Predicting with the MMPI the adjustment of juvenile delinquents to institutionalization: does gender make a difference?

Relationships between Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) scales and criteria were evaluated to determine if the MMPI is gender biased when considering a juvenile delinquent population. The MMPI was administered to 549 juvenile delinquents: 105 Black men, 37 Black women, 331 White men, and 76 White women. In addition, behavioral and rating measures were collected; they served as adjustment criteria. Except for the criterion assessing neurotic symptomatology, equations that regressed criteria on MMPI scales neither underpredicted nor overpredicted for a gender. The MMPI tended to underpredict ratings of neurotic symptomatology for women. Significant differences in correlation coefficients for Black men and women occurred for the behavioral, nonrating criteria. Scale 4 was the best predictor for Black men, whereas Scales, 8, F, 1, and 2 tended to be the best predictors for Black women. Some possible explanations for these results are offered.     

Making Gender Comparisons More Meaningful: A Call for More Attention to Social Context

We challenge researchers to consider sex and gender as a marker for possible social contextual differences. Disappointed by both philosophical and empirical attempts to find coherence in research making gender comparisons, we selectively review studies showing both context-specific similarities between women and men where overall comparisons found differences as well as context-specific differences where general patterns of similarity existed. These examples cut across embedded levels of social context, ranging from those immediately proximal to the individual (interpersonal) to organizational and broad societal structures. They suggest that seemingly identical contexts can have sweepingly different impacts on women and men and that effective social interventions be gender-sensitive.     

Differences Between and Within Genders in Gender Role Orientation According to Age and Level of Education

This study analyses the masculinity and femininity in a Spanish sample made up of 164 adult workers (88 men and 76 women). To be specific, the objective was to demonstrate whether age and level of education were related to differences in masculinity and femininity, both when comparing between the two genders and when the comparisons are made within the same gender. The results indicated that the two variables predicted differences in women, but not in men. There were only differences between genders in masculinity and femininity between the ages of 20 and 39, and when the level of education is low. The results appear to support Hofstede’s hypothesis that there are fewer differences between genders in gender role orientation in feminine countries.     

Testing the Internal Consent Scale for Measurement Invariance Across Women and Men

The Internal Consent Scale (ICS) was created to measure feelings associated with a person’s willingness to engage in partnered sexual activity. Although previous studies using the ICS have assessed gender differences, evidence has not been provided to suggest that the ICS functions similarly for women and men. Using data from an online cross-sectional survey of adults (N = 874; 53.1% women), we subjected the 25-item ICS to tests of measurement invariance across gender. We found that only partial measurement invariance was tenable, which indicated that direct comparisons across gender should be interpreted with caution when using the ICS. Therefore, we created a gender-invariant short form. In support of construct validity, we found that this 15-item ICS–Short Form demonstrated similar associations with measures of sexual consent communication as the full 25-item ICS. If researchers aim to compare women and men on internal sexual consent, we recommend using the 15-item ICS–Short Form. Cognitive interviews should be conducted to further understand how women and men might differentially interpret ICS items.

     

Endorsements by Mexican-Americans of the Bem Sex-Role Inventory: cross-ethnic comparison

Gender-related personality traits among Mexican-American men and women were examined. The sample consisted of 307 Mexican-Americans (150 women, 157 men) in a predominantly Mexican and Mexican-American community in South Texas. Mexican-American men scored significantly higher than the women on eight masculine items, whereas Mexican-American women scored higher than the men on four feminine items. A comparison between the scores of Mexican-Americans on the Bem Sex-Role Inventory with those of the original sample in the inventory's manual showed that the scores for the Masculinity and Femininity subscales for both Mexican-American men and women were not significantly different from those of the original sample. A significant difference, however, was found on some of the items of the inventory. Analysis also indicated that more Mexican-American men were categorized as Feminine and Androgynous than were non-Hispanic Euro-American males in the original sample. Among Mexican-American women there were more individuals classified as Masculine and Undifferentiated and a lower percentage as Feminine than among the original sample. Implications and recommendations based on the results are discussed.     

Gender and priming differences in speed of processing of information relating to social structure

Previous research has shown that women and men’s different interactional contexts result in selective differences in retention of information (e.g., Gabriel & Gardner, 1999). This study tested the hypothesis that there should be broad gender-related differences in latencies of retrieval of information focused on groups or dyads, with women processing the latter more rapidly, and men processing the former more rapidly. Participants were given a diary reading task with explicit recall instructions. Results showed that although no difference was found in overall retention of items, women responded more rapidly to items referring to dyads, while men responded more rapidly to items referring to groups. In addition, a strong effect of the gender of the protagonist of the diary was found. Participants of both gender responded more rapidly to dyadic items when the protagonist was female but responded more rapidly to group items when the protagonist was male. These results indicate that gender differences in social structure result in differences in encoding and retrieval of broad classes of information that are not accountable for by selective retention.     

Men in pink collars: Stereotype threat and disengagement among male teachers and child protection workers

Male employees are a traditionally advantaged group, but when working in a female‐dominated industry they may be vulnerable to negative gender stereotypes. The current research examined stereotype threat among men in two traditionally feminine jobs. Study 1 measured stereotype threat among primary school teachers and found that men experienced more stereotype threat than women, and that feelings of stereotype threat were related to negative job attitudes for men but not women. Study 2 manipulated the direction of social comparisons to elicit stereotype threat among male child protection workers. For men but not women, upward social comparisons with a successful feminine target elicited stereotype threat. In turn, stereotype threat was associated with intentions to resign and feeling expected to perform stereotypic masculine work tasks. These results suggest that despite their advantaged status, men in pink‐collar jobs are susceptible to workplace stereotype threat.     

Gender Bias Produces Gender Gaps in STEM Engagement

We explored whether the existence of gender bias causes gender gaps in STEM engagement. In Experiment 1 (n?=?322), U.S. women projected less sense of belonging, positivity toward, and aspirations to participate in STEM than did men when exposed to the reality of STEM gender bias. These gender differences disappeared when participants were told that STEM exhibits gender equality, suggesting that gender bias produces STEM gender gaps. Experiment 2 (n?=?429) explored whether results generalized to a specific STEM department, and whether organizational efforts to mitigate gender bias might shrink gender gaps. U.S. women exposed to a biased chemistry department anticipated more discrimination and projected less sense of belonging, positive attitudes and trust and comfort than did men. These gender differences vanished when participants read about an unbiased department, again suggesting that gender bias promotes STEM gender gaps. Further, moderated mediation analyses suggested that in the presence of gender bias (but not gender equality), women projected less positive attitudes and trust and comfort than did men because they experienced less sense of belonging and anticipated more discrimination. Results were largely unaffected by whether departments completed a diversity training, suggesting that knowledge of diversity initiatives alone cannot close STEM gender gaps.     

Gender differences in mate selection preferences: a test of the parental investment model.

Evolutionary-related hypotheses about gender differences in mate selection preferences were derived from Triver's parental investment model, which contends that women are more likely than men to seek a mate who possesses nonphysical characteristics that maximize the survival or reproductive prospects of their offspring, and were examined in a meta-analysis of mate selection research (questionnaire studies, analyses of personal advertisements). As predicted, women accorded more weight than men to socioeconomic status, ambitiousness, character, and intelligence, and the largest gender differences were observed for cues to resource acquisition (status, ambitiousness). Also as predicted, gender differences were not found in preferences for characteristics unrelated to progeny survival (sense of humor, "personality"). Where valid comparisons could be made, the findings were generally invariant across generations, cultures, and research paradigms.     

Stereotype threat and arousal: effects on women's math performance

Theories of arousal suggest that arousal should decrease performance on difficult tasks and increase performance on easy tasks. An experiment tested the hypothesis that the effects of stereotype threat on performance are due to heightened arousal. The authors hypothesized that telling participants that a math test they are about to take is known to have gender differences would cause stereotype threat in women but not in men. In the experiment, each participant took two tests--a difficult math test and an easy math test. Compared to women in a "no differences" condition, women in the "gender differences" condition scored better on the easy math test and worse on the difficult math test. Men's performance was unaffected by the manipulation. These data are consistent with an arousal-based explanation of stereotype threat effects. Data were inconsistent with expectancy, evaluation apprehension, and persistence explanations of the stereotype threat phenomenon.     

Culture, gender, and the self: variations and impact of social comparison processes

Psychological differences between women and men, far from being invariant as a biological explanation would suggest, fluctuate in magnitude across cultures. Moreover, contrary to the implications of some theoretical perspectives, gender differences in personality, values, and emotions are not smaller, but larger, in American and European cultures, in which greater progress has been made toward gender equality. This research on gender differences in self-construals involving 950 participants from 5 nations/cultures (France, Belgium, the Netherlands, the United States, and Malaysia) illustrates how variations in social comparison processes across cultures can explain why gender differences are stronger in Western cultures. Gender differences in the self are a product of self-stereotyping, which occurs when between-gender social comparisons are made. These social comparisons are more likely, and exert a greater impact, in Western nations. Both correlational and experimental evidence supports this explanation.     

The relationship between masculine gender role stress and psychological adjustment: A question of construct validity?

Masculine gender role stress is a theoretical construct that describes the stress created in men when they feel they are not meeting society's expectations for masculinity, or when the situation forces men to act in feminine-typed ways. The stress produced by these feelings or actions are thought to be related to negative psychological outcomes for men, but should be unrelated to well-being for women. The present study investigated the validity of the masculine gender role stress construct, especially with regard to the assumption that masculine gender role stress is related to negative psychological outcomes for men more than for women. Participants were a group of mostly Caucasian undergraduates. Results indicated that masculine gender role stress was related to depression, hostility, and anxiety, but to the same degree for both men and women. These findings suggest that, if MGRS is a valid construct, then researchers need to explore other ways in which this type of stress can negatively affect men, but not women.     

The Emerging Gender Gap: Cultural and Economic Conservatism in the Netherlands 1970–1992

Research on gender differences in political alignments and cultural orientations in the past decades reveals a large value change in women relative to that in men, indicating that women might recently have become less conservative than men, whereas women used to be more conservative in many respects. In this article this possible reversal in the gender gap in recent decades is analyzed. Recent research has demonstrated that in the Netherlands women are presently less conservative than men. This lower level of conservatism in Dutch women is apparent with respect to both economic and cultural issues. It is investigated whether these gender differences are due to a reversal in the gender gap in the Netherlands and if so, how this emerging gender gap can be explained. Three explanations are hypothesized: one in terms of the characteristics of the youngest generations (the gender-cohort model), the second in terms of growing structural equality between women and men in general (the situational/structural model), and a specification of the second model, in which differential effects of structural factors for women and men are presumed to have their effect (the gender-interaction model). Neither of the three tested models was in itself able to fully explain the results. The gender gap can partly be explained by growing structural equality between women and men, partly by the fact that the gender gap is largest in the youngest generations (economic conservatism), and partly by the fact that the gender gap is largest between groups of "independent" women and their male counterparts. Possible additional determinants are also discussed.     

Gender Differences in U.S. College Students�� Fear for Others

This study examines U.S. college students?? fear of crime for others and uses the ??doing gender?? perspective to help explain gender differences. A sample of 931 college students (421 male students/510 female students and 605 White students/326 Black students) under the age of 30 from a Southeastern public university provided information on fear of crime, fear for others, and other variables often associated with fear of crime. When splitting the sample by gender, results suggest that both male and female college students fear for others, but do so in very different ways. While male students?? fear for others was associated with their personal characteristics (race, age and parental status) and whether they lived with an intimate, female students?? fear for others was most influenced by constrained behaviors and personal fear of crime. Additionally, when testing race specific models, there were not enough minority men to split the sample for men. However, when separating the sample by race for women only, the model generally did not work for non-White women, while the model worked well for White women. Overall, the results suggest that younger individuals?? fear of crime for others is gendered, associated with living status for men and personal fear for women and that racial differences among men and women should be examined in the future.     

Gender Representation on Gender-Targeted Television Channels: A Comparison of Female- and Male-Targeted TV Channels in the Netherlands

The current study investigated the differences in the representation of gender on male- and female-targeted channels with regard to recognition (i.e., the actual presence of men and women) and respect (i.e., the nature of that representation or portrayal). To this end, the presence of men and women on two female- and two male-targeted Dutch channels (N = 115 programs, N = 1091 persons) were compared via content analysis. The expectation that men’s channels would portray a less equal and more traditional image of gender than women’s channels was generally supported by the results. Regardless of genre as well as country of origin of the program, women were underrepresented on men’s channels, while gender distribution on women’s channels was more equal. The representation of women in terms of age and occupation was more stereotypical on men’s channels than on women’s channels, whereas men were represented in more contra-stereotypical ways (e.g., performing household tasks) on women’s channels. Since television viewing contributes to the learning and maintenance of stereotyped perceptions, the results imply that it is important to strengthen viewers’ defenses against the effects of gender stereotyping when watching gendered television channels, for instance through media literacy programs in schools.     

Oral-dependence and gender: factors in help-seeking response set and self-reported psychopathology in psychiatric inpatients

Psychoanalytic theory suggests that orality and being female are positively related to adopting a help-seeking stance in the world. This may result in inflated scores on self-report psychological tests. These hypotheses were investigated using Rorschach-based, oral-dependence scores (Masling, 1986), the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) help-seeking F minus K index (Gough, 1950; Meehl, 1951), and the MMPI clinical and supplementary scales. High orals are found to be more likely than low orals to adopt a help-seeking response set which in turn results in inflated scores on a number of MMPI clinical scales. Contrary to stereotypes, women are no more likely than men to be help seeking or oral dependent. Several other significant findings, including that orality is positively related to MMPI Scale 2 (Depression) scores for women, not men, are also discussed.     

Oral-Dependence and Gender: Factors in Help-Seeking Response Set and Self-Reported Psychopathology in Psychiatric Inpatients

Psychoanalytic theory suggests that orality and being female are positively related to adopting a help-seeking stance in the world. This may result in inflated scores on self-report psychological tests. These hypotheses were investigated using Rorschach-based, oral-dependence scores (Masling, 1986), the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) help-seeking F minus K index (Gough, 1950; Meehl, 1951), and the MMPI clinical and supplementary scales. High orals are found to be more likely than low orals to adopt a help-seeking response set which in turn results in inflated scores on a number of MMPI clinical scales. Contrary to stereotypes, women are no more likely than men to be help seeking or oral dependent. Several other significant findings, including that orality is positively related to MMPI Scale 2 (Depression) scores for women, not men, are also discussed.     

“I Don’t Need Help”: Gender Differences in how Gender Stereotypes Predict Help-Seeking

Although self-report and correlational studies suggest that gender stereotypes are related to men’s health behavior, particularly in relation to seeking help, there is minimal research that has tested this hypothesis experimentally. The present study examined how two stereotype pathways, personally endorsed gender stereotypes and gender stereotyped attitudes, predicted help-seeking behavior among U.S. undergraduate women (n = 68) and men (n = 72) when they worked on challenging puzzles and recalled previous health help-seeking behavior for physical or psychological problems. Results revealed gender and domain differences in how the two pathways predicted help-seeking. For the puzzle tasks, both attitudinally and personally endorsed gender stereotypes predicted men’s help-seeking, whereas only personally endorsed gender stereotypes predicted women’s help-seeking. For recalled health behaviors, personally endorsed gender stereotypes predicted men’s help-seeking, whereas gender stereotypes did not predict women’s help-seeking. The gender and domain differences in how personal and attitudinal gender stereotypes predicted help-seeking are important to consider when designing interventions to increase help-seeking.     

Gender Differences in the Effects of Acute Stress on Spatial Ability

Although reports that men and women differ in spatial ability are common, recent research examining stress effects on spatial navigation have not included analyses of gender differences. The current study investigated cue perception and mental rotation after an acute cold-water hand immersion stress in 156 undergraduates from the western United States. Gender differences were observed in spatial performance and spatial anxiety. Discriminant analysis revealed that distal gradient cue identification and mental rotation reaction times as well as spatial anxiety differed among men and women exposed to the acute stress and their warm-water hand immersion controls. These results indicate that stress differentially alters spatial performance in men and women, and underscores the importance of assessing gender differences when examining spatial ability.     

Evidence for the Body Appreciation Scale's measurement equivalence/invariance between U.S. college women and men

Considered a measure of positive body image, the Body Appreciation Scale (BAS; Avalos et al., 2005) assesses acceptance of, favorable opinions toward, and respect for the body. Although the BAS was originally developed for and psychometrically examined with women, researchers are administering it to men and making gender comparisons. However, tests of measurement equivalence/invariance are needed to determine whether the BAS operates similarly for women and men. Therefore, in the present study, the BAS's cross-gender configural, factor loading, and intercept invariance was examined among 930 college women and men. The BAS demonstrated measurement equivalence/invariance between women and men, suggesting that gender comparisons can be made with confidence. Additional evidence was accrued for the convergent validity of the male version of the BAS, as it was related to men's dissatisfaction with muscularity, body fat, and height. These findings reinforce the structural and construct integrity of the BAS.