Trust,social categories,and individuals: The case of gender

While the cooperate vs. defect choice in the prisoner's dilemma is not an appropriate paradigm for the study of trust and trusting behavior, the play vs. not play choiceis. We show that femalesas a category are more trusted to cooperate — by both male and female judges — than males. Yet neither male nor female judges use gender to predict cooperation from particular individuals (trust) or as a criterion for choosing to play (trusting behavior) when they have the option of not playing particular prisoner's dilemma games. Further, in our experimental context, female and male did not differ in their cooperation rates. We speculate (a) that subjects' generalized expectations are a response to gender-based role differences outside the laboratory, (b) that subjects' failure to make individual-by-individual discriminations by gender is a response to the fact that the experimental context made such natural-world roles irrelevant, and (c) that our findings about the irrelevance of genderper se in trusting relationships will be true for other social categoriesper se.The research reported in this paper was supported by the National Science Foundation grant SES-9008157 to Orbell and Dawes; any opinions, conclusions or recommendations are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. Pamela Ferrara played an important role in administering all stages of the experiments; Jean Stockard gave us a helpful methodological and substantive critique; and Debbie Elvin, Tom Morikawa, Matthew Mulford, and Catherine Shatto each helped at several stages of the paper.     

The stability of individual differences in gender typing: Implications for understanding gender segregation

The stability of individual differences has important implications for understanding the origins of gender-typed behaviors. For example, if some children have a stronger preference for same-sex playmates (gender segregation) than do others, then exploring characteristics that may differentiate these children from their peers (e.g., preference for gender-typed toys or teacher proximity) should prove fruitful. Otherwise, research might be focused more appropriately on group-level processes or situational factors rather than individual differences. In the current study, 57 2 1/2- to 3-year-olds from middle-class Canadian homes were observed repeatedly during free play at their preschools. Four aspects of gender typing (gender segregation, use of masculine and feminine gender-typed toys, teacher proximity) were measured so that the stability of individual differences and relations among the measures could be assessed. Stable individual differences were found for all four measures among boys, and for two of the measures (feminine toy play, teacher proximity) among girls. In addition, boys who played most frequently with masculine toys rarely were observed in proximity to the teacher. However, there was no relation between gender segregation and the other indices of gender typing.     

The social construction of gender

The categories provided by the language of our culture give us a meaning-making framework that guides our perception of the world. This paper views the process of categorizing people from a constructivist perspective. It argues that many categories such as race, nationality, homosexuality, and gender are arbitrary social constructions created to fill some human purpose based on sociopolitical rather than biological or natural considerations. Similarity among people may arise from a history of being in the same category rather than being the basis for categorization. Whereas people are attached to categories that shape their identity and unite with other persons from similar categories to fight for their rights, they should also envisage the possibility of revising these arbitrary categories.     

The impact of competition on intrinsic motivation and creativity: considering gender, gender segregation and gender role orientation

The present research investigated whether competition influences children's artistic creativity and intrinsic motivation toward an art activity. Study 1 tested the hypothesis that boys' creativity would be enhanced by competition, while girls' creativity would be undermined. Fifty children (aged 6–10) made paper collages in one of two conditions; half competed for prizes and half did not. Results supported our hypotheses, and further showed that when children self-segregated by gender, the impact of competition was much more pronounced. Study 2 was designed to clarify the unexpected gender-segregation finding from Study 1. The Children's Sex Role Inventory [Boldizar, J.P. (1991). Assessing sex typing and androgyny in children: the Children's Sex Role Inventory. Developmental Psychology, 27, 505–515] was administered to 143 children (aged 6–11). One week later, these children made paper collages in one of four conditions; in addition to manipulating competition, assigned seating ensured that half of children were segregated by gender and half were not. Following the collage activity, an intrinsic and extrinsic motivation questionnaire was administered. Masculine children reported higher levels of intrinsic motivation when competing and when segregated by gender; they also reported higher levels of extrinsic motivation, especially when segregated by gender. These findings demonstrate that gender role is an important factor in determining children's responses to competition.     

Symbolic subject,subjected symbol: Mizuko Kuyo,gender and the social order in Japan

The term mizuko kuyo describes a relatively new (mid‐19th century) Japanese ritual performed by women who have had abortions or have lost infants in childbirth. The ritual, which takes place in Shinto, Buddhist, new‐ and new‐new‐religious settings, involves propitiatory offerings to the bodhisattva Jizo, believed to be the protector both of the pregnancy‐childbirth process, and of fetuses and infants themselves. This study classifies the existing literature on mizuko kuyo according to Robert Wuthnow's (1981) consistency‐coherence typology. Following a re‐examination of English‐language primary source literature based on Caroline Walker Bynum's (1986) gendered structural‐symbolic methodology, it offers a reinterpretation of the ritual process, which suggests that mizuko kuyo rituals do not signal a more egalitarian relationship between the sexes, but rather serve to reinforce traditional Japanese gender roles.     

论复杂社会的秩序

对于人类社会而言,秩序是最为重要的因素,它是一切社会活动和社会交往必备的条件.在人类社会的不同历史阶段,所需要的秩序是不同的.农业社会所拥有的是一种自然秩序,随着人类进入工业化的历史阶段,社会的复杂化程度迅速提高,自然秩序开始变得不能适应社会活动和社会交往的需要,从而出现了创制秩序.20世纪后期,人类开始了后工业化的进程,与之相伴随的是社会复杂性和不确定性程度的迅速提高,从而对创制秩序提出了挑战.在高度复杂性和高度不确定性条件下,人类需要一种新的秩序,它就是一种建立在人的自由自觉活动基础上的自觉秩序.自觉秩序也就是合作秩序,既是人的合作行动的结果,也是人的合作行动的保障.对于历史而言,自觉秩序将是人类秩序追求的归宿.     

The constructive role of gender asymmetry in social interaction: Further evidence

Two hundred and sixty‐four children aged 6.5–7.5 years (first graders) took part in a pre‐test, interaction, and post‐test experiment working on a spatial transformation task known as the ‘village task’. Cognitive progress was assessed by pre‐ to post‐test gains in both an immediate and delayed post‐test in dyads and individual participants as a control. The results indicate clear links between particular pair types with both communication processes and with learning and cognitive developmental outcomes. The present study demonstrates that gender can act as a source of status asymmetry in peer interaction to influence communication, learning, and cognitive development in same‐ and mixed‐sex dyads.     

Changing social stereotypes: The case of the information seeker

Previous research has shown that stereotype-based judgements can be attenuated through the attribution of disconfirming information to individual group members. Typically in these studies, subjects are forced to process all the available in formation, including disconfirming information, before providing their impressions of the group. In the reported research, in contrast, we attempted to create a more naturalistic paradigm by allowing subjects to control the amount and nature of information they received about individual group members. Under these conditions, we expected subjects to instigate a biased information-seeking strategy and display a preference for stereotype-matching rather than stereotype-mismatching information. Our results supported this prediction. When subjects could control the nature and amount of information they received about a target group they showed: (i) a preference for stereotype-matching information and (ii) no change in their stereotypic impressions of the group. When, however, subjects were forced to process all the available information, their stereotypic evaluation of the group diminished. These findings demonstrate the general resistance of stereotypes to change in naturalistic, information-seeking settings.     

Understanding humor styles and well-being: The importance of social relationships and gender

Individual differences in humor styles have been identified, and these humor styles appear to be differentially related to well-being. The present study sought to replicate and extend previous findings by (1) investigating whether the differential effects of humor styles on well-being may be explained by their associations with social support, and (2) whether the weak and inconsistent relationship between aggressive humor and well-being may be due to a moderating role of gender. A total of 826 undergraduate students completed a series of online standardized questionnaires, including the Humor Styles Questionnaire, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), Satisfaction with Life Scale, and Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (ISEL-12). Mediation analyses revealed that the positive relationship between affiliative and self-enhancing humor and well-being was explained by a greater perceived availability of support. Meanwhile, the negative association between self-defeating humor and well-being was mediated by lower levels of perceived support. Moderation analyses provided preliminary support for the idea that an aggressive humor style may be related to higher levels of social support among men, and lower social support among women. Further research on the interpersonal context of humor and the role of gender in humor styles, social relationships, and well-being is warranted.     

The gender marking effect in spoken word recognition: The case of bilinguals

It has been known for some time that the recognition of a noun is affected by the gender marking, such as masculine or feminine, that is carried by a preceding word. In this study, we used auditory naming to examine how early and late English-French bilinguals react to gender marking when processing French. The early bilinguals showed clear facilitation and inhibition effects, but the late bilinguals were totally insensitive to gender marking, whether congruent or incongruent. The results are discussed in terms of current accounts of gender processing as well as age of acquisition and regular use of the gender-marking language.     

Motivation for and commitment to social values: The roles of age and gender

The primary aim of this study was to examine how motives and commitment to social values influence well-being in men and women of different ages. College students and older adults in the community reported on their motivational orientation (intrinsic vs. extrinsic), behavioral commitment to idiographic social values, and their current well-being (satisfaction with life, positive and negative affect). We tested a series of path models with motivational orientation mediating the relationship between commitment to values and well-being. Consistent with self-determination theory, we found that behavioral commitment to intrinsically motivating social values was related to greater life satisfaction and positive affect, whereas being committed to extrinsically motivating values was related to greater negative affect. While age and gender did not moderate these relationships, meaningful age and gender differences emerged across value-based motivations, commitment, and indices of well-being. This work adds to our understanding of how values are a guiding influence for successful navigation of one’s social world.     

The perceptual segregation of simultaneous auditory signals: pulse train segregation and vowel segregation

In the experiments reported here, we attempted to find out more about how the auditory system is able to separate two simultaneous harmonic sounds. Previous research (Halikia & Bregman, 1984a, 1984b; Scheffers, 1983a) had indicated that a difference in fundamental frequency (F0) between two simultaneous vowel sounds improves their separate identification. In the present experiments, we looked at the effect of F0s that changed as a function of time. In Experiment 1, pairs of unfiltered or filtered pulse trains were used. Some were steady-state, and others had gliding F0s; different F0 separations were also used. The subjects had to indicate whether they had heard one or two sounds. The results showed that increased F0 differences and gliding F0s facilitated the perceptual separation of simultaneous sounds. In Experiments 2 and 3, simultaneous synthesized vowels were used on frequency contours that were steady-state, gliding in parallel (parallel glides), or gliding in opposite directions (crossing glides). The results showed that crossing glides led to significantly better vowel identification than did steady-state F0s. Also, in certain cases, crossing glides were more effective than parallel glides. The superior effect of the crossing glides could be due to the common frequency modulation of the harmonics within each component of the vowel pair and the consequent decorrelation of the harmonics between the two simultaneous vowels.     

The importance of mutual positive expressivity in social adjustment: understanding the role of peers and gender

The relations between young children's mutual (reciprocated) and overall positive emotion (PE) with same- and other-gender peers and their social adjustment were explored. Children's PE and peers' PE were observed across the preschool year during peer interactions (N = 166; 46% girls; M age = 52 months). Results revealed that girls and boys had similar frequencies of overall PE and mutual PE when interacting with same-gender peers, but girls were marginally higher compared with boys in overall and mutual PE when interacting with other-gender peers. Girls and boys did not have greater rates of either type of PE after controlling for gender segregation during same- or other-gender interactions. Using structural equation modeling, children's mutual PE, regardless of their gender, positively predicted indicators of positive adjustment (e.g., prosocial behavior, cooperation) and negatively predicted indicators of negative adjustment (e.g., hyperactivity, disruption, exclusion by peers). Children's overall PE did not predict either type of adjustment. Findings support the importance of mutual PE for children's development.