Notions of Destiny in Women’s Self-Construction

What can women become? How is their becoming fashioned? What forces affect it? What sense do they make of their becoming? In this article the author aims to raise issues which pertain to women and their conceptions of destiny, and to consider these in the light of recent feminist analyses. Three issues are discussed: the ‘good woman’, or the impact of gendered norms and expectations upon women’s destinies; women’s self-construction and the possibility of women envisioning or creating their own destinies; and the becoming of the woman-subject, the desire of women collectively to accomplish their subjectivity as women. The themes of determinism and women’s differences are also considered.     

Feminism Across Borders: A Hungarian Adaptation of Western Feminism

A grounded theory model of feminist-activist identity development was constructed from semistructured interviews with volunteers of the first Women’s Rights Association (NANE) in Hungary. This article focuses on NANE volunteers’ feminist identity development, which emerged through interpersonal solidarity with Western women; the development of self-confidence and an assertive “voice” in their relationships; and an increased awareness of the violence and oppression against women. A grounded theory approach (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) was used to analyze the interviews. The core category, “Internalizing Western Feminist-Activism: Importing an External Culture to Revolutionize One’s Own,” describes volunteers’ conceptualization that their feminist-activist beliefs emerged from imported ideologies gained through exposure to Western ideas and the international women’s movement, which were then adapted to make changes in Hungary.     

Women’s physical attractiveness and short-term mating strategies

The current study examined the relationship between women’s physical attractiveness – as rated by themselves and a set of third-party raters – and their mating strategy and sexual experience. Male (N = 105) and female (N = 113) undergraduates rated the attractiveness of face and body photographs of 93 female undergraduates. Attractiveness ratings – particularly bodily attractiveness ratings – were significantly related to women’s mating psychology and behavior. More attractive women reported more sexual experience and a less restricted sociosexual orientation. In addition, some traits better predicted women’s perception of their overall attractiveness, and this pattern was further linked to mating strategy: more sociosexually unrestricted women showed a stronger relationship between bodily traits (i.e., body mass index) and overall attractiveness than less sociosexually unrestricted women. Discussion focuses on the findings that a woman’s mating strategy is linked to both her self-perceived and objective measures of attractiveness, particularly bodily attractiveness.     

Parenthood and productivity: A study of demands, resources and family-friendly firms

We examine how the presence of children is related to women’s and men’s productivity. We hypothesize family demands, family resources, and family-friendly workplaces are also related to productivity. Productivity for 670 Alberta law firm lawyers is analyzed using a standardized measure of productivity referred to as billable hours. The results suggest that mothers with school-aged children are less productive than non-mothers, whereas fathers with preschool-aged children are more productive than non-fathers. While time spent on household and childcare tasks significantly reduces women’s productivity, we find little support for the benefits of family resources or working in a family-friendly firm for women. Rather, fathers seem to benefit more: family resources are positively related to their productivity and family-friendly benefits allow them more time for leisure. These results support the assumption that having children is negatively related to women’s productivity but challenges the belief that family-friendly policies are primarily beneficial only to mothers trying to balancing work and family.     

Extraversion predicts individual differences in women’s face preferences

Extraversion is positively associated with various indices of women’s mate quality (e.g., facial symmetry and attractiveness). Since such indices are thought to predict variation in women’s preferences for masculine men, we investigated the relationships between each of the ‘Big 5’ personality factors and women’s preferences for facial masculinity. Extraversion, but not the other four personality factors, was positively correlated with women’s preferences for masculinity in men’s, but not women’s, faces. Additionally, extraversion mediated the positive relationship between women’s self-rated attractiveness and their preferences for masculinity in men’s faces, suggesting that extraversion may play a role in condition-dependent mate preferences. Unexpectedly, openness to experience was associated with women’s preferences for femininity in faces of both sexes and this association was independent of that between extraversion and women’s preferences for masculine men. This is the first study that we know of to implicate personality traits in individual differences in women’s preferences for masculine men.     

Length of union as a moderator of the relationship between personality and dyadic adjustment

Recent researches have examined the contribution of personality traits to the prediction of dyadic adjustment but, for some traits, the emerging picture is somewhat inconsistent. This study sought to contribute to this body of literature by investigating the moderator role of union length in the relationship between the two variables. Two hundred and twenty-six couples completed, along with a demographic questionnaire, the NEO Five-Factor Inventory and the Dyadic Adjustment Scale. Hierarchical regression analyses, in which conjugal status and age were partialled out, showed that, for women, the effect of neuroticism and openness varies linearly with respect to length of relationship. More specifically, as the length of the relationship increases, the effect of women’s neuroticism on their own dyadic adjustment (i.e., global score, dyadic satisfaction, and affectional expression) becomes more negative. In addition, while women’s openness is positively related to their own dyadic adjustment (i.e., global score, dyadic satisfaction and dyadic consensus) for women in recent conjugal relationships, the influence is negative for those in longer relationships. The moderator effect of the duration on women’s openness also applies to the prediction of their partner’s dyadic adjustment.     

Gender stereotypes as situation–behavior profiles

Recent research suggests that social perceivers’ dispositional inferences are influenced by information about the ways others’ behavior varies stably across situations. We extend this research to stereotypes. Specifically, we examined peoples’ preconceptions about the situation–behavior profiles that social groups are likely to display, as well as the implications of such preconceptions for behavioral judgments. Focusing on gender stereotypes, in Study 1 we found that perceivers’ expectations about men’s and women’s assertiveness are qualified by situational information. Study 2 revealed that perceivers’ beliefs about the mentalistic attributes (e.g., goals, beliefs, motivations) that characterize men and women mediated the relationship between target gender and perceivers’ expectations about situation–behavior patterns. Study 3 explored how such contextualized stereotypes affect on-line judgments of targets’ behavior, showing that perceivers judge a given behavior’s assertiveness based not only on target gender but also on situation type.     

Learning to remember: Social-communicative exchanges and the development of children’s memory skills

For more than three decades, the question “What is memory development the development of?” has guided research on children’s memory. As theories and methodologies have evolved, so too has our knowledge of the mnemonic competencies of young children, and of age-related differences in memory performance. Unfortunately, however, current understanding of the development of memory is seriously limited, largely because the bulk of the literature is based on cross-sectional experiments. From our perspective, in order to increase our understanding of the development of children’s skills for remembering, it is necessary to conduct longitudinal studies that illuminate mechanisms underlying developmental change. In addition, experimental methods must be used to explore further the operation of these potential mediators of change. In this article, we review our own recent longitudinal and experimental research to illustrate how we are addressing a new call—to study both memory development and the development of memory.     

Body dissatisfaction in married women: the role of spousal influence and marital communication patterns

Family factors and the media have been established as determinants of body satisfaction, yet little research has looked at the contribution of spousal influence in body dissatisfaction. Marital quality and satisfaction can be a protective factor in the health of women, while high rates of criticism have been associated with poorer health outcomes. The present study investigated the relationship between perceptions of family and spousal factors and body dissatisfaction in married women. Additionally, the impact of marital communication was investigated. Seventy-seven married women completed self-report questionnaires assessing familial body-focused comments, spousal evaluation of a wife’s body, marital communication patterns, and body dissatisfaction. After controlling for weight status, women’s perceptions of familial body-focused comments and spousal evaluation emerged as significant predictors of body dissatisfaction. It was also found that more destructive communication patterns moderated the effect of perceived spousal evaluation on body dissatisfaction. This study provides some context for understanding the impact of specific influences on women’s body dissatisfaction.     

Predicting Re-Victimization of Battered Women 3 Years After Exiting a Shelter Program

This study examined interpersonal and ecological predictors of re-victimization of a sample of women with abusive partners. All women (N = 124) had sought refuge from a battered women’s shelter 3 years earlier, and half the sample had been randomly assigned to receive free, short-term advocacy services immediately upon exit from the shelter. Results 2 years post-intervention revealed positive change in the lives of participants (C. M. Sullivan & D. Bybee, 1999), including a decrease in abuse for women who had worked with advocates. The current study examined intervention effects 3 years after the program ended, as well as other predictors of re-abuse. Nineteen percent of the original sample had experienced domestic violence between 2 and 3 years after shelter exit (65% by current partners, 35% by ex-partners). The advocacy program’s effect on risk of re-victimization did not continue 3 years post-intervention. However, having worked with an advocate 3 years prior continued to have a positive impact on women’s quality of life and level of social support. The risk of being abused 3 years post-shelter stay was exacerbated by a number of factors present 1 year prior, including women’s (1) having experienced abuse in the 6 months before that point; (2) having difficulties accessing resources; (3) having problems with the state welfare system; and (4) having people in their social networks who made their lives difficult. Women were at less risk of abuse if, 1 year earlier, they (1) were employed; (2) reported higher quality of life; and (3) had people in their networks who provided practical help and/or were available to talk about personal matters. These findings support the hypothesis that access to resources and social support serve as protective factors against continued abuse.     

Something Covered with an Old Blanket”: Nancy and Other Dead Mothers in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Oliver Twist</Emphasis>

In Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection, Julia Kristeva outlines her theory of abjection as a simultaneous fascination and horror stemming from sensorial reminders of the subject’s primal, psychological relation to the mother. In this essay, I show how these psychological perspectives can potentially result in acts of physical violence, which I call the “abject response.” Applied to literature, a study of the abject response explains why sexually active female characters, such as Nancy, the prostitute, in Oliver Twist, suffer extreme acts of physical violence: not simply because they are sexual, as critics of Victorian domestic ideology most often argue, but rather because their particularly female bodies give them an agency which threatens to destroy the mastery of women on which Victorian male identity is based. Reading Oliver Twist through the lens of Kristeva reveals the ways in which Sikes, Nancy’s murderer, psychically links her sexuality to the fatal potential he perceives in her body. This threatening construction of women’s sexuality derives from an imbalanced focus in the male psyche on the repulsion aspect of abjection, a focus socially inscribed as a threatening power, which is used to justify violent usurpations of the feminine in masculine constructions of gender.     

The genetic basis of entrepreneurship: Effects of gender and personality

Extending previous research on the genetic underpinnings of entrepreneurship, we investigate gender differences in the genetic influences on the tendency of people to become entrepreneurs. We also examined two mediating variables through which genetic factors may impact this tendency: extraversion and neuroticism. Based on 1285 pairs of identical twins (449 male and 836 female pairs) and 849 pairs of same-sex fraternal twins (283 male and 566 female pairs), we found that females have a strong genetic influence and zero shared-environmental influences on their tendency to become entrepreneurs. In contrast, males show zero genetic influence, but a large shared-environmental influence. Extraversion and neuroticism mediate the genetic influences on women’s tendency to become entrepreneurs, whereas extraversion mediates shared-environmental influences on men’s tendency to become entrepreneurs. We discuss this sharp difference in genetic influences on entrepreneurship across gender groups and highlight the different challenges that men and women face in their entrepreneurial endeavors.     

Sex segregation in friendships and normative contexts across the life span

Sex segregation (the separation of boys and girls into same-sex groups in their friendships and casual encounters; [Thorne, B., & Luria, Z. (1986). Sexuality and gender in children’s daily worlds. Social Problems, 33, 176–190]), has typically been viewed as a childhood phenomenon. In the present paper, we review research that suggests the phenomenon of sex segregation persists across the life span. We draw from a social-constructionist model to synthesize literature documenting sex segregation in friendships and aspects of individuals’ socio-cultural contexts in childhood, adolescence, and early and later adulthood. We consider developmental continuities in mechanisms that may be associated with sex segregation, including behavioral compatibility, communication styles, third-party resistance to other-sex relationships, and institutional barriers to other-sex relationships. We discuss how these factors may, through a reciprocal process, contribute to and result from sex segregation. Finally, we offer recommendations for future research.     

Toward an intersectional understanding of violence and resilience: An exploratory study of young Southeast Asian men in Alameda and Contra Costa County, California

There is a nascent, but growing, literature on Southeast Asian youth violence that focuses on the role of acculturation, portraying violence as a problem of maladaptation. However, scholars overlook the ways in which violence holds meaning for the youth who experience it and how violence may be related to racial and gender identity formation. We conducted a qualitative study with young Southeast Asian men to elicit the role violence plays in their understanding of what it means for them to be Southeast Asian and male. We conducted focus groups and semi-structured individual interviews with an ethnically diverse group of 21 young Southeast Asian men 13–17 years of age from Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, California. Data were analyzed using the extended case method approach. Our findings illustrate that violence and engagement with community-based organizations are situational tools that these young Southeast Asian men use to navigate their social contexts in an attempt to be resilient in ecological contexts marked by alienation and discrimination, as well as to construct accepted and successful racial and gender identities. Furthermore, we found that their actions were guided by gendered codes of conduct, such as a “code of the street.”     

Bare’ing it all for the Camera: Women’s Experience of Having Erotic Photographs Taken

One area in which a change in women’s sexual behavior has been observed is in the growing number of women who are having erotic photographs taken of themselves by professional photographers. The current research is an attempt to learn more about this unstudied phenomenon. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 women who have had erotic photographs taken by a professional photographer. The interviews were subjected to thematic analysis. The women described the erotic photography experience as having positive implications, such as increased body esteem and feelings of empowerment, as well as giving the women the ability to see themselves as sexual and an opportunity to celebrate their bodies. Having erotic photos taken also provided women with the opportunity to create a sexual image in a photograph on their own terms. The findings provide insight into the changing nature of attitudes about women’s sexuality.     

Perceived association between diagnostic and non-diagnostic cues of women’s sexual interest: General Recognition Theory predictors of risk for sexual coercion

Young men’s errors in sexual perception have been linked to sexual coercion. The current investigation sought to explicate the perceptual and decisional sources of these social perception errors, as well as their link to risk for sexual violence. General Recognition Theory (GRT; [Ashby, F. G., & Townsend, J. T. (1986). Varieties of perceptual independence. Psychological Review, 93, 154-179]) was used to estimate participants’ ability to discriminate between affective cues and clothing style cues and to measure illusory correlations between men’s perception of women’s clothing style and sexual interest. High-risk men were less sensitive to the distinction between women’s friendly and sexual interest cues relative to other men. In addition, they were more likely to perceive an illusory correlation between women’s diagnostic sexual interest cues (e.g., facial affect) and non-diagnostic cues (e.g., provocative clothing), which increases the probability that high-risk men will misperceive friendly women as intending to communicate sexual interest. The results provide information about the degree of risk conferred by individual differences in perceptual processing of women’s interest cues, and also illustrate how translational scientists might adapt GRT to examine research questions about individual differences in social perception.     

Domestic Violence and Women’s Employment: Fixed Effects Models of Three Waves of Women’s Employment Study Data

Domestic violence can interfere with women’s ability to work, and may result in loss of welfare benefits and poorer economic outcomes. Previous studies showing no effect of domestic violence on employment could be a result of the failure to control for some individual characteristics; therefore we use fixed-effects models with three waves of Women’s Employment Study (WES) data to control for unobservable time-invariant individual-specific characteristics. Included in our analyses were 598 women, from an urban county in Michigan who were on the welfare rolls in February of 1997, all of whom completed 3 waves of interviews. Our fixed effects regression results show that domestic violence significantly reduced the annual work hours of a respondent. Mental and physical health problems do not completely mediate this relationship. Our results support efforts to address domestic violence within the welfare system.     

Disability Rights,Prenatal Diagnosis and Eugenics: A Cross-Cultural View

This paper considers the disability rights critique of genetic testing in the context of different communities and the issue of nondirectiveness. Despite the wide usage of genetic diagnosis in Israel, no public debate has emerged there concerning disability rights and prenatal testing. The common attitude that emerged from interviews with Israeli representatives of organizations “of’’ and “for’’ people with genetic diseases and congenital disabilities can be described as a two-fold view of disability: support of genetic testing during pregnancy, and support of the disabled person after birth. This two-fold view is explained as a secular construction situated in legal, economic and cultural contexts. The paper concludes by considering the implications of the “two-fold view’’ of disability for the profession of genetic counseling. It is argued that awareness of the existence of conflicting views among clients—such as the view of the ‘disability critique’ as well as of the “two-fold view of disability’’—should strengthen the significance of nondirectiveness.     

Women’s Decision Making about Risk-Reducing Strategies in the Context of Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer: A Systematic Review

Women who have a mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes have up to an 87% lifetime risk of breast cancer and up to a 40% lifetime risk of ovarian cancer. Cancer prevention and early detection strategies are often considered by these women to address this heightened risk. Risk-reducing strategies include risk-reducing mastectomy and oophorectomy, breast and ovarian cancer screening, and chemoprevention. This systematic literature review summarizes the factors and contexts that influence decision making related to cancer risk-reducing strategies among women at high-risk for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. In the 43 published research articles reviewed, three main types of factors are identified that influence high-risk women’s decisions about risk-reducing strategies: a) medical and physical factors, b) psychological factors and c) social context factors. How these factors operate in women’s lives over time remains unknown, and would best be elucidated through prospective, longitudinal research, as well as qualitative research.     

Disruptive decisions to leave home: Gender and family differences in expatriation choices

I developed a theoretical model predicting how gender and family status would influence employee willingness to expatriate, international job search behavior, and expatriation decisions and tested the model in a longitudinal investigation. Australian employees comprising 230 females and 401 males with partners and/or children and 208 female and male childless singles were surveyed three times over three years. Employees who had greater personal agency and less family barriers were more willing to expatriate, to search for international jobs, and to eventually leave their home countries. Having a family restricted females’ ability to transform their willingness to expatriate into an international job search to a greater extent than it did males’. In turn, international job search predicted actual expatriation for a job. Overall, the expatriation interests of women with partners and/or children were least realized (most inhibited) in international job search and subsequent expatriation behavior. The interests of childless single employees were most realized. The study challenges current thinking on women’s willingness to expatriate by demonstrating that women are willing to expatriate, but family factors lead to women being less able to transform their willingness into an international job search than men, subsequently flowing on to women expatriating less for work than men.