Gender Characteristics and Relationship Adjustment: Another Look at Similarity-Complementarity Hypotheses

ABSTRACT The present study examined how the similarity and complementarity of gender-related attitudes, behaviors, interests, and personality traits related to partner selection and relationship adjustment in the context of serious, romantic relationships. Results revealed the important role of gender-related attitudes in relationships, indicating that study participants tended to be paired with partners who held similar attitudes, and that couples who were similar in attitudes had higher dyadic adjustment. Furthermore, the nature of the couples' attitudes affected (a) the extent to which couples were paired on the basis of complementary interests and behaviors, and (b) the relation between partner's gender-related behaviors and dyadic adjustment. Results support previous research citing the importance of attitude similarity in interpersonal attraction, and demonstrate that these findings can be generalized to ongoing, close relationships.     

Another Look at Sex Bias in Students' Evaluations of Professors

Forty male and forty female students evaluated the identical teaching methods of three female and three male award-winning professors in two traditionally masculine, two traditionally feminine and two relatively non-sex-linked areas. Different ratings were assigned as a function of the sex of the professor and the teaching field. Students attributed the success of male professors to instrumental qualities and that of females to affective qualities.     

不同性别定向的名字对女性择偶偏好的影响

对个体的第一印象经常是从名字开始的。研究表明名字的效价会影响他人对个体的评价以及在线约会等行为。本研究用实验方法探索了择偶早期进行初步接触之前,不同性别定向的名字对女性择偶偏好的影响。研究一和研究二的结果表明, 名字的性别定向会影响择偶机会。对男性来说, 女性化名字获得的择偶机会更少。名字引起的吸引力评价正向预测不同性别定向名字的择偶机会。本研究为名字的心理效应拓宽了适用领域。     

The Effects of Assertive Training on Sex Role Concept in Female Agoraphobics

Agoraphobia in women has often been associated with a restricted, "overly-feminine" sex role definition. We investigated whether assertiveness training from a female therapist would benefit agoraphobic women not only by teaching skills but incidentally by modeling a broader feminine gender role. Of 14 clients from an agoraphobic treatment program seven received assertiveness training as an adjunct to regular therapy. Sex role definition and assertiveness attitudes were measured with the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (Spence, Helmreich, & Stapp, 1974) and the Rathus Assertiveness Schedule (Rathus, 1973), administered before and following a 7-week treatment period. All the agoraphobics initially had significantly lower Masculinity scores on the PAQ than did large normative samples. T-tests performed on the data indicated that the assertiveness group's Masculinity scores increased after treatment to the level of the normative samples, while the comparison group did not change. Results supported the clinical observation that many agoraphobic women have limited gender role definitions, and indicated that this limitation consists of a deficit of masculine traits rather than a surplus of feminine ones.     

Gender and Sex Role Differences in Group Decision-Making Social Interactions: A Behavioral Analysis1

Sex role formulations assume relationships between role orientation and adjustive social behavior. However, few studies have examined behavioral differences with respect to both gender and sex role orientation in realistically complex social interactions. In the current study, groups composed of four male and four female “representatives” from each sex role category (masculine-typed, feminine-typed, androgynous, and undifferentiated) were presented with two group decision-making tasks. Group interactions were videotaped and subjects' behavior was rated on social skill variables. Analyses of variance revealed gender differences with males performing more actively than females, especially when the content of the decision-making task involved more historically male-oriented topics. However, when subjects' group behavior was examined in relation to their sex role orientation, androgynous and masculine-typed persons of both sexes performed in a more active, instrumental manner than feminine-typed or undifferentiated persons. Further, correlational analyses indicated that females' masculinity scores were substantially associated with ratings of effectiveness in the decision-making groups. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Another Look at the Role of Empty Categories in Sentence Processing (and Grammar)

The gap/gapless processing debate in the psycholinguistics literature contrasts two processing models: one that assumes the trace-based Government and Binding (or Principles and Parameters) Grammar and the (augmented) Active Filler Strategy and one that assumes the traceless Dependency Categorial Grammar and the Principle of Dependency Formation. This paper reports on an experiment that found new evidence against the gapless/traceless model, considers why such evidence was not found in previous studies, and explores whether a parser that combines a (partially) traceless grammar and the augmented Active Filler Strategy can explain the current finding.     

Another Test of Gender Differences in Assignments to Precarious Leadership Positions: Examining the Moderating Role of Ambivalent Sexism

Women face significant hurdles in the attainment of leadership positions. When they do attain them such positions tend to be riskier than those attained by men, a form of bias called glass cliff. This study investigates ambivalent sexism as an individual difference that influences the occurrence of glass cliff. Little research examines individual differences contributing to glass cliff. It is proposed that individuals with high hostile and benevolent sexism are more likely to perceive women to be suitable for leadership of a poorly‐performing organization and men to be suitable for leadership of a well‐performing organization. The sample of our experimental study consisted of 378 students who rated either a female or a male candidate under a poor or good performance condition. We tested our hypotheses using a moderated regression analysis. Both components of sexism impacted how individuals evaluated male and female leaders under different organizational performance conditions. Hostile sexism was the dimension that led to glass cliff. Benevolent sexism had an unexpected effect on leadership choice. The differences between the two types of sexism and the different role each type plays in preference for masculine and feminine leadership are discussed. Leader gender and perceiver's sexist attitudes influence evaluations for leadership positions.     

Incivility at Academic Conferences: Gender Differences and the Mediating Role of Climate

In a survey study of 458 U.S. women and men, we examined experiences of incivility at an academic conference, a context that represents an important extension of the academic/professional workplace. We hypothesized and found that women reported more incivility, perceived the climate to be more sexist, and reported more conference exclusion than men. Counter to our prediction, men and women did not differ in how negatively they viewed the climate or their conference satisfaction. Since incivility may be a subtle form of bias that targets women more than men, women’s experiences of incivility may lead them to view the environment as more sexist. We found support for this, such that the relationship between incivility and sexist climate perceptions were stronger for women than men. Finally, we proposed that incivility would be related to negative conference outcomes through more negative perceptions of the conference climate for both genders, and through sexist climate perceptions only for women. Results of our path analyses indicated that positive, but not sexist, climate perceptions mediated the relationship between incivility and conference satisfaction for both genders. Further, both sexist and positive climate perceptions mediated the relationship between incivility and conference exclusion for both genders. We discuss incivility as a gendered phenomenon related to sexist contexts, as well as reasons for the observed mediated relationships. Additionally, we discuss the significant role that conference experiences may play for women and men in academia and professional settings, and implications for conference organizers.     

Sex Differences in Loneliness: The Role of Masculinity and Femininity

The present study assessed the magnitude of sexdifferences in loneliness after accounting for theinfluence of two covariates: masculinity and femininity.The 256 participants (principally White, somewhat affluent, and middle-class university students)completed both the UCLA Loneliness Scale and the Bem SexRole Inventory. Whereas sex differences were originallynonsignificant (males tended to be lonelier than females), this difference was significantafter accounting for masculinity (not femininity)embedded in participants' loneliness scores. Similarresults emerged when the covariates were partialled out of both loneliness (criterion) and sex(predictor). These findings support the hypothesis thatmales appear reluctant to admit feelings of loneliness.Male reluctance to personally admit social deficits such as loneliness is suggested for futureresearch.     

Contrast Effects in Performance Ratings: Another Look Across Time

Récemment, Murphy, Balzer, Lockart et Eisenman (1985) rapportèrent que les effets de contraste dans une comparaison intra-personnelle disparaissent subséquemment à un court délai d'évaluation d'un stimulus-cible. Les deux expérimentations que nous décrivons indiquent que les effets de contraste dans une comparaison inter-personnelle résistérent même après un délai de trois semaines entre l'évaluation d'un stimulus de référence et d'un stimulus-cible. Dans l'expérience 1, 270 étudiants furent répartis en neuf groupes expérimentaux ( n = 30) qui représentent toutes les combinaisons possibles de trois indices de performance (élevé, bas, moyen) en deux temps différents. Un effet de contraste significatif fut observé chez ceux des participants qui visèrent et obtinrent une performance moyenne au Temps 2 (omega au carré= 0.16). Dans l'expérimentation 2, 270 étudiants MBA (avec un minimum d'expérience de deux années d'assistanat) répétèrent les résultats de l'expérimentation 1 (omega au carré= 0.18). Ces résultats groupés indiquent que les effets de contraste résistent au temps et valorisent les projets de recherche dans ce domaine.     

Race and Gender Differences in Self-efficacy: Assessing the Role of Gender Role Attitudes and Family Background

Research suggests race is associated with unique family structures and gender attitudes. Yet, extant research fails to examine how different gender role attitudes and family structures related to race impact other aspects of life. Self-efficacy refers to one’s belief in his or her abilities to achieve certain outcomes (Bandura, Self-efficacy: The exercise of control, Freeman, New York, p. 3, 1997). Using a sample of 486 traditional undergraduate college students from an American university in the middle south, we examine gender and race differences in self-efficacy and the impact of sex role attitudes and family structure on self-efficacy. We argue that gender differences in gender role attitudes and their impact on self-efficacy is moderated by race. For all but white males, sex role liberalism is positively related to self-efficacy. Mother’s full time employment is positively related to self-efficacy for whites. Implications for theory and future research are discussed.     

Gender Role Development in Japanese Culture: Diminishing Gender Role Differences in a Contemporary Society

This paper presents the development of the Japanese Gender Role Index (JGRI) and Japanese men's and women's self-ratings on the scale. Two hundred ninety-six Japanese words that describe masculine and feminine characteristics were gathered. Examination of endorsements by 200 Japanese participants indicated 66 items as socially desirable characteristics for either men or women in the society. The validation process, including social desirability ratings, factor analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis, identified 2 subscales with 10 items for each. Internal consistency and the means and standard deviations of social desirability ratings for the subscales were also examined. Self-ratings on the JGRI by 423 Japanese participants showed that there was no significant difference between men and women on feminine and masculine characteristics. It was also found that both men and women possessed an equivalent amount of masculine and feminine characteristics.     

Gender Differences in Illusion Response: The Influence of Spatial Strategy and Sex Ratio

Two experiments explored factors related to gender differences in Ponzo illusion susceptibility. In Experiment 1, 54 male and 54 female (predominantly white, middle class) undergraduates were administered Witkin's Embedded Figures Test (EFT) and, on 2 separate occasions, a form of the Ponzo illusion. Results showed the Ponzo to be quite reliable over several days. Females were significantly more field dependent (as shown by slower responses to the EFT), and significantly more susceptible to the Ponzo illusion, than males. Furthermore, EFT performance correlated significantly with Ponzo susceptibility for females, but not for males, suggesting that the difference between males and females in Ponzo response may be due not to differences in field independence per se, but rather to differences in the strategies used to solve the illusion task. In Experiment 2, 111 male and 148 female (predominantly white, middle class) undergraduates were administered the Ponzo illusion twice, the 2 administrations separated by about 90 min. Again, the illusion task showed good reliability, and females were significantly more susceptible to the illusion. Furthermore, the magnitude of the difference between males and females was systematically related to the sex ratio (the ratio of the number of males to the number of females) of the particular session in which each subject happened to be participating. It is suggested that social factors such as sex ratio might affect the strategies participants use when doing illusion tasks, and perhaps other spatial skills tasks as well.     

Gender Differences in Social Dominance Orientation: The Role of Cognitive Complexity

The present research examined the invariance hypothesis, which predicts lower levels of social dominance orientation (SDO) for women compared to men even when accounting for other factors. Previous research shows that gender linked variables mediate the gender difference in SDO. In two studies using undergraduates in the northeastern U.S., we tested mediation by cognitive complexity, a variable linked to social status but not to gender. Study 1 (n?=?117) found that women had higher levels of attributional complexity, but not need for cognition. Study 2 (n?=?206) further found that attributional complexity mediated the relationship between gender and SDO, suggesting that higher cognitive complexity due to low social status may be involved in gender differences in SDO.     

Gender Differences in Pain Perception: The Mediating Role of Self-Efficacy Beliefs

The purpose of this study was to assess the extent to which the gender differences in response to the cold pressor test (CPT) are mediated by self-efficacy beliefs. One hundred twelve college undergraduates (69 women and 43 men) engaged in CPT and completed self-report measures of demographic information, physical self-efficacy (i.e., expectations about one's overall physical capabilities), and task-specific self-efficacy (i.e., beliefs about one's ability to cope successfully with the upcoming CPT). In addition, participants provided subjective ratings of pain intensity every 30 s during CPT and were evaluated for tolerance during CPT (up to 4 min). Consistent with past research, men reported lower average subjective ratings of pain intensity and showed higher tolerance for CPT. Path analyses indicated that associations between gender and pain perception were fully mediated by self-efficacy beliefs. Men reported greater physical self-efficacy and task-specific self-efficacy than women did. In turn, higher task-specific self-efficacy ratings predicted increases in tolerance for pain and lower ratings of average pain intensity. Findings indicate that self-efficacy beliefs are one factor that accounts for gender differences in responses to painful stimulation. Future researchers should evaluate conditions under which heightened self-efficacy may be beneficial and harmful, and they should employ experimental designs that incorporate opportunities for use of both communal–interpersonal and individualistic coping strategies in light of possible gender differences in preferred approaches to coping with pain.     

An Examination of Gender Differences in Adolescent Adjustment: The Effect of Competence on Gender Role Differences in Symptoms of Psychopathology

Numerous studies have documented gender differences in psychopathology; girls generally report more internalizing symptoms and boys generally report more externalizing symptoms. These gender differences are partially accounted for by the gender-typed personality characteristics of boys and girls. This study was designed to investigate how gender roles influence symptoms of psychopathology by examining the mediating effects of self- and peer-rated competencies. Using a multiple regression approach to path analysis with a sample of primarily White, middle-class high school students, gender roles significantly predicted symptoms of psychopathology and mediated the gender differences in those symptoms. In addition, the adolescents' self- and peer-rated competence in various domains helped to explain the effect of gender roles on symptoms of psychopathology. Specifically, self-rated social attractiveness and global self-worth fully mediated the relation between instrumentality (i.e., masculinity) and internalizing symptoms. Global self-worth and both self- and peer-rated achievement/conduct partially mediated the relation between expressivity (i.e., femininity) and externalizing symptoms. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.     

Gender Differences in Family Stories: Moderating Influence of Parent Gender Role and Child Gender

One hundred and twenty families and their 4-year-old children participated in a study on family stories. The participants were primarily White (91%), with the remainder Black (4%), Hispanic (2%), and Asian (2%). The parents were primarily middle class and upper class, with approximately 5% identifying themselves as from a lower socioeconomic background. Parents were asked to tell their son or daughter stories about when the parent was growing up. All parents completed measures of child behavior and a subset of parents completed the Bem Sex Role inventory. Stories were coded for the strength of affiliation, achievement, and autonomy themes. No gender differences were found for parents or child in the strength of affiliation themes. Fathers told stories with stronger autonomy themes than did mothers, and sons were more likely to hear stories with themes of autonomy than were daughters. An interaction was found between gender type of parent and gender of child for strength of achievement theme. Traditional gender-typed parents told stories with stronger achievement themes to their sons, and nontraditional gender-typed parents told stories with stronger achievement themes to their daughters. Exploratory analyses were conducted examining the relations among story theme, parent gender type, and child behavior. Higher levels of externalizing behaviors were found in boys whose fathers endorsed strong masculine attitudes, but told stories with weak achievement themes. Higher levels of internalizing behaviors were found in girls whose mothers told stories with strong affiliation themes, but endorsed weak feminine attitudes. Family stories are proposed to be one aspect of socialization that includes an interaction between child and parent characteristics.     

Constructing Gender Incommensurability in Competitive Sport: Sex/Gender Testing and the New Regulations on Female Hyperandrogenism

The segregation of the sexes in sport still seems to be regarded as a matter of course. In contrast to other performance classes, e.g., age and weight, which are constructed on the grounds of directly relevant performance features, in the case of gender it is dealt with the merely statistical factor that women on average perform less well than men. And yet unlike weight or age classes, which can be interchanged if the required performances are provided, the segregation between the sexes in many types of sport seems to be quite impermeable. Contrary to popular beliefs women were not excluded from the beginning of modern sport. Hence, the meaning of gender differences varies in the course of time and in types of sport. Thus, this paper firstly gives a short summary of the different relevance of gender differences in high performance competitions of various types of sport. Then the historical construction of gender as central dimension in modern sport will be illustrated by using the example of soccer. Here in this paper, the elaborate processes of reproducing this incommensurability between women and men in sport is the main focus: At first big sport organisations tried to exclude women whose performances were well above the expectations by establishing so called “Gender verifications” which suspected them of fraud. Although it became certain that there is no clear differentiation between the sexes, gender segregation was not abolished. Instead new regulations have been invented to treat and “normalise” people who are difficult to categorise, e.g., transsexuals and women with Hyperandrogenism, in order to subsume them into the existent gender categories. So finally, gender segregation in sport seems to be just another example for Goffman’s institutional reflexivity: While the separation of the competitions are said to be a natural consequence of the differences between men and women, it actually is just a tool to create those differences.     

Gender Differences in Mental Health: The Mediating Role of Perceived Personal Discrimination

Why is women's mental health inferior to that of men? This study hypothesized that women's mental health is not as good as men's because women perceive more personal discrimination. It was confirmed that women obtained higher scores than did men on a subjective scale of psychological distress. Additionally, women perceived greater personal and group discrimination than did men. Perceived personal discrimination proved to be the more robust predictor of psychological distress. This was evident when results of a mediation analysis revealed that gender differences in subjective distress were mediated by the measure of perceived personal discrimination, but not by the measure of group discrimination.