Ideology and Gender: Observers’ System Justification and Targets’ Gender as Interactive Predictors of Citizenship Expectations

We integrate system justification and social role theory to explain how observers’ system justification and target employees’ gender interact to predict observers’ expectations of targets’ sportsmanship citizenship behaviors. In contrast with social role theory predictions, observers did not expect greater levels of sportsmanship from women compared to men. Yet observers expected more sportsmanship from women (a) when observers were ideologically motivated by gender-specific beliefs (gender-specific system justification; Study 1) and (b) when system justification was cued experimentally (Study 2). A heretofore-unexamined aspect, observers’ ideology, modifies their expectations of sportsmanship citizenship across target genders. This has implications for system justification, social role, and organizational citizenship theoretical perspectives.     

Men and Women Inmates’ Accounts of Their Pathways to Crime: A Gender Analysis

Most of the research on gender differences in crime has been based on quantitative methods and focused on either women or men, but not both. In this qualitative study, we explored the association between gender and perceived pathways to crime. We employed a thematic analysis of 20 interviews with inmates, focusing on how they negotiated notions about femininity and masculinity while constructing their own pathways to crime. Men and women presented different pathways, but both oscillated between pathways guided by victimization and by power seeking. The findings suggest possible new directions regarding the use of gender binaries in criminology research and indicate the heavy toll of gender essentialism on both genders.     

‘Now My Life in Syria Is Finished’: Case Studies on Religious Identity and Sectarianism in Narratives of Syrian Christian Refugees in Austria

Using semi-structured life story interviews with Syrian Christian refugees in Austria, this article investigates the impact on identity of the conflict in Syria and the resulting act of seeking refuge outside Syria. It suggests that the sectarian dynamics of the war affect religious minorities in particular, and the method of using biographical case studies allows an analysis of how the sectarianization discourse is used by interviewees to construct their autobiographical narratives of life as refugees. The results, taken from four case studies, show that in each case, religion is a strong marker, providing a framework for self-interpretation in a period of change and/or disruption. In most cases, post-flight identity as a matter of ‘translocational’ positioning is constructed within the framework of sectarianism. The argument of the article is twofold: first, sectarianism provides a setting for Syrian Christians that is appropriated through diverse biographical patterns. Second, sectarianism as a narrative strategy is modelled by and responds to contexts in the host society. The results of this study aim to offer important suggestions for understanding the particular experience of Christian refugees settling in the European diaspora.     

The Impact of Religious Commitment on Women’s Sexual Self-Esteem

Religious commitment is associated with decreased sexual activity, poor sexual satisfaction, and sexual guilt, particularly among women. The purpose of this paper was to investigate how religious commitment is related to sexual self-esteem among women. Participants included 196 female undergraduate students, 87 % of whom identified as Christian. Participants completed the Sexual Self-Esteem Inventory for Women (SSEI-W), Religious Commitment Inventory-10, Revised Religious Fundamentalism Scale, Brief Sexual Attitudes Scale, and a measure of their perception of God’s view of sex. Results suggested that women with high religious commitment held more conservative sexual attitudes. Significant relationships between religious commitment and two subscales (moral judgment and attractiveness) of the SSEI-W revealed that women with high religious commitment were less likely to perceive sex as congruent with their moral values and simultaneously reported significantly greater confidence in their sexual attractiveness. A significant relationship between religious commitment and overall sexual self-esteem was found for women whose religion of origin was Catholicism, such that those with higher religious commitment reported lower sexual self-esteem. A hierarchical regression analysis revealed that high religious commitment and perception that God viewed sex negatively independently predicted lower sexual self-esteem, as related to moral judgment. Implications of the findings are provided.     

Interactive Influences of Gender Identity and Gender Typing on Early Adolescents’ Well-Being

We examined whether protective forms of gender identity (typicality, contentedness) ameliorate the negative influences of self-perceived cross gender typing (gender differentiated friendship styles) on early adolescents’ well-being. Early adolescents (N?=?244, 123 girls, M age 12.77 years) in Surrey, England responded to self-reports of friendship styles (preoccupied, avoidant), gender identity (typicality, contentedness), and well-being (self-esteem, depression). Girls reported higher scores than boys on the preoccupied friendship style, and lower scores than boys on the avoidant friendship style. Children who reported a cross gender style (preoccupied for boys and avoidant for girls) also reported poor well-being, indicating that self-perceived cross gender typing is distressing. However, these influences were buffered for youths who reported high levels of gender typicality and gender contentedness. Results suggest that gender identity plays a self-regulatory role in discounting self-perceived gender-atypical attributes that interfere with early adolescents’ sense of well-being.     

Are Religious Women More Traditionalist? A Cross-National Examination of Gender and Religion

Does national context shape the relationship between religious attendance and women's gender ideologies? Although previous studies have examined gender and religion within a single national context (and often in a single faith community), few have done so using a cross-national comparative perspective. This has left a significant gap in our understanding of how gender and religion operate in distinctive national contexts. Relying on survey data collected in 37 countries, this study analyzes how the relationship between religious attendance and women's gender ideologies is conditioned by their country's gender inequality. The findings indicate that while women's religious attendance is, on average, negatively related to egalitarian gender ideologies, this association is conditioned by religious affiliation. The relationship is also contingent on the level of gender inequality experienced, and grows weaker in countries with more prominent gender inequality. This study reveals the mechanisms that contextualize the intersection of gender and religion.     

Engendering Culture: The Relationship of Gender Identity and Pressure for Gender Conformity with Adolescents’ Interests in the Arts and Literature

Research indicates that women are more interested in highbrow culture (i.e., the arts—art, music, and theatre—and literature) than men are. Current explanations for women’s higher involvement in highbrow cultural activities primarily focus on adults; overemphasize class-, work- and cultural capital-related explanations; and do not uncover the identity-related and interactional mechanisms behind the gendering of taste during socialization. In the present paper we use gender identity theory and a “doing gender” perspective to understand cultural taste differences between male and female adolescents. Using multilevel analyses on a random sample of 5227 Flemish 7th graders (M _age = 12.18) who completed a survey in their classrooms, we find that higher gender typicality (i.e., identification as a typical male or female) and higher pressure to conform to gender stereotypes are associated with slightly higher interests in arts-, theatre-, and literature-related activities for young women, but with much lower highbrow interests for young men. This difference indicates that identity-related processes and interactional conformity pressures are important mechanisms reinforcing the gendering of cultural tastes. Implications for research on gender, class, and cultural capital, as well as potential ways to make schools safe environments for the expression of gender non-stereotypical cultural tastes, are discussed.     

Shia as Internal Others: A Salafi Rejection of the ‘Rejecters’

Conflict and polemic between Sunni Muslims and Shiites have a long history. In the contemporary era, this polemic has been accentuated by the conflictual situation in the Middle East, and it is also colouring the minority Muslim situation. This article is concerned with Islamic interpretations related to ‘othering’, taking as its main focus an analysis of publications on a Swedish Sunni website, ‘Maktabah Dâr-ul-Hadîth’, which has clear Salafi leanings. Reports show that Shiites currently feel threatened by Salafis in minority contexts and the material cited in this article ‘others’ Shiite Islam and Shiites (amongst others), creating a stereotypical image that may have the potential to influence sectarian violence in real life. Several of the texts on the website deal with theological issues concerning the alleged false beliefs of Shiites. However, the article does not focus on theological creed but rather on manhaj, the programme for action, that is, the behaviour towards Shiites that is recommended in various situations, such as at work, in greeting Shiites or being invited to a Shiite wedding, thus affecting everyday situations. The analysis looks into what kind of ‘othering’ is promoted and what effect this othering might have if put into practice.     

Adolescents’ Perceptions of Masculine and Feminine Values in Sport and Physical Education: A Study of Gender Differences

In present study we investigated possible gender differences in how 357 secondary-school students valued the importance of masculine and feminine characteristics within sport and physical education and how their ratings of values were related to their participation in gendered sport. The results indicated that boys rated appearance strength, sports competence, endurance strength, and masculinity as significantly more important than did girls. Girls rated appearance good looking face, appearance slender, and femininity as significantly more important than did boys. Further, more boys participated in traditionally masculine sports, whereas girls to a greater extent participated in traditionally feminine sports. A discriminant function analysis separated the masculine sport group from the feminine sport group, which suggests that higher scores on the masculine function were indicative of lower value on appearance slender and flexibility, accompanied by higher value on appearance strength and masculinity. For the feminine sport group, this pattern was the opposite.     

The Immigration Experience of Iranian Baha’is in Saskatchewan: The Reconstruction of Their Existence, Faith, and Religious Experience

For approximately 150 years, Baha’is in Iran have been persecuted on the basis of their religion. Limitations to aspects of their lives have compelled them to face “civic death” or migrate to other countries. This qualitative pilot study explored the experience of forced migration and how religion attenuates the disruption to the lives of Iranian Baha’is. Adaptive strategies that four participants utilised to re-establish continuity were examined. Participants who were satisfied with their lives developed a way to allow parallel cultural traditions (Iranian and Canadian) to co-exist; those who could not integrate found it difficult to maintain a balance between these traditions.     

Art as Neglected ‘Text’ for the Study of Gender and Religion in Africa

The visual and performing arts in Africa provide unique opportunities not just for the reinforcement of gender differences but also for the subversion or transcendence of those differences to ensure societal harmony. A close reading of the various forms of artistic expression provides valuable data on women's perceived mystical powers—procreation, metaphysical knowledge and intimate communication with the spirit world as well as their social and religious status.     

Patients’ Perceptions on Their Involvement in Medical Education: A Qualitative Pilot Study

Patients’ perception with regards to their use in medical teaching is an under-researched area in Pakistan. The objective of this qualitative, pilot study was to determine the perspectives of hospital admitted patients on their being used in the medical education of students in a private medical institution. An attempt to understand the dynamics of interactions between patients, students and doctors was also made and to see how this affected the doctor-patient relationship. A qualitative study with in-depth interviews was conducted in a private medical college of Islamabad, Pakistan with a total of 20 adult patients. The focus was on their experiences with bedside teaching. This pilot study reveals interesting findings about patient-physician interactions in Pakistan. Patients had a traditionally passive role in medical education putting more onuses on the doctor to impart knowledge to the medical students. Patients comforted themselves in the knowledge that they were following Allah’s command when they were involved in the teaching of medical students. The apparent altruism of Pakistani patients in this study was influenced mainly by religious reasons, following the commandments of Allah to help develop future healers for humanity. The culture evident in the medical college where this study was conducted is reflective of the social power ladders that pervade Pakistani society. The positions of doctors and medical teachers in Pakistani society are hardly challenged to debate. Little attention has been paid to the values that influence the cultural and social frameworks within which Pakistani medical teachers, medical students and the patients function.     

When Civic Virtue isn’t Seen as Virtuous: The Effect of Gender Stereotyping on Civic Virtue Expectations for Women

We examined the extent to which observers’ expectations of target employees’ civic virtue organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB) are a function of both observer- (gender stereotype activation, threat) and target-related (gender) influences. Consistent with a role congruity perspective, we proposed that civic virtue (constructive involvement in the political governance process of the organization) will be expected to a lesser extent of women, but only when gender stereotypes are activated. We confirm this hypothesis across two studies. In Study 1, based on a sample of 187 U.S. undergraduate students (101 women, 86 men), we show that less civic virtue is expected of women when observers’ gender stereotypes are experimentally activated (vs. the non-activated condition). Using an additional sample of 197 U.S. undergraduate students (Study 2; 118 women, 79 men), we extend our findings by demonstrating that less civic virtue was expected of women in a high (vs. low) threat (manipulated) condition. Findings for men are included for comparative and general informational purposes only. We observed no significant changes in civic virtue expectations for men due to our study manipulations. Our research extends prior studies by showing that expectations for civic virtue are diminished for women, but only when gender stereotypes and threat are activated.     

Redefining Queer: Women’s Relationships and Identity in an Age of Sexual Fluidity

This paper examines ways some women work to define their sexual identities outside of or between traditional binary categories today. How does one’s own gender and the gender of one’s sexual and relationship partners through the life course affect the creation and maintenance of a sexual identity? Does our current system of sexual categories fit women’s experiences and identities? This study looks at women’s sexual experiences through an examination of female sex store patrons. Using Anthony Giddens theories of the pure relationship and plastic sexuality and ideas from queer theory alongside qualitative data about women’s sexual and relationship experiences, this paper sheds light on relationship and identity choices some American women are making today around their sexuality and provides new views on identity maintenance, gender, and sexual relationships.     

The Animal as Agent of the Sublime in Rembrandt’s Rape Narratives and Ovid’s Metamorphoses

Philosophia - In this article I will explore the relationship between man and animal as presented by Ovid in some of his rape stories narrated in the Metamorphoses. The stories I will discuss are...     

The Importance of Spirituality in Couple and Family Therapy: A Comparative Study of Therapists’ and Educators’ Beliefs

The purpose of this study was to explore the differences between the beliefs of couple and family therapists (CFTs) and CFT educators in accredited training programs regarding the importance of spirituality in their personal and professional lives. The results suggest a significant difference between the two populations, with clinicians reporting a higher level of agreement regarding the overall role of spirituality in their personal and professional identities compared to CFT faculty members. However, both therapists and educators reported similar levels of agreement in regard to the need for education related to integrating spirituality and its role in clinical practice. Implications for CFT training programs are discussed.     

The Relationship Between Adolescents’ Attitudes Toward Their Fathers and Loneliness: A Cross-Cultural Study

Loneliness can be regarded as an epidemic of modern society that is becoming increasingly problematic for millions of people. Adolescents are particularly susceptible to the development of this kind of emotional distress. Although many causes of loneliness can be identified, some researchers are of the opinion that it can also be attributed to unpleasant childhood experiences that result in unfulfilled needs relating to intimacy. In this research study, the relationship between loneliness and adolescents’ attitudes towards their fathers was investigated. In order to achieve this goal, information was gathered from 1068 South African respondents. Biographical questionnaires were administered and a Loneliness Scale was applied. In addition, adolescents’ attitudes towards their fathers were measured by means of a Fathers Questionnaire. Steps were taken to determine which of the independent variables, namely gender, age, race, language and socio-economic status, contributed significantly to the prediction of loneliness. In order to process the acquired information, a stepwise multiple regression analysis was conducted. The most important finding of this study is that adolescents’ attitudes towards their fathers comprise the most prominent predictor of loneliness during adolescence. The results also indicated that all of the independent variables had a statistically significant influence on loneliness.     

Characteristics of Danish Centenarians’ Religious Beliefs: A Nationwide Population-Based Study

Journal of Religion and Health - Research has shown that in groups of increasing age, religiousness becomes more prevalent. However, centenarians have only to a very limited extent been included in...     

Do as I Do: The Effect of Teachers’ Ethical Leadership on Business Students’ Academic Citizenship Behaviors

We studied the impact of teachers’ ethical leadership on students’ moral identity and academic citizenship behaviors. Data from 256 student–teacher matching dyads were collected from one of the top 5 Pakistani business schools. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to ensure factorial validity of the measures that were employed, and the hypothesized relationships were tested using structural regression models that utilized structural equation modeling in AMOS with 5,000 bootstrap samples. Based on social learning theory, the results supported the hypothesis that teachers’ ethical leadership had significant direct and indirect positive effects (i.e., through the students’ moral identity) on the students’ academic citizenship behaviors that were directed toward other students and the school. This study contributes to existing literature on ethical leadership and organizational citizenship behavior by highlighting useful implications of these organization-based constructs in an academic context.