Sexual orientation and suicidal behavior

In a large sample of 4700 individuals who belong to a website for body modification, the 1759 bisexuals and the 228 homosexuals reported a greater incidence of prior suicidal ideation and attempts than did the 2647 heterosexuals, even after controls for sex and self-reported depression.     

Sexual orientation and visuo-spatial ability

On the basis of a literature review it was concluded that sex differences in cognitive ability and the etiology of male homosexuality may have a common biological base, leading to the prediction that in terms of cognitive ability homosexual males (HmM) would resemble heterosexual females (HtF) rather than heterosexual males (HtM). This prediction was investigated using visuo-spatial tasks on which males are known to perform better than females. In Experiment 1 HtM performed better on a water level task than HmM and HtF whose performances did not differ significantly. A different version of the water level task and the Vincent Mechanical Diagrams Test were used in Experiment 2; on both tasks the HtM performed better than the HmM and the HtF whose performance did not differ significantly. The results are interpreted as support for a common biological determinant of cognitive ability and male sexual orientation.     

Sexual orientation and spatial memory

The present study aimed at determining the influence of sexual orientation in human spatial learning and memory. Participants performed the Boxes Room, a virtual reality version of the Holeboard. In Experiment I, a reference memory task, the position of the hidden rewards remained constant during the whole experiment. In Experiment II, a working memory task, the position of rewards changed between blocks. Each block consisted of two trials: One trial for acquisition and another for retrieval. The results of Experiment I showed that heterosexual men performed better than homosexual men and heterosexual women. They found the rewarded boxes faster. Moreover, homosexual participants committed more errors than heterosexuals. Experiment II showed that working memory abilities are the same in groups of different sexual orientation. These results suggest that sexual orientation is related to spatial navigation abilities, but mostly in men, and limited to reference memory, which depends more on the function of the hippocampal system.     

Effects of gender and gender role self-perceptions on affective reactions to rock music videos

To evaluate the mediating impact of gender and gender role self-perceptions on affective responses to rock music videos, female and male undergraduates recruited from the predominantly Caucasian population of a southeastern university completed the Bem Sex Role Inventory and then watched and evaluated nine short music video segments. Consistent with previous research, the results highlight the critical importance of gender as a determinant of affective reactions to popular music. Males, in general, showed the strongest positive reactions (i.e., greatest enjoyment, least disturbance) toward hard-rock music videos while females reported the strongest positive reactions toward soft-rock music videos. Furthermore, both genders reported significant misestimations of other-gender peers' reactions. On the other hand, the influence of gender role self-perceptions proved minimal. Some implications of these findings are discussed.An earlier draft of this paper was presented at the November 1991 meeting of the Speech Communication Association in Atlanta, Georgia.     

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.     

At home with Down syndrome and gender

I argue that there is an important analogy between sex selection and selective abortion of fetuses diagnosed with Down syndrome. There are surprising parallels between the social construction of Down syndrome as a disability and the deeply entrenched institutionalization of sexual difference in many societies. Prevailing concepts of gender and mental retardation exert a powerful influence in constructing the sexual identities and life plans of people with Down syndrome, and also affect their families' lives.     

Counterfactual thinking and stereotypes: The nonconformity effect

Past research has shown that counterfactual thinking (‘if only…’) is related to judgements of responsibility for negative events. It has also shown that behaviours deviating from the target's own behavioural standard (intrapersonal norm) are likely to trigger counterfactuals—the so‐called exceptional‐routine effect. In the present research, we demonstrate that behaviours deviating from a social category's behavioural standard (social norm) are also likely to trigger counterfactuals—what may be called the nonconformity effect. Two studies investigated counterfactual thinking regarding a rape case, classifying counterfactuals according to their conformity versus nonconformity to relevant social norms, and their focus on actions versus inactions. In Study 1, participants with higher endorsement of the rape victim stereotype generated more counterfactuals on the victim's non‐conforming inactions than did participants with lower stereotype endorsement. The presence of a nonconformity effect was confirmed in Study 2, where participants rated their agreement with externally generated counterfactuals. Moreover, in Study 2, counterfactuals focused on the victim's non‐conforming inactions predicted responsibility attribution to the victim through the mediating role of perceived avoidability of the event. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Information and communication technologies use,gender and mathematics achievement: evidence from Italy

This study investigates the importance of information and communication technology (ICT) use in the mathematics achievement scores of Italian secondary school students, with particular attention paid to the role of gender in the ICT-maths performance relationship. Data from the 2012 Programme for International Student Assessment study allow to describe (a) how the type and intensity of ICT use are associated with high or low maths achievement and (b) how the association varies according to gender. These issues are examined with respect to different maths domains. The results of multilevel models show a complex scenario. A positive association between ICT use and mathematics achievement occurs only when computers are used for some, not all, activities. In other cases, the association is negative. In general, the ICT-maths performance association is weaker for girls. Some exceptions to this general trend are the benefits of certain ICT applications, only for girls, in Shape and Space and in Uncertainty and Data subscales of mathematics.     

Sexual orientation and handedness in men and women: a meta-analysis

Recent findings suggest that sexual orientation has an early neurodevelopmental basis. Handedness, a behavioral marker of early neurodevelopment, has been associated with sexual orientation in some studies but not in others. The authors conducted a meta-analysis of 20 studies that compared the rates of non-right-handedness in 6,987 homosexual (6,182 men and 805 women) and 16,423 heterosexual (14,808 men and 1,615 women) participants. Homosexual participants had 39% greater odds of being non-right-handed. The corresponding values for homosexual men (20 contrasts) and women (9 contrasts) were 34% and 91%, respectively. The results support the notion that sexual orientation in some men and women has an early neurodevelopmental basis, but the factors responsible for the handedness-sexual orientation association require elucidation. The authors discuss 3 possibilities: cerebral laterality and prenatal exposure to sex hormones, maternal immunological reactions to the fetus, and developmental instability.     

Sexual and gender minority therapy and systemic practice

While there has been an increase in papers addressing working with lesbian and gay clients over the past two decades, this paper builds on this historical context to combine the latest developments in therapy with sexual and gender minority clients with principles of systemic theory and practice. Clear guidelines are provided on how to apply sexual and gender minority therapy within a systemic frame. Specific issues relating to sexual and gender minority couple and family work are addressed, with the provision of further suggestions and resources.     

Processing grammatical gender of role nouns: Further evidence from eye movements

Two eye-tracking experiments investigated the effects of masculine versus feminine grammatical gender on the processing of role nouns and on establishing coreference relations. Participants read sentences with the basic structure My <kinship term> is a <role noun> <prepositional phrase > such as My brother is a singer in a band. Role nouns were either masculine or feminine. Kinship terms were lexically male or female and in this way specified referent gender, i.e., the sex of the person referred to. Experiment 1 tested a fully crossed design including items with an incorrect combination of lexically male kinship term and feminine role name. Experiment 2 tested only correct combinations of grammatical and lexical/referential gender to control for possible effects of the incorrect items of Experiment 1. In early stages of processing, feminine role nouns, but not masculine ones, were fixated longer when grammatical and referential gender were contradictory (Bruder _male–Sängerin _fem/brother–[female] singer). In later stages of sentence wrap-up there were longer fixations for sentences with masculine than for those with feminine role nouns. Results of both experiments indicate that, for feminine role nouns, cues to referent gender are integrated immediately, whereas a late integration obtains for masculine forms.     

Developmental trajectories of aggression from late childhood through adolescence: similarities and differences across gender

Although numerous investigations of overt aggressive and antisocial trajectories have been undertaken, there is a dearth of literature examining gender differences and similarities in trajectory patterns and their correlates. To address these gaps, we investigated gender differences in the prevalence rates, predictive validity during transition to adulthood, childhood risk factors, and adolescent correlates of different trajectories of teacher-reported overt aggression (i.e., fights, argues, gets in trouble) among 220 participants (116 girls and 104 boys) evaluated annually from grade 4 to grade 12. Four patterns of trajectories were identified: low, increasing (i.e., adolescent-onset), decreasing (i.e., childhood-limited), and high (i.e., childhood-onset). A large proportion of youth, particularly girls, displayed low levels of aggression over time. A small proportion followed the childhood-onset trajectory. Across gender, the childhood-onset trajectory was associated with the highest rates of maladjustment during the transition to adulthood, the highest number of childhood risk factors, and multiple problems during adolescence. The adolescent-onset trajectory was associated with few childhood risk factors, but with high levels of independent status during adolescence. In contrast, the childhood-limited trajectory was associated with several childhood risk factors, but high levels of parental monitoring and school engagement during adolescence. Romantic involvement differentiated the adolescent-onset and childhood-limited trajectories among girls.     

Color preferences according to gender and sexual orientation

The present study was undertaken to verify findings surrounding sex differences in color preferences, and to extend this realm of inquiry by looking for possible differences in color preferences associated with sexual orientation. Based on a large sample of North American college students, significant gender differences were found, with the main difference being a greater preference for shades of blue by males than by females. Females, on the other hand, tended to be more evenly divided than males between preferring both green and blue. Regarding sexual orientation, we found no significant differences between heterosexuals and homosexual/bisexuals of either gender. In other words, male and female homosexuals/bisexuals exhibited essentially the same configuration of color preferences as did their heterosexual counterparts.     

Taxometric analyses of sexual orientation and gender identity

Taxa are nonarbitrary classes whose existence is an empirical question and not a matter of mere semantic convenience. Taxometric procedures detect whether numerical relations between purported indicators of conjectured taxa bear the hallmarks of true taxa. On the basis of theoretical considerations, the current study tested whether taxa underlie sexual orientation and related measures of gender identity. Two taxometric procedures, maximum covariance, making hits maximum (MAXCOV) and mean above minus below a cut (MAMBAC), were applied to Kinsey Scales and measures of childhood gender nonconformity and adult gender identity in a sample of nearly 5,000 members of the Australian Twin Registry. Results suggest that latent taxa underlie these measures. About 12-15% of men and 5-10% of women belong to latent taxa associated with homosexual preference. These percentages are greater than those of individuals who report homosexual preference, however, and hence it appears that an appreciable proportion of individuals in these taxa have heterosexual preference. An understanding of the origins of these latent taxa may be important to understanding the development of sexual orientation and gender identity.     

No grammatical gender effect on affective ratings: evidence from Italian and German languages

In this study, we tested the linguistic relativity hypothesis by studying the effect of grammatical gender (feminine vs. masculine) on affective judgments of conceptual representation in Italian and German. In particular, we examined the within- and cross-language grammatical gender effect and its interaction with participants’ demographic characteristics (such as, the raters’ age and sex) on semantic differential scales (affective ratings of valence, arousal and dominance) in Italian and German speakers. We selected the stimuli and the relative affective measures from Italian and German adaptations of the ANEW (Affective Norms for English Words). Bayesian and frequentist analyses yielded evidence for the absence of within- and cross-languages effects of grammatical gender and sex- and age-dependent interactions. These results suggest that grammatical gender does not affect judgments of affective features of semantic representation in Italian and German speakers, since an overt coding of word grammar is not required. Although further research is recommended to refine the impact of the grammatical gender on properties of semantic representation, these results have implications for any strong view of the linguistic relativity hypothesis.     

Cross-cultural and gender differences in childhood amnesia

In two experiments, we examined cross-cultural and gender differences in adults' earliest memories. To do this, we asked male and female adults from three cultural backgrounds (New Zealand European, New Zealand Maori, and Asian) to describe and date their earliest personal memory. Consistent with past research, Asian adults reported significantly later memories than European adults, however this effect was due exclusively to the extremely late memories reported by Asian females. Maori adults, whose traditional culture includes a strong emphasis on the past, reported significantly earlier memories than adults from the other two cultural groups. Across all three cultures, the memories reported by women contained more information than the memories reported by men. These findings support the view that the age and content of our earliest memories are influenced by a wide range of factors including our culture and our gender. These factors must be incorporated into any comprehensive theory of autobiographical memory.     

Sexual identification and gender identity among father-absent males

The present study used multiple measures of sexual identification and of gender identity to determine discriminant functions in order to classify 100 college males and 100 females. These functions were then applied in classification of a separate sample of 50 father-absent and 50 father-present males as masculine or feminine for sexual identification and for gender identity. True similarity to response patterns of a female sample, as reflected in differences in classification rates for father-present and -absent groups, was not observed for either variable. However, substantial support was obtained for a positive association between father absence for male subjects and less masculine gender identity. Different elements of family structure were observed to be associated with the development of sexual identification among father-absent and father-present males. Sons of mothers who remained single after the father's absence were more frequently classified female in sexual identification than were sons of mothers who remarried. Within intact families, a positive father-son relationship was associated with masculine sexual identification.