis that college students (n = 223) draw in significantly larger pupils on the happy face.     

Risk drinking and contraception effectiveness among college women

Risk drinking, especially binge drinking, and unprotected sex may co-occur in college women and increase the risks of STI exposure and pregnancy, but the relationships among these behaviors are incompletely understood. A survey was administered to 2012 women of ages 18–24 enrolled in a public urban university. One-quarter of the college women (23%) drank eight or more drinks per week on average, and 63% binged in the past 90 days, with 64% meeting criteria for risk drinking. Nearly all sexually active women used some form of contraception (94%), but 18% used their method ineffectively and were potentially at risk for pregnancy. Forty-four percent were potentially at risk for STIs due to ineffective or absent condom usage. Ineffective contraception odds were increased by the use of barrier methods of contraception, reliance on a partner's decision to use contraception, and risk drinking, but were decreased by the use of barrier with hormonal contraception, being White, and later age to initiate contraception. In contrast, ineffective condom use was increased by reliance on a partner's decision to use condoms, the use of condoms for STI prevention only, and by risk drinking. Thirteen percent of university women were risk drinkers and using ineffective contraception, and 31% were risk drinkers and failing to use condoms consistently. Risk drinking is related to ineffective contraception and condom use. Colleges should promote effective contraception and condom use for STI prevention and consider coordinating their programs to reduce drinking with programs for reproductive health. Emphasizing the use of condoms for both pregnancy prevention and STI prevention may maximize women's interest in using them.     

How status and stereotypes impact attributions to discrimination: The stereotype-asymmetry hypothesis

Past research suggests a status-asymmetry effect in attributions to discrimination such that people are more likely to make attributions to discrimination when the victim is from a lower status group than the perpetrator as compared to when the victim is from a higher status group than the perpetrator. The present studies test a stereotype-asymmetry effect, such that people are more likely to make attributions to discrimination when rejection occurs in a domain in which the victim is negatively rather than positively stereotyped. In Study 1 (observers) and Study 2 (victims), participants attributed rejection following a job interview to discrimination more when the victim was negatively stereotyped than when the victim was positively stereotyped. The stereotypicality of the domain was more important than the relative status of the victim and the perpetrator in determining judgments of discrimination. Thus stereotype-asymmetry is a key feature of the discrimination prototype.     

Racial and gender differences in weight status and dietary practices among college students

A questionnaire was used to assess nutritional intake, weight status, and dietary practices among 630 U.S. college students. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated using self-reported heights and weights, and nutritional status was assessed via 24-hour recall. Sixty-four percent of the students had acceptable BMI levels (between 19 and 25); 16% of African-American females and 15% of African-American males had BMIs indicating obesity (30 or above). Approximately 18% of the students consumed 5 servings per day of fruits and vegetables, 7% consumed 6 or more grain products, and 53% consumed 2 or more dairy products. Twenty-seven percent reported never/rarely eating fast foods. Recommendations are presented for the development of culturally appropriate health education/promotion programs in order to help college students meet Healthy People 2010 objectives.     

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.     

Images of black women among anglo college students

Previous research on popular images of women and of minority groups has looked almost solely at images of minority men and of white women. This article presents survey data on images of black women among 256 white non-Hispanic college undergraduates, using a modified Katz/Braly scale. The article explores the nature, distribution, correlates, and emotional evaluations of these images and the implications of these images for black women's lives. Images of black women differed substantially from those of American women in general. Most commonly, black women were characterized as loud, talkative, aggressive, intelligent, straightforward, and argumentative. In addition, students rated positive traits less positive and negative traits less negative when exhibited by black women than by American women in general, apparently because of their expectations for black women's behavior.This paper has benefited from the comments of Verna Keith, Wade Smith, and, most especially, Mary Benin. This research was partially supported by Arizona State University Women's Studies Summer Research Awards Program.     

Complaining about a compliment: Evaluating attributions of positive outcomes to discrimination

People evaluate stigmatized group members negatively when they attribute negative personal outcomes to discrimination, even when discrimination is the likely cause. The present studies examined whether similar interpersonal costs exist for attributing a positive personal outcome to discrimination in the context of positive stereotypes. In Study 1, 129 participants read an excerpt written by an Asian student who attributed an unexpectedly high essay grade to discrimination, writing quality, or easy grading. Participants evaluated the student least favourably when he attributed the positive outcome to discrimination. In Study 2, 140 participants evaluated a successful Asian job applicant less favourably than a successful, white applicant, although both applicants attributed the positive outcome to group membership. The implications for how stigmatized group members perceive and respond to prejudice and discrimination are discussed.     

Depression and attributions for problems and solutions in college students

50 adult clients at college counseling centers completed scales measuring depression, attributions for their primary problem and its expected improvement, and locus of control. Subjects who were more depressed made relatively internal and stable attributions for their primary problems, were less likely to believe they would improve, and expressed more belief in the importance of chance and powerful others. As a group, subjects tended to view their improvement as more internal and controllable than the cause of their problems. The results suggest that knowledge of clients' attributions for their problems could prove relevant to the treatment of depression.     

Initiation of dates and anxiety among college men and women

A dating questionnaire was completed by 248 undergraduate college students who were either dating someone in an exclusive relationship or were not going steady. Responses to this questionnaire by students not going steady with someone indicated that 54 college-age men were more active at initiating and more successful at getting dates than the 70 women. However, between one-half and three-fourths of the college women reported having initiated dates with men. Both sexes experienced considerable anxiety while initiating a date which suggests a self-help system might be designed to ameliorate this problem.     

Reinforcement of spaced responding in a simultaneous discrimination

Pigeons were exposed to three stimuli simultaneously with responses reinforced according to differential-reinforcement-of-low-rate schedules. Responses to one stimulus (the positive stimulus) that were spaced appropriately resulted in food presentation. The variables manipulated were the time parameter of the schedule (5, 10, 20, 30 sec) and the consequences of responding to the other two stimuli (the negative stimuli). The percentage of the total responses that occurred to each stimulus was independent of the schedule value but was dependent on the consequences of responding to the negative stimuli. If responses to both reset the schedule timer, responding was confined largely to the positive stimulus. If responses to neither had scheduled effects, the birds were more likely to respond to those stimuli. Responding to one negative stimulus could be selectively attenuated by having responses to that stimulus alone reset the timer. With the schedule time value held constant, the absolute rate of responding to the positive stimulus was either stable or decreased with maintained exposure; it did not change as a function of increases or decreases in responding to the negative stimuli. Rather than interacting and affecting each other, responses to the three stimuli were controlled independently by their relation to reinforcement. There was no evidence that responses to the negative stimuli mediated the spacing of responses to the positive stimulus.     

Age and gender differences in college students' attitudes toward women: A replication and extension

This study replicates and extends earlier research on the Attitudes Toward Women Scale (J. T. Spence and R. L. Helmreich, The Attitudes Towards Women Scale: An Objective Instrument to Measure Attitudes Towards the Rights and Roles of Women in Contemporary Society, JSAS Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology, 1972, 2, 66). The scale was administered to 382 college students to assess the reliability of the scale, gender and age differences in responses to the scale, and to make comparisons to past research with different samples. Age was positively associated with more liberal attitudes toward women. Females were more liberal overall than males; however, this depended on the particular item.     

Accuracy of discrimination,rate of responding,and resistance to change

Pigeons were trained on multiple schedules in which responding on a center key produced matching-to-sample trials according to the same variable-interval 30-s schedules in both components. Matching trials consisted of a vertical or tilted line sample on the center key followed by vertical and tilted comparisons on the side keys. Correct responses to comparison stimuli were reinforced with probability .80 in the rich component and .20 in the lean component. Baseline response rates and matching accuracies generally were higher in the rich component, consistent with previous research. When performance was disrupted by prefeeding, response-independent food during intercomponent intervals, intrusion of a delay between sample and comparison stimuli, or extinction, both response rates and matching accuracies generally decreased. Proportions of baseline response rate were greater in the rich component for all disrupters except delay, which had relatively small and inconsistent effects on response rate. By contrast, delay had large and consistent effects on matching accuracy, and proportions of baseline matching accuracy were greater in the rich component for all four disrupters. The dissociation of response rate and accuracy with delay reflects the localized impact of delay on matching performance. The similarity of the data for response rate and accuracy with prefeeding, response-independent food, and extinction shows that matching performance, like response rate, is more resistant to change in a rich than in a lean component. This result extends resistance to change analyses from the frequency of response emission to the degree of stimulus control, and suggests that the strength of discriminating, like the strength of responding, is positively related to rate of reinforcement.