EVALUATING COMPETENCE OF WOMEN AND MEN

College students (78 females, 79 males) were placed in all-female, all-male, or mixed-gender groups. In the presence of a male or female experimenter, subjects evaluated an article written by a female or male job applicant. Subjects in mixed-gender groups generally evaluated the female applicant more favorably in the presence of the female experimenter than the male experimenter. Subjects in mixed-gender groups also rated the female applicant more favorably than the male applicant in the presence of the female experimenter. Male subjects generally were more influenced than were females by the experimenter's gender, tending to give higher ratings to the applicant of the same gender as the experimenter.     

Stimulus characteristics that can enhance or decrease aggression: Associations with prior positive or negative reinforcements for aggression

To establish an analogue of the “weapons effect,” male university subjects were required to use a distinctive apparatus in delivering noxious sounds to a peer in an adjoining room, and then were either (a) positively reinforced, or (b) negatively reinforced, or (c) not given any reaction by the experimenter, for what they had done. Immediately after this, each person had to administer other noise blasts to someone else in a different manner, but with the previous noise machines (the fist “weapon”) being either present or not present. The initial “weapon's” presence augmented the effects of the prior reinforcement; the second victim was attacked most strongly after the men had been positively reinforced and the earlier “weapon” was nearby, whereas he received the fewest blasts if the subjects had been negatively reinforced and the earlier noise machine was present. Other evidence indicates (1) that the aggressive cue, the “weapon,” had not affected the subjects' aggressive intentions, (2) the results are not due simply to differences in moods or general arousal, and (3) the subjects were not aware of the hypothesis regarding the interaction of reinforcement and cue presence.     

Mediators between frustration and aggression in a field experiment

To assess some of the mediators between a frustrating incident and subsequent aggressive behavior in a field situation, 320 male and female subjects were assigned to one of 32 experimental conditions in a 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design. Either a male or female experimenter, saying “Excuse me” or not, dressed in high or low status clothing, cut in line in front of the subject, who was standing near the front or back of the line. Verbal and nonverbal aggressiveness were coded and summed to measure total aggression. Subjects near the front of the line or interacting with a low status experimenter were more aggressive than those at the back of the line or seeing a high status experimenter. Less aggression was directed against the female experimenter or one who said “Excuse me,” and there was a strong tendency for subjects to be more aggressive to a same-sex experimenter. It was suggested that further research on instigators to aggression be carried out in such field situations.     

Normative Influence Effects on Sexual Arousal to Nonviolent Sexually Explicit Material1

The role of informational social influence in sexual arousal was explored by measuring the effects of normative influence messages on sexual arousal to a nonviolent sexually explicit story in both male and female subjects. The type of message (high versus low arousal), as well as the reference group sex, were varied. The results showed that (a) subjects who received a message that similar others became highly aroused reported a significantly higher level of arousal than subjects who received the opposite message; (b) male subjects reported a significantly higher level of sexual arousal than females; and (c) a normative message from a male reference group had a stronger impact on both male and female subjects than one from the female reference group, indicating that males are perceived as more credible “experts” on matters of sexual responding man females. The study suggests one means by which individuals learn to respond to sexually explicit materials.     

Sex-role behavior and obedience to authority: A field study

Obedience by male and female subjects to male and female experimenters was investigated under various conditions of “perceived legitimacy.” The procedure involved an experimenter stopping a subject who was about to cross a street at a particular crosswalk, the subject was then instructed to cross at another designated location. The dependent variable was the level of obedience to these instructions. The four main factorial independent variables were the sex of the experimenter, the sex of the subject, and two conditions of “perceived legitimacy” (presence or absence of a “uniform,” presence or absence of an “explanation”). Significant results were obtained for the uniform and sex of subject main effects (more obedience with a uniform, more disobedience by females). Additional analyses indicated that “older” subjects disobeyed more often than “younger” ones, that “formally” dressed subjects disobeyed more often than “informally” dressed ones, and that ethnic minority group experimenters were disobeyed significantly more often than Caucasian experimenters. Significant interactions were also obtained, mainly due to the behavior of the younger men and the older women. Male and female experimenters were obeyed equally, in general. The results are discussed in relation to sex-role prejudice and discriminatory behavior.     

Locus of control of reinforcement and responsiveness to social influence

In this study, the “control of reinforcement” dimension was used to generate differential predictions about subject responsiveness to subtle social influence and experimenter effectiveness in producing change in verbal behavior As predicted, “external” control subjects, selectively reinforced in a sentence construction task, evidenced significantly greater performance gains than “internal” subjects When reports of awareness were used to further subdivide subjects, it was found that aware externals accounted for the conditioning effect whereas aware internals, unaware subjects, and controls were comparable and showed essentially no change in performance These differences were interpreted as being due to the internal's resistiveness to subtle forms of influence. The anticipated experimenter effect was nonsignificant Consideration of the control of reinforcement dimension as an important determinant of responsiveness to social influence in certain situations was emphasized     

Physical distance and sex in moderated groups: Neglected factors in small group interaction

An experiment examined the effects of sex of subjects, sex of moderator, and seating distance between members of a small group on moods, evaluations, attraction, and attitude expression. Groups of three subjects and a moderator discussed a socially relevant issue and then made several ratings. During the discussion, group members sat either very close to each other or "very far apart, q?he expectation that males would react unfavorably while females would react favorably to close seating was not obtained. Instead, sex of moderator interacted strongly with distance. Regardless of sex, groups were more positive close to a female moderator and far from a male moderator. Attitudes showed the same interaction. Interpretations were that (1) the ranking person helps define the spacing norms for a group, and (2) there are sex differences in “personal space.”     

The Integrated Self-Discrepancy Index: A Reliable and Valid Measure of Self-Discrepancies

This study examined the influence of sex of subject, sex of experimenter, and need for approval on Ss' perception of the sex items of the MMPI. Each of the 32 male and 32 female Ss was seen individually by one of 4 male and 4 female Es who instructed the S to rate the 16 items on a five-point favorability continuum.

The results are consistent with earlier findings that opposite-sexed E-S dyads are more likely to produce conventional, socially desirable responses than same-sexed dyads. The study also revealed that Ss with a high need for approval are more cautious and guarded in their evaluation of “negative” and “positive” sex items than Ss with a low need for approval. The overriding determinant of the favorability ratings, however, is the stimulus pull of the items themselves.     

Ego defense and aesthetic distortion: experimenter effects

The “arousal-control” hypothesis of aesthetic representation states that the greater the arousal value of an object, the greater the degree of disguise required before a representation of the object can be called aesthetic Four studies were conducted to find the personality correlates of subjects who by their behavior support the hypothesis A strong experimenter effect was discovered in two male-run studies, supporters of the hypothesis were sensitizers, while in the two female-run studies, supporters were repressors Evidence suggests that the differences may be attributed to the degree of homosexual anxiety evoked in the subjects     

Physical/verbal aggression: Sex differences in style1

Two studies exploring the use of physical/verbal aggression are reported, the first using women and the second using men as subjects. Both studies allowed subjects to choose between and control the intensity of two response modes: verbal aggression (insults) and physical aggression (electric shock). Aggressive style was investigated over two levels of arousal, sex of experimenter, and sex of provocateur-victim. Results indicated that women aggressed discriminatively in the verbal mode as a function of their arousal, while men were capable of aggressing discriminatively in both the verbal and physical modes. Men who had been disagreed with and punished by a female victim-provocateur in the presence of a male experimenter or by a male victim in the presence of a female experimenter demonstrated high levels of physical aggression compared to the other groups.     

Depth adjacency and the rod-and-frame illusion

The effects of psychological set on perception of first and second pain were determined for 20 subjects. Percutaneous electrical shock intensities (6–8 mA, 3 msec) sufficient to evoke double pain responses were used in all subjects. Psychological sets included PAST (“Place yourself in a previous experience that was free of any significant emotional tone”), PRESENT (“Feel your foot that will be shocked”), and FUTURE (“Think to yourself that you are about to be shocked”). Perception of second pain was never perceived in PAST and FUTURE sets but was always perceived in the PRESENT set. Furthermore, at minimal rates of stimulation ( > 1/3 sec), summation of second pain occurred in the PRESENT set but not in the FUTURE set. All subjects startled in the FUTURE set and did not startle in PAST or PRESENT sets. Each subject reported that the aversiveness of the shock related to painful sensations in PAST and PRESENT sets and to ones own body responses in the FUTURE set.     

The nature of equity-restoration: Some approval-seeking considerations

Subjects performed a proofreading task and evaluated its difficulty both beforehand and afterwards. They were overpaid or equitably paid by an experimenter who was or was not directly responsible for the level of pay they received, and who they believed would or would not see their post-test ratings. All subjects knew the experimenter would grade their task performance. Consistent with equity theory, overpaid subjects rated the task as having been more difficult than they had expected and did higher quality work than did equitably paid subjects. However, subjects who thought the experimenter would see their ratings (Aware condition) rated it as more difficult and performed more poorly on it than those who thought she would not see them (Unaware condition). Reported task difficulty increased among overpaid subjects under aware conditions, remained stable among overpaid subjects under unaware conditions, and decreased for equitably paid subjects. These findings suggested that what appears to be “equity-restoration” may be a self-presentation strategy designed to win the experimenter's approval, and that task ratings rather than performance will be used for this purpose when they can be communicated to the experimenter. The experimenter's responsibility for the subject's pay had no effect in the present study.     

Students' ratings of occupational dimensions of traditionally male and traditionally female occupations

The purpose of the present study was to investigate four traditionally male occupations and four traditionally female occupations on a number of dimensions which people use to judge the prestige or importance of a job. Workers were pictured on one form in their traditional roles and on a second form in nontraditional roles. Results indicated a tendency for subjects to give lower ratings to workers in nontraditional jobs. More importantly, for the two “objective” dimensions, money and education, boys and girls agreed on job ratings; however, on the two more “subjective” dimensions, respect and importance to the community, boys gave higher ratings to the male jobs, while girls gave higher ratings to the female jobs.     

Television and Sex-Role Stereotyping1

The possible influence of television on sex-stereotyped behavior was investigated in three studies. In Study I the portrayal of male and female central characters on children's Saturday morning television programs was examined, and a number of differences consistent with current sex-role stereotypes were found. Males and females were portrayed in different roles, they manifested different behaviors, and their behaviors were followed by different consequences. In addition, male characters were more frequent than females, and they exhibited higher rates of behavior. Similar differences in the portrayal of males and females in the commercial announcements accompanying these programs were found in Study II. The sexes differed in their frequency of appearance, their location, their roles, their expertise, and the consequences of their behavior. In Study III the effects on children's behavior of exposure to sex-stereotyped vs. non-stereotyped behavior by adult televised models were examined. It was found that children manifested greater imitation and recall for the behavior of a same-sex model with the result that boys exposed to “stereotyped” behavior by a male and female model manifested and recalled relatively more “masculine” behavior than those exposed to “non-stereotyped” behavior, while the opposite trend obtained for girls. Implications of these three studies for television's contribution to sex-stereotyped behavior are discussed.     

The effects of nonverbal cues on gender differences in perceptions of sexual intent

The effects of several nonverbal cues on perceptions of male and female stimulus persons' sexuality were examined. Based on the findings of Abbey (“Sex Differences in Attributions for Friendly Behavior: Do Males Misperceive Females' Friendliness?” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1982, 42, 830–838) and other investigators, we hypothesized that in general males would attribute more sexuality to both male and female targets than would females. Furthermore, we hypothesized that males' and females' perceptions of sexual intent would be most divergent in situations in which the nonverbal cues were most ambiguous (e.g., causal touch, moderate interpersonal distance). To test this hypothesis, the effects of three nonverbalcues were examined: interpersonal distance, eye contact, and touch. Males rated female targets as more seductive, sexy, and promiscuous, and expressed more sexual attraction to the opposite-sexed target, than females did for both ambiguous and nonambiguous nonverbal cues. Males' ratings of the male targets' sexuality were higher than females' ratings in two of the three studies. Also, across the three studies both female and male subjects rated the female target higher than the male target on the sexual traits. The implications of these findings for future research are discussed.     

Sex role as a mediator of achievement in task performance

Participants in a test of the influence of sex role on performance in a masculine task were 96 male and female undergraduates. Subject sex, norm (challenging or not challenging), and experimenter (male, female, or no experimenter present) were varied in a 2×2×3 design. When challenged, subjects worked more successfully in the presence of a female than before a male or with no experimenter present. Results support the hypothesis that the arousal of achieving tendencies may depend in part on the importance and conspicuousness of role cues. Implications for industrial performance and for future research are discussed.The authors would like to acknowledge the thoughtful assistance of Barbara Moely and Beverly Jafek, who commented on earlier drafts of this paper.All correspondence should be sent to Dr. Laurie Larwood, Claremont Men's College Claremont, California 91711. Portions of this paper were presented at the meeting of the American Psychological Association, Chicago, August 1975.     

The Role of Psychological Reactance in Drinking Following Alcohol Prevention Messages1

Two experiments tested whether a dogmatic alcohol prevention message may, by arousing psychological reactance (the motivation to reassert a threatened freedom) result in more subsequent alcohol consumption, compared to a neutral message. In Study 1, 535 college students received either a high-threat (dogmatic) or low-threat (neutral) message recommending either abstinence or controlled drinking. Results indicated that high-threat messages were rated more negatively and resulted in more drinking intentions compared to low threat. The negative effect of high threat on message ratings was most pronounced for habitually heavy drinkers and an abstinence-espousing message. In Study 2, under the guise of a “memory study,” 74 college students received either a high- or low-threat message recommending abstinence from alcohol. Then, under the guise of a “perception study,” all subjects participated in a taste-rating task in which their beer consumption was unobtrusively measured. Results indicated that the effect of high threat was most negative for male heavy drinkers, who drank significantly more beer compared to low-threat controls. These results suggest that the persuasive ability of alcohol prevention efforts depend to a considerable extent on the reactance-arousing properties of the materials and that dogmatic alcohol prevention materials may have counterproductive effects for some college students.     

Hedonic arousal, time intervals, and excitation transfer

Zillmann’s (1978, 1983) excitation transfer theory was tested in relation to arousal processes opposite in hedonic valence. Sixty female subjects, randomly assigned to six experimental conditions, were initially exposed either to arousal stimulation positive in hedonic valence (sexual humor), or to arousal stimulation negative in hedonic valence (insulting remarks), or to a neutral unarousing task. In each condition, half of the subjects rated mildly arousing positively valenced male models’ photographs on several scales either immediately or with a 4 minute delay following prior arousal. In support of Zillmann’s theory, subjects in the positive hedonic arousal condition gave significantly lower photograph ratings on the arousal-related scales at the immediate, than at the delayed, rating time. However, contrary to Zillmann’s theory, the pattern of these ratings was reversed in the negative hedonic arousal condition, with the significantly higher ratings at the immediate, rather than delayed, rating time. Also, there were significant differences in these ratings among all three conditions both at the immediate and at the delayed rating time, but, as predicted, no significant differences were obtained for these ratings between the rating times in the control unarousing condition. The differences in excitation transfer between arousal processes positive and negative in hedonic valence may be due to their differences on a temporal dimension with regard to the speed of accumulation and the speed of dissipation of each arousal type.     

Sex typing and the perception of body outlines

Does sex typing influence one's direct perception of gender from physical body cues? To answer this question, a study was conducted in which 47 female and 39 male subjects, after filling out the Bem Sex Role Inventory, viewed 24 body outlines varying in waist and shoulder width. Subjects were asked to indicate whether each body was female or male, or whether they were uncertain about its gender. Subjects also selected what they judged to be the most attractive and most typical female and male bodies from among the 24 body outlines. Finally, the actual shoulder, waist, and hip widths of 66 subjects were measured as a normative comparison to subjects' judgments of “typical” and “attractive” body proportions. Analyses indicated that sex-typed subjects used the “uncertain” rating less than did non-sex-typed subjects, and that males used that rating less than females did. Thus, sex-typed subjects and males showed a stronger tendency to classify stimuli by gender. Sex-typed subjects also tended to nominate more physically divergent male and female bodies as attractive than did non-sex-typed subjects; however, there were no effects of assessed masculinity or femininity on nominations of typical male and female bodies. In addition, the data provide evidence that subjects judged there to be greater physical differences between the sexes than actually exist. The results are discussed in terms of recent research on gender schemas and prototypes in person perception.