Evaluation of the Performance of Experimenters as a Function of Their Sex and Competence1

A study was conducted to investigate evaluations of experimenters as a function of their sex and competency. It was hypothesized that (a) competent male and female experimenters would be evaluated as equal in competence, but that females acting incompetently would be judged as less competent than would males who were also acting incompetently and (b) competent females would be judged as less feminine relative to incompetent females; whereas incompetent females would be judged as extremely feminine. Undergraduate males and females viewed videotapes of male or female experimenters acting either competently or incompetently and then rated these experimenters on a 20-item semantic differential scale. It was found that when the female experimenters unambiguously displayed competence, they were judged as of equal competence to male experimenters acting in a similar manner; in the incompetent condition, however, female experimenters were judged as less competent than male experimenters. Competent females were perceived as less feminine than incompetent females; incompetent females were perceived as more feminine than females in any other experimenter condition. It was postulated that these findings were due to (a) subjects’expecting incompetency of women and (b) subjects’equating competence with the masculine role and incompetence with the feminine role.     

You Look Mahvelous: An Examination of Gender and Appearance Comments in the 1999–2000 Prime-Time Season

The purpose of this study was to examine the number and type of appearance comments made and received between female and male characters and whether the employment of women writers mitigated verbal interactions about appearance in the 1999–2000 prime-time season. The results show that although male and female characters comment equally on other characters' appearance, female characters are twice as likely to be the recipients of those comments. The gender of the receiver also influences the type of appearance comment made. Male characters are more likely to insult males than females and to compliment females than males. In contrast, female characters insult and compliment female and male characters with equal frequency. Overall, the employment of women writers is related to a significant increase in the overall number of appearance comments made and a significant decrease in the number of insults.     

Observers’ reactions to workplace incivility in the masculine domain: How does role congruency explain gender bias in future workers?

Based on Role Congruity Theory, we tested the hypothesis of gender bias by examining gender differences in observers’ evaluations of the awareness and acceptability of workplace incivility gender‐dyad interaction. Three hundred and ninety‐six Spanish high school students (55.3% female) read one scenario of overt incivility (publicly humiliates and openly doubts the employee's judgment) or covert (omits and pays little attention) from a leader (female vs. male) toward a subordinate (female vs. male) in engineering. Results indicated gender differences among observers. From the leader actor of incivility, males were more aware and accepted less the incivility when performed by a female leader in a male domain; whereas females were more aware and accepted less incivility than males in all cases. Regarding the subordinate target of incivility, only females were more aware and accepted less incivility, and both males and females were more aware and accepted less covert incivility. Our results reveal practical implications for interventions from a gender perspective.     

The vanished pregnant body in psychoanalytic female developmental theory

The author contends that the pregnant body-the premier icon of the mature female body-has vanished from our psychoanalytic theory of female development. Until we are able to restore this missing entity on a par with the phallus, the developmental theory for both sexes remains fixated in phallocentricism. The author traces some of the evidence for this claim in a brief overview of the literature, a study of the relevant aspects of the case of Little Hans, and a look at the history of medical teaching, in particular illustrations from the first dissections of female bodies in the sixteenth century, which demonstrate a view of the female body as essentially male. A puzzle remains about the marked tendencies that both males and females had, and still have, to distort the female body image. The author offers a clinical example, and the suggestion that the plasticity of the female form in all its developmental phases may underlie the paradoxical requirement that stable mental representations be established upon an elusive set of shifting images.     

Sex differences in the naming of children's genitalia

Children's knowledge of human genital anatomy was examined retrospectively. Of the 223 adults who responded to a questionnaire on this subject, 39.8% of males and 29% of females learned correct anatomical names for male genitalia as children. In contrast, only 6.1% of females and 17.7% of males learned correct names for female genitalia. Most respondents learned either euphemisms or no names for female genitalia as children. Whereas male respondents acquired a complete vocabulary for male genitalia by a mean age of 11.5 years, female respondents did not complete their anatomical vocabulary for female genitalia until a mean age of 15.6 years. The importance of recognizing that children have erotic experiences and that they need a vocabulary for describing their feelings is discussed.     

Different patterns of biting attack employed by lactating female mice (Mus domesticus) in encounters with male and female conspecific intruders

Attacks by resident lactating female mice were examined in a variety of situations. Relatively few attack bites to vulnerable body regions were seen when pairs of unfamiliar lactating females fought, establishing social status prior to communal nesting. Sexually naive male and female intruders were equally prone to attack by lactating females, but patterns of bite attack generated by them were very different; males received the more damaging attacks. More signs of "fear" were seen in the lactating females' responses to male rather than female intruders. Varied motivations may underlie attacks by lactating females directed to conspecific intruders. Defensive patterns of biting by lactating females are more consistently directed towards males, intruders that are more likely to harm or destroy the litter. Although attacks by females rarely thwarted infanticide by male intruders, the behavior may acutely protect parental investment.     

Gender,Leadership Orientation,and Effectiveness: Testing the Theoretical Models of Bolman & Deal and Quinn

This study examined the differences in gender between a “balanced” or “unbalanced” orientation of leadership, leadership characteristics, and the perceived effectiveness of educational leaders through subordinate responses in the context of Bolman and Deal's (1991, 1997) four-frame leadership theory and Quinn's (1988) competing values model. The findings suggest that any differences in the perceived effectiveness of educational leaders in the three leadership type groups are equally true for male and female leaders, and that male and female educational leaders were perceived to be equally effective in their respective organizations despite the stereotypical connotations asserted in previous research. In addition, no significant differences were found between men and women in their leadership characteristics, which stands in contrast to extant research-supported evidence. This study analyzed the ratings of 57 leaders (males = 31; females = 26) by 472 subordinate participants (males = 234; females = 238) from lower, middle, and upper management levels in secondary and postsecondary institutions. Approximately 60% of the participants and one third of the educational leaders were African Americans.     

Perceptions of cotherapists as a function of therapist sex roles and observer sex roles

These two studies examined how therapist sex-role behaviors and subject sex roles influence perceptions of cotherapists conducting marital therapy. As hypothesized, ratings of therapist competence, strength, and impact varied directly with verbal dominance. Contrary to expectations, this effect was not stronger for female therapists than for male therapists. However, verbally dominant females were seen as less in charge than verbally dominant males. Reversal of traditional instrumental and expressive sex-role styles was more salient for male therapists than for females. Nontraditional therapist sex-role styles were seen as providing a greater learning experience than traditional styles. As predicted, androgynous subjects rated male and female therapists equal in competence and strength, and were equally comfortable with each. Sex-typed males and females demonstrated a preference for the female therapist, rating her higher in competence and strength. These studies suggest that cotherapists' attention to the models they present should encompass sex-role behaviors and styles.An earlier draft of this article was presented as a paper at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Toronto, August 1978.     

Classroom Interactions: Gender of Teacher,Gender of Student,and Classroom Subject

An observational study investigated the effects of gender of teacher, gender of student, and classroom subject (mathematics vs. English literature/language) on teacher–student interactions. A total of 597 high school students (294 males and 303 females) and 36 teachers (28 males and 8 females) were observed in either 18 mathematics classes or 18 literature/language classes. Students and teachers were predominately Caucasian, with the majority of students from a lower- or middle-class background. Observations were coded using the interactions for sex equity in classroom teaching (INTERSECT) observational instrument. It was found that female mathematics teachers, male literature/language teachers, and female literature/language teachers tended to interact somewhat more with male students than with female students. This tendency was not the result of male students having initiated more direct verbal interactions with teachers.     

Body image satisfaction in Turkish adolescents

The purpose of this study was to determine the level of body image satisfaction in Turkish adolescents and whether it varied according to age, sex, socioeconomic status, early versus late sexual maturation, participation in physical activities, and frequency of exposure to information about body development and appearance in the mass media. Subjects were 269 female and 286 male secondary school students, aged 11-18. They were administered the Body Image Satisfaction Questionnaire. Results indicated that males were more satisfied with their bodies than were females, early-maturing males and late-maturing females had higher levels of body image satisfaction, and participants in physical activities were more satisfied with their bodies than were nonparticipants.     

Gender and Truthfulness in Daily Life Situations

To determine the extent to which perceivedgender enters into judgments of credibility indaily-life situations, 46 raters (23 males and 23females matched for age and education) read a set ofaccusations and rated synthetic speakers' audiotapedresponses to the accusations on how believable the maleand female synthetic speakers were. The results suggestthat on the daily-life scenarios posed, both male and female speakers are equally likely to judgefemale speakers to be more credible than male speakers,whether the accusation is deemed to reflect anintentional or negligent act.     

SEX AND JOB ORIENTATION

Three samples, each divided into males and females, were asked to indicate to what degree some job characteristics were important to them. The job characteristics represented both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. In the first sample (40 male and 44 female university students) there was no sex difference in job orientation. Both selected the intrinsic factors more than the extrinsic factors. There was also no sex difference in the second sample, which consisted of 68 male and 33 female public school teachers. They, however, stressed as many intrinsic factors as extrinsic. The general results of the third sample showed significant sex differences. The sample of 259 male and 143 female employees represented a technical division of a large service-oriented organization. Education and job level were significantly different for the two subgroups. When these two variables were controlled for a sample of clerks and of first-level supervisors, no sex difference appeared in job orientation. The results also showed that the higher the job level, the more intrinsically-oriented the employees were regardless of their sex.     

Comparative analysis of the occupational stress profiles of male versus female administrators

This study sought: (1) to compare the occupational stress profiles of male versus female educational administrators to deternine whether there were significant differences in their profiles, and (2) to examine whether males and females were equally good candidates for administrative jobs, which positions are often associated with a high degree of job-related stress. A 35-item questionnaire, known as the Administrative Stress Index (ASI) was sent to all members of the Confederation of Oregon School Administrators (n = 1855). The 1156 usable questionnaires were returned. Approximatley 9.3% (or 108) of the respondents were female. One-way analyses of variance showed that female administrators experienced substantially lower levels of self-perceived occupational stress than their male counterparts. Findings were disucssed primarily in terms of implications for recruitment of women into administrative positions.     

Sex-differentiated behaviors in nonsexist picture books

Charges of behavioral and sex-role stereotyping in preschool picture books have led to the publication of books that purportedly avoid or challenge traditional sex stereotypes (i.e., positive image or nonsexist picture books). This study sought to identify behaviors (as distinguished from sex-typed activities or social roles) exhibited by female and male characters in nonsexist books, and to compare these portrayals with those presented in more conventional picture books (Caldecott award-winners and contemporary best-sellers). A reliable coding system (interrater reliability exceeding 90%), permitting the identification of 15 target behaviors in the text and illustrations of picture books was developed and employed in the content analysis of 50 nonsexist and 46 conventional picture books. Stepwise discriminant function and chi-square analyses revealed highly independent females and nurturant and nonaggressive males in nonsexist books—portrayals that represent a clear departure from traditional sex stereotypes in this society. On the other hand, females in nonsexist books were more nurturant, emotional, and less physically active than males in either nonsexist or conventional books. Finally, with the single exception of aggressive behavior (males exceeding females), there was no indication of behavioral sex-typing in the conventional books. Implications are discussed.The author wishes to express his deep appreciation to Carol Quarton for her invaluable assistance in the development of the coding system used in this study. The author also wishes to think Mary Neal and Leslie Schindler for their careful and discriminating content analyses of the books, and Drs. George Milliken and Frank Saal for their statistical consultation. Finally, special thanks to Lorraine Nesmith, the former Children's Librarian at the Manhattan Public Library, Manhattan, Kansas, for her generous support and counsel throughout this project.     

Repeated Auditory Stimulation of the Startle Response in the Guinea Pig

Simulated and behavioral personal space measures and the Sensation Seeking Scale were administered to 20 males and 20 females. In the simulated measures Ss positioned male and female top profiles relative to a top profile representing themselves at each of nine equally spaced angles. For the behavioral measure Ss were approached by a male or female at each of the nine angles.

The female “swinger” had greater simulated personal space. Males who liked new and interesting experiences had greater side and diagonal simulated personal space, and females high on the same scale had a closer behavioral personal space toward males except at the sides. Males and females responded similarly to males and females approaching from various directions. However, there was no relation between front and side simulated personal space for males. Size of personal space relative to females tended to be highly correlated with size of personal space toward males. However, for male Ss there was little relation between front personal space toward males and females. For male Ss simulated personal space and behavioral personal space were highly correlated. For female Ss the two measures were almost completely unrelated.     

Heroes and heroines among American adolescents

Based upon the analysis of questionnaire responses of 1092 high school students, an attempt was made to assess the type of heroes and heroines most often chosen. The major findings are that high school students have more heroes than heroines, that they have an approximately equal number of personal heroes and heroines, and that the preference for heroes is not altered when the sex or race of the respondents is considered. The findings are explained both by the greater numbers of males than females in public professional roles and by the greater salience of male than female professional role models. Implications of the possible effects of hero and heroine choices for sex-role identification are discussed.     

Television Situation Comedies: Female Weight,Male Negative Comments,and Audience Reactions

A content analysis of 18 prime-time television situation comedies (two episodes each) examined the body weights of 37 central female characters (92% White, 8% Black), the negative comments they received from male characters about their weight or bodies, and the audience reactions (e.g., laughter) following the negative comments. It was found that (a) below-average weight females were overrepresented in the programs, (b) the heavier the female character, the significantly more negative comments were made about or to her, and (c) negative comments were significantly associated with audience reactions. These results indicate that situation comedies present males making derogatory remarks about heavier women's weights and bodies, with this behavior being reinforced by audience laughter. This combination of thinness modeling and vicarious reinforcement likely contributes to the internalization of gender and weight stereotypes which deleteriously affect the health of female adolescents.     

Adolescents' attitudes toward suicide, and a suicidal peer: A comparison between Swedish and Turkish high school students

The present paper first presents the attitudes toward suicide and a suicidal classmate among 98 female and 69 male (N = 167) Swedish high school students. Secondly, the Swedish sample was compared with 167 (89 female and 78 male) Turkish high school students from a previous study. Among Swedish students, more males than females said that people have the right to commit suicide and suicide can be a solution to some problems. More females than males expressed a belief in life after death. Swedish adolescents were found to be holding more liberal attitudes toward suicide than Turkish adolescents. However, Turkish adolescents showed greater acceptance for a suicidal peer than Swedish adolescents. The results are discussed in terms of socio-cultural factors and related literature. The need for educational programs to provide basic knowledge about suicide and, effective ways of dealing with and helping suicidal peers is implicated.     

Rare male aggression directed toward females in a female‐dominated society: Baiting behavior in the spotted hyena

Spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) are gregarious carnivores. The females are socially dominant to males, and adult males rarely direct aggression toward adult females. This study analyzed all cases in which adult immigrant males behaved aggressively toward adult females in a large population of free‐living hyenas in Kenya, observed for 11 years. Our goals were to describe the conditions under which male attacks on females occur, and address possible adaptive functions. Most aggression directed by adult immigrant males against females occurred when coalitions of two or more males attacked a single adult female, who typically responded by defending herself and fighting back. Male aggression against females frequently occurred at sites of ungulate kills, but males never behaved aggressively toward females over food, and all male attacks on females were unprovoked. Although no mounting or other copulatory behaviors ever occurred during or immediately after an attack, the number of male attacks on females peaked around the time of conception. Daily rates at which males attacked females did not vary with female social rank. However, daily attack rates did vary significantly with female reproductive state, and the highest rates of male attack on females were observed during the two stages of the reproductive cycle during which females were most likely to conceive litters. The adaptive significance of male aggression against females in this species remains unknown, but a tight association between male attacks on females and a female's time of conception provides strong evidence of some role for male aggression in hyena sexual behavior. In particular, our data are consistent with hypotheses suggesting that male aggression toward females in this species either serves to inform females about male fitness or represents sexual harassment. Aggr. Behav. 29:457–474, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.