Hispanic and majority student attitudes toward forcible date rape as a function of differences in attitudes toward women

Less rejecting attitudes toward forcible date rape are related to more traditional attitudes toward women, as measured by the Attitudes Toward Women Scale (G. J. Fischer, “College Student Attitudes Toward Forcible Date Rape. I. Cognitive Predictors,” Archives of Sexual Behavior, 1986, 15, 457–466). Does this relation reflect more traditional or more negative attitudes toward women? If the former, then an ethnic minority having still more traditional attitudes toward women (than the nonethnic majority), also should be less rejecting of forcible date rape. This hypothesis was assessed by surveying attitudes of bicultural and bilingual Hispanic, other self-reported Hispanics, and nonethnic majority college students from a large introductory sociology class in a large Southwestern university. Results showed that Hispanics, overall, (1) had more traditional attitudes toward women than nonethnic majority and (2) as hypothesized, had less rejecting attitudes toward forcible date rape. However, these effects were not a simple function of ethnicity, at least not for males. For example, bicultural and bilingual Hispanic males were least likely to blame the male for the forcible date rape, but were no less rejecting of such behavior than other Hispanic males and had no more traditional attitudes toward women than other Hispanic or majority males. Bicultural and bilingual Hispanic females, on the other hand, were most likely to blame the male, had the least rejecting attitudes toward date rape, and had the most traditional attitudes toward women. one interpretation is that exposure to less restrictive sex roles of the majority culture is a liberating influence on Hispanic females, but not on Hispanic males who, perhaps, see more liberal attitudes toward women as having no or even negative payoff. Differences found between Hispanics who are bicultural and bilingual and other self-reported Hispanics suggest that these groups should not be combined, and that a research sample needs to be defined more specifically than “Hispanic.”     

Similarities and differences in social attitudes in four Western countries1

A referents scale (single words and short phrases) constructed to measure social attitudes and values was administered to 500 graduate students of education in the United States, 427 mature evening students in Spain, 130 German students, 270 Dutch students, and 685 Dutch adults, a random sample of the Netherlands. The attitudes of the samples were compared by analysis of the means of clusters of referents associated with the factors common to all samples. The means of selected individual referents of social significance were similarly compared across samples. In general, the U.S. student sample and the Netherlands random sample were more conservative than the Spanish, Dutch, and German student samples. On the other hand, the Dutch, Spanish, and American students were more liberal than the Dutch random sample and the German students. The correlations between the profiles of means of referents common to pairs of samples were mostly substantial (average r's of .75 for conservative referents and .62 for liberal referents), indicating considerable cross-cultural agreement in the rank ordering of the referents within the conservative and within the liberal categories, and thus, presumably, common cores of reaction to the two kinds of referents. The use of attitude-value referents, especially in cross-cultural research, was judged valid and useful.     

Family,gender, and attitudes toward retirement

The relationships between marital status, proximity of children, and attitudes toward retirement of 432 men and 373 women on the verge of retirement were studied. Three dimensions of attitudes were examined: attitudes toward losses associated with retirement, toward gains in entering retirement, and toward gains in leaving work. Women hold significantly more positive attitudes toward both types of gains; there are no gender differences concerning attitudes toward losses. The married of both sexes perceive more gains in entering retirement. Proximity of children is curvilinearly related to gain in entering retirement, especially among women. Attitudes toward losses and gains in leaving work are not associated with familial state. The meaning of work and the myth of the primacy of family for women are discussed.This paper draws on research supported by Grant Number 1 R01 AG 05206-01 from the National Institute on Aging.     

Turkish college students' attitudes toward women managers: the effects of patriarchy,sexism, and gender differences

The authors examined how patriarchy, sexism, and gender influence Turkish college students' attitudes toward women managers. Turkish undergraduate students (N = 183) from Middle East Technical University completed questionnaires measuring attitudes toward women managers as well as attitudes toward the concepts of hostile and benevolent sexism and support for patriarchy. Participants were of upper- or middle-class Turkish backgrounds. The results showed that male participants exhibited less positive attitudes toward women managers than did female participants. In addition, participants who held more favorable attitudes toward patriarchy and who scored high on hostile sexism also held less positive attitudes toward women managers than those who held less favorable attitudes toward patriarchy and who scored low on hostile sexism. A regression analysis showed that support for patriarchy and hostile sexism was more important for explaining less favorable attitudes toward women managers than was benevolent sexism.     

Job seekers' attitudes toward cybervetting in China: Platform comparisons and relationships with social media posting habits and individual differences

Cybervetting, or reviewing applicants' social media profiles, has become a central part of the hiring process for many organizations. Yet, extant cybervetting research is largely limited to Western platforms and samples. The present study examines the three core elements of attitudes toward cybervetting (ATC—perceived justice, privacy invasion, and face validity) using a sample of 200 Chinese job seekers providing their views on three popular platforms in China (WeChat, QQ, and Weibo). Attitudes were negative across all platforms, although slightly more positive for WeChat. ATC were associated with job seekers' social media posting habits (e.g., posting positive content more frequently) and individual differences (i.e., gender and extraversion). Organizations should be mindful that cybervetting might impede the recruitment of talents.     

Age and gender differences in college students' attitudes toward women: A replication and extension

This study replicates and extends earlier research on the Attitudes Toward Women Scale (J. T. Spence and R. L. Helmreich, The Attitudes Towards Women Scale: An Objective Instrument to Measure Attitudes Towards the Rights and Roles of Women in Contemporary Society, JSAS Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology, 1972, 2, 66). The scale was administered to 382 college students to assess the reliability of the scale, gender and age differences in responses to the scale, and to make comparisons to past research with different samples. Age was positively associated with more liberal attitudes toward women. Females were more liberal overall than males; however, this depended on the particular item.     

Gender and racial differences in the acceptance of rape myths within a college population

Four hundred forty nine students completed a questionnaire that sought to measure degree of acceptance/rejection of nine statements that reflected prejudical, stereotyped, or false beliefs about rape, rape victims, or rapists. These statements, termed rape myths, are seen as reflecting and perpetuating sexual and racial stereotypes as well as serving to demean the victim and hinder the functioning of the criminal justice system. The data indicate that at least a substantial minority of respondents do accept rape myths as valid. Further analysis revealed significant differences by racial and sexual groupings. Results were interpreted through use of the concept of defensive attribution.     

The relationship between social dominance orientation,gender role orientation and attitudes toward gay men and lesbians in a Turkish sample

Current Psychology - Sexual prejudice refers to negative attitudes towards individuals based on their sexual orientation. Scholars have shown an interest in identifying the factors that may...     

Preadolescent attitudes toward the elderly: an analysis of race, gender and contact variables

Preadolescent attitudes toward the elderly were examined through analysis of race, gender, and contact variables. Subjects were randomly selected preadolescents (mean = 12.8 years), a total of 157 students (91 boys and 66 girls), comprising three ethnic groups (49% white, 30% Mexican-American, 21% black). The investigator instructed each student to complete the Tuckman-Lorge Old People Scale, and a self-report contact questionnaire, thereby establishing three contact groups (high, medium, low). Data were analyzed via an ANOVA. The results revealed that only one of the variables studied, race, was significantly related to attitudes toward the elderly. The white preadolescents possessed the most positive attitudes toward the elderly. The greatest differences were between the white and black female preadolescents. These results suggest that preadolescent attitudes toward the elderly are culturally related. It can be concluded that as a variable, race should receive more attention in future attitudinal studies of the preadolescent.     

Effects of biological and psychological gender,age cohort,and interviewer gender on attitudes toward gender-inclusive/exclusive language

Proposals for gender-inclusive language reforms have been institutionalized by many organizations, but a number of factors may affect individuals' own language behaviors and attitudes in this domain. Previous research has shown the influence of respondents' gender and social affiliations on their willingness to accept gender-inclusive language reforms. Study 1 builds upon those earlier surveys by adapting their questions for use in face-to-face interviews. Factors explored in Study 1 included interviewees' gender and age cohort and the situational variable of interviewer gender. Results showed that women were more concerned about sexist language than men, more likely to evaluate it negatively, and likely to use more gender-inclusive methods to avoid it. Older subjects were more attentive to gender-exclusive language than current college students. Interviewer gender also exerted effects such that female interviewers elicited more negative attitudes toward gender-exclusive language than did male interviewers. Young men interviewed by males reported using fewest gender-inclusive constructions, while older females interviewed by women used the most. Study 2 demonstrated the effect of psychological gender role types on attitudes toward gender-inclusive language. Androgynous individuals reported using more methods to avoid gender-exclusive reference than did either gender-neutral or instrumental (traditionally masculine) participants. Implications for diffusing gender-inclusive language reform are discussed.     

Body image dissatisfaction: gender differences in eating attitudes,self-esteem,and reasons for exercise

Two hundred and thirty-five adolescents completed a questionnaire on the subject of eating attitudes, self-esteem, reasons for exercise, and their ideal versus current body size and shape. As predicted, boys were as likely to want to be heavier as lighter, whereas very few girls desired to be heavier. Only girls associated body dissatisfaction with the concept of self-esteem. Male self-esteem was not affected by body dissatisfaction. Specific reasons for exercise were found to correlate with low self-esteem and disordered eating, regardless of sex. The results are discussed in relation to burgeoning published research in this area.     

Eating concerns on two Christian and two nonsectarian college campuses: a measure of sex and campus differences in attitudes toward eating

Eating concerns among college men and women on two campuses with an explicitly Christian world view and two nonsectarian campuses, each campus in a different section of the country, were examined in three experiments using the Wellesley Eating Attitudes Survey. Chi-square tests indicated that eating concerns were significantly more frequent among women than men, but men showed a surprisingly high degree of concern. Campuses differed in their level of concern. The relative incidence of overweight in the four sections of the country (Northeast, West, Midwest, and South), as measured by the Centers for Disease Control (1989), appeared more closely related to the level of concern at each of the campuses than the presence or absence of an evangelical Christian world view. Recommendations are made for appropriate support services for students with eating concerns at each campus.     

Religious orientation and attitudes toward money: relationships with narcissism and the influence of gender

Psychologists, psychotherapists, social workers, counselors, and other people involved in the mental-health fields are increasingly working with American Indians who practice various religious ceremonies and life ways foreign to Western-oriented epistemologies and ontologies. The American Indian Church and its sacramental use of peyote is one such example. This paper provides a brief history of the American Indian Church and its use of peyote, as well as the American Indian beliefs behind the use of peyote and the psychopharmacological data concerning peyote. It is shown that the sacramental use of peyote by the American Indian Church members is not a deviant hallucinogenic disorder and that in fact it provides a means of achieving and maintaining health, balance, respect, and a sense of community among participants and their social relations.     

The roles of empathy,anger, and gender in predicting attitudes toward punitive,reparative, and preventative public policies

Four studies tested for gender differences in support for punitive policies, reparative human services, and preventative social policies, and explored potential emotional and attitudinal mediators of differences that were found. In Study 1, participants' relative preferences for punitive, reparative human service, and preventative political actions were measured. Women preferred human service actions more than did men, and men preferred punitive and preventative actions more than did women. Study 2 found that men support punitive political policies more than do women. Study 3 found that again, men supported punitive actions more than did women, and women supported human service actions more than did men, and that among men, state anger predicted support for punitive actions, and among women, state empathy predicted willingness to volunteer. In Study 4, among both men and women state anger predicted support for punitive actions, and trait empathy predicted support for human service actions. Trait empathy mediated the gender difference found in support for human service actions. Results provide evidence that emotional dispositions and reactions play an important role in shaping political attitudes, and more specifically, that gender differences in emotion influence gender differences in policy preferences.     

Stigma, social risk, and health policy: public attitudes toward HIV surveillance policies and the social construction of illness.

Data from a 1999 national telephone survey with a probability sample of English-speaking US adults (N=1,335) were used to assess how support for HIV surveillance policies is related to AIDS stigma and negative attitudes toward groups disproportionately affected by the epidemic. Anonymous reporting of HIV results to the government was supported by a margin of approximately 2-to-l, but name-based reporting was opposed 3-to-l. Compared with other respondents, supporters of name-based surveillance expressed significantly more negative feelings toward people with AIDS, gay men, lesbians, and injecting drug users. More than one third of all respondents reported that concerns about AIDS stigma would affect their own decision to be tested for HIV in the future. Implications for understanding the social construction of illness and for implementing effective HIV surveillance programs are discussed.     

On the eve of war: authoritarianism, social dominance, and American students' attitudes toward attacking Iraq

In the week before the 2003 American attack on Iraq, the effects of authoritarianism and the social dominance orientation on support for the attack were examined. Based on prior research on the nature of these constructs, a structural model was developed and tested. As predicted, authoritarianism strengthened support for the attack by intensifying the perception that Iraq threatened America. Social dominance increased support by reducing concern for the likely human costs of the war. Both also increased blind patriotism, which in turn reduced concern for the war's human costs and was reciprocally related to the belief that Iraq threatened America.     

Actual and subjective age-related differences in women's attitudes toward their bodies across the life span

The present study examined actual and subjective age-related variations in women's perceptions of their weight, sexual attractiveness, physical condition, and overall body satisfaction. To this end, 265 women between the ages of 17 and 85 years completed the Body Esteem Scale (Franzio & Shields, 1984), the subjective age scales of the Subjective Age and Gender Scale (Montepare, 1996), and the Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965). Analyses revealed that, whereas women of all ages held unfavorable attitudes toward their weight, the positivity of their perceptions of their sexual attractiveness and physical condition was curvilinearly related to their age group with middle-aged women having the most favorable images. Analyses also revealed that women's subjective age, as opposed to their actual age, was a stronger predictor of their body attitudes. Moreover, the observed relationships were independent of the effects of self-esteem, which was nevertheless strongly linked to women's body image.     

Examining gender differences in received,provided, and invisible social control: an application of the dual-effects model

The dual-effects model of social control not only assumes that social control leads to better health practices but also arouses psychological distress. However, findings are inconsistent. The present study advances the current literature by examining social control from a dyadic perspective in the context of smoking. In addition, the study examines whether control, continuous smoking abstinence, and affect are differentially related for men and women. Before and three weeks after a self-set quit attempt, we examined 106 smokers (77 men, mean age: 40.67, average number of cigarettes smoked per day: 16.59 [SD = 8.52, range = 1–40] at baseline and 5.27 [SD = 6.97, range = 0–40] at follow-up) and their nonsmoking heterosexual partners, assessing received and provided control, continuous abstinence, and affect. With regard to smoker's affective reactions, partner's provided control was related to an increase in positive and to a decrease in negative affect, but only for female smokers. Moreover, the greater the discrepancy between smoker received and partner's provided control was the more positive affect increased and the more negative affect decreased, but again only for female smokers. These findings demonstrate that female smokers' well-being was raised over time if they were not aware of the control attempts of their nonsmoking partners, indicating positive effects of invisible social control. This study's results emphasize the importance of applying a dyadic perspective and taking gender differences in the dual-effects model of social control into account.     

The effects of sexual permissiveness,target gender,subject gender,and attitude toward women on social perception: In search of the double standard

The sexual double standard, if held by perceivers, should result in more negative evaluations of sexually permissive females than males. Previous research on the double standard has generally ignored this normative issue, and has instead relied on self-report methods to measure personal sexual behavior and the stated limits of acceptable behavior for others. Male and female subjects, either liberal or traditional in their sex role attitudes, were exposed to a male or female target of one of four levels of sexual permissiveness. On most scales, representing a wide range of social judgments, there was no evidence of a sexual double standard. Limited evidence emerged in that male, but not female, subjects may have exhibited a double standard in their ratings of how sexual the target was. In addition, liberal males and traditional females rated female targets who had casual sex as less agreeable than comparable male targets. Despite the general absence of a double-standard effect, sexual permissiveness affected ratings such that more permissive targets were judged as less moral, less conventional, more assertive, more sexual, marginally more likable and less conforming. The findings are discussed in terms of the double standard, the effects of sexual permissiveness on social perception, and gender differences in perceiving sexuality.     

Similarities and differences among three generations of women in attitudes toward the female role in contemporary society

A three-generational sample of 103 college women, 88 of their mothers, and 30 of their maternal grandmothers responded to questionnaires containing the Spence and Helmreich Attitudes Toward Women Scale (AWS). Intrafamily matched pair analysis tested hypotheses of intergenerational similarities and differences; and several potential correlates of attitudes toward female roles in contemporary society were investigated. Major intergenerational differences prevailed, with younger generations being more profeminist. The extent of difference varied by issue. Participation in the labor force was correlated with liberal views, but the degree of liberality seemed best interpreted in terms of enlightened self-interest.