Adolescent smoking intentions: gender differences in peer context.

Despite widespread interest in adolescent smoking behavior, little research has been directed to the social dynamics of adolescent smoking. In this paper, smoking intentions and peer group influences among a sample of 1,689 Grade 8 students from southern Ontario were analyzed to ascertain possible gender-specific correlates in adolescent smoking intentions. The peer environment was found to be a crucial factor in adolescent smoking behavior. Particularly striking for adolescent girls was the firmness of their expressed intentions to continue to smoke quite early in their smoking lives.     

Parental autonomy granting during adolescence: exploring gender differences in context

This study investigated the ways in which 2 indicators of parental autonomy granting, adolescents' decision-making input and parental knowledge of adolescents' daily experiences, differed as a function of contextual factors (i.e., parents' gender role attitudes or sibling dyad sex composition) and boys' and girls' personal qualities (i.e., gender, pubertal status, developmental status, or birth order) in a sample of 194 families with firstborn (M = 15.0 years) and second-born (M = 12.5 years) adolescents. Firstborns were granted more autonomy than second borns, especially in families with firstborn girls and second-born boys. Girls in families marked by traditional maternal gender role attitudes were granted fewer autonomy opportunities. Postmenarcheal second-born girls were granted more opportunities for autonomy than were premenarcheal second-born girls, but only in families with less traditional maternal gender role attitudes.     

Early gender differences in the functional usage of language

Early male and female differences in the functional use of language were investigated by coding the verbal interactions of 32 preschool children during a 10-minute play session with same-sex peer. The speech of each child was classified into functional-motivational categories using the FIS-P scoring instrument. The findings were consistent with the literature on adult conversational styles, showing that males talk more and are more assertive in their social interactions than are females. The results of this study demonstrate the existence of early gender differences in the functional use of language and emphasize the importance of a developmental approach to the study of communication styles.     

Taiwanese adolescents' perceptions and attitudes regarding the internet: exploring gender differences

The purpose of this study was to explore adolescents' perceptions and attitudes regarding the Internet, by gender. Data were collected from 636 high school students in Taiwan. It was found that male adolescents perceived the Internet more as a "toy," while female adolescents perceived the Internet more as a "technology," "tool" or "tour." Results indicated that females held more pragmatic views of the Internet, whereas males believed they could obtain more enjoyment from the Internet. In addition, males expressed significantly more positive attitudes than did females on two aspects of the Internet: usefulness and perceived control. However, no significant gender differences were found in terms of the affection and behavior aspects of using the Internet. More importantly, females tended to show higher Internet self-efficacy than did males. It is suggested that gender differences regarding the Internet might be narrowing because female adolescents are acquiring more experience with it.     

Adolescent individuation in relation to parents and friends: Age and gender differences

The general aim of the study was to examine age and gender differences in various aspects of dependency needs and autonomy strivings of Slovene adolescents in relations to parents and friends. Another research question was whether the components of separation – individuation in relation to parents were related to four aspects of adolescent – friends relationships which resemble some aspects of separation – individuation (i.e., support seeking from friends, friends' idealization, successful separation, fear of losing friends' love). The questionnaires were given to 495 adolescents in Grades 7 to 12. Results showed that early adolescence is a period during which the most prominent changes occur in individuation process. In comparison with other groups, seventh graders showed the highest levels of dependency needs (i.e., high support seeking, high parental idealization). Another group of early adolescents (eighth graders) appeared to be the most ambivalent group as far as individuation towards parents is concerned. A pattern of successful individuation was most evident in the two late adolescent groups. Girls reported greater support seeking and more successful individuation from parents and friends than boys. On the other hand, boys showed more excessive autonomy strivings in their individuation, but they also reported more parental and friends' idealization than girls. We found a support for the thesis about positive associations between the aspects of separation – individuation that are reflected in adolescent – parents and adolescent – friends relations. However, the results also support the thesis that in the case of less satisfactory relations with parents adolescents can compensate for the deprivation of their dependency needs by an increased support seeking in their relations with friends.     

Typical dreams: stability and gender differences

Although the variability of dream content is large, typical dream themes that occur quite often and are reported by many people can be identified (e.g., being chased, falling, flying, failing an examination, being unable to find a toilet or restroom). The present study is an investigation of the stability of the rank order of the dream themes and of gender differences in the content of dreams. The authors administered A. L. Zadra and T. A. Nielsen's (1997) Typical Dream Questionnaire to 444 participants. The findings indicated that most of the 55 dream themes occurred at least once in most of the participants' lifetimes. In addition, the correlation coefficients for the rank order of the themes were very high; that is, the relative frequencies were stable. The gender differences in the present study were in line with content analytic findings; for example, men reported dreams about physical aggression more often than did women. Overall, previous research and the present data indicate that available research results of the measurement of typical dream themes are reliable and valid. The question of the meaning of these themes or the relationship between typical dream contents and waking life experiences, however, has not yet been answered and is open to future research.     

Cognitive gender differences: A developmental perspective

This article reviews the developmental literature on cognitive gender differences and compares past and present trends in gender differences, by age, from the standardizations of the Wechsler Intelligence Scales (1949–1981) and the California Achievement Tests (CAT; 1956–1985). Consistent with prior research, decreases in gender differences were found for adolescents. For children, gender differences were small or nonexistent in the Wechsler and CAT norms from 1949–1985. For adults, notable gender differences were often found on the subtests of the Wechsler scales, and have remained relatively constant over the past generation.I would like to thank Donald Ross Green for providing me with Clark's (1958) paper.     

Religious cultures and gender cultures: tracing gender differences across religious cultures

This special issue of the Journal of Contemporary Religion focuses on varying empirical connections and theoretical relations between ‘religion’ and ‘gender’. The introduction to this special issue suggests a theoretical approach which is sensitive to culture by drawing on a phenomenological understanding of culture that is based on knowledge and meaning production and sense making. At first sight, this may not sound convincing because ‘culture’ is a category that is most notably used in combination with religion and gender in culturalist ways. In the migration societies of contemporary Europe, religion has become a metaphor for cultural difference and symbolic boundary-making. The core element of this approach is the conceptualisation of culture as a social web consisting of symbolic forms based on signs of meaning that shape social action, orientation, and experience in the world, including the religious sphere. This entails an understanding of religion as a distinct province of meaning that is structured by processes of social symbolisation just like any other sphere of life. This approach reveals that culturalist conceptions of both religion and gender have specific social meanings as meaningful signs in the symbolic order of secular modernity.     

The stability of individual differences in gender typing: Implications for understanding gender segregation

The stability of individual differences has important implications for understanding the origins of gender-typed behaviors. For example, if some children have a stronger preference for same-sex playmates (gender segregation) than do others, then exploring characteristics that may differentiate these children from their peers (e.g., preference for gender-typed toys or teacher proximity) should prove fruitful. Otherwise, research might be focused more appropriately on group-level processes or situational factors rather than individual differences. In the current study, 57 2 1/2- to 3-year-olds from middle-class Canadian homes were observed repeatedly during free play at their preschools. Four aspects of gender typing (gender segregation, use of masculine and feminine gender-typed toys, teacher proximity) were measured so that the stability of individual differences and relations among the measures could be assessed. Stable individual differences were found for all four measures among boys, and for two of the measures (feminine toy play, teacher proximity) among girls. In addition, boys who played most frequently with masculine toys rarely were observed in proximity to the teacher. However, there was no relation between gender segregation and the other indices of gender typing.     

Self-esteem and sexual behavior: Exploring gender differences

Previous studies have shown that the relationship between sexual permissiveness and self-esteem fluctuates with the social climate. The present study found that high self-esteem males and females had a significantly greater number of sexual partners than low self-esteem subjects. The relationship is particularly strong for males. The greatest difference in self-esteem levels was found between male virgins and nonvirgins. Self-esteem levels did not differ between female virgins and nonvirgins. Sensation seeking, marital status, and age were also found to be significantly related to number of coital partners.     

Urban youth disruptive behavioral difficulties: exploring association with parenting and gender

The current study will examine behavioral difficulties among a sample of African American urban youth who were exposed to violence. Possible gender differences in disruptive behavioral difficulties, as well as possible associations between parental practices, family relationships, and youth disruptive behavioral difficulties are examined. A secondary data analysis from baseline data for 125 African American urban mothers and their children collected as part of a large-scale, urban, family-based, HIV prevention research study was analyzed. Findings reveal that externalizing behavioral problems in youth are associated with exposure to violence. Girls displayed significantly higher levels of externalizing behavioral difficulties than boys. Mothers' parenting practices and family relationships were associated with youths' externalizing behavior problems. Implications for interventions to reduce youths' exposure to violence and to develop gender sensitive interventions for youth and supportive interventions for their parents are discussed.     

Framing gender differences: Linguistic normativity affects perceptions of power and gender stereotypes

When unknown groups and equal status groups are compared by contrasting one group (“the effect to be explained”) against another (“the linguistic norm”), the group positioned as the norm is sometimes perceived as more powerful, more agentic, and as less communal. Such perceptions may contribute to status‐linked stereotypes, as group differences are spontaneously described by positioning higher‐status groups as the linguistic norm. Here, 103 participants considered gender differences in status to be larger and more legitimate and applied gender stereotypes more readily upon reading about gender differences in leadership that were framed around a male rather than a female linguistic norm. These effects did not generalize to 113 participants who read about gender differences in leisure time preferences framed around either norm. Jointly, these results suggest that the effects of linguistic framing on perceived group status and power and on group stereotypes generalize to domains where there are real differences in status, and contexts in which higher‐status groups are the default standard for comparison. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Remembering talk: individual and gender differences in reported speech

This study examined individual and group differences in the nature and frequency of reports of past speech in the autobiographical memories of young adults. A sample of 108 participants (60 females, 48 males) responded in writing to six memory prompts. They also completed the Five Factor Inventory (Costa & McCrae, 1992) and the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (Spence & Helmreich, 1978). The frequency with which participants used reported speech was correlated with agreeableness, openness, and expressivity; however, regression analyses indicated that narrators' gender alone was the best predictor. Females used more reported speech than did males. The findings suggest that recollections of past speech are an under-appreciated yet important component of autobiographical memory.     

MMPI short forms with adolescents: gender differences in accuracy

The influence of gender on accuracy for eight short forms of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) was investigated using a sample of adolescents. MMPI responses from 318 male and 248 female psychiatric patients, aged 12 to 17, were scored for the standard MMPI, Mini-Mult (using two methods; Kincannon, 1968), Midi-Mult (Dean, 1972), two Maxi-Mults (McLachlan, 1974; Spera & Robertson, 1974), Hugo Short Form (Hugo, 1972), Faschingbauer Abbreviated MMPI (FAM; Faschingbauer, 1974), and MMPI-168 (Overall & Gomez-Mont, 1974). Discrepancy values were obtained for all short-form T-scores by subtracting each short-form T-score from its corresponding standard form T-score. These discrepancy values were analyzed using Gender x Short Form repeated measures multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVAs). Because the number of scales varied among the short forms, two separate analyses were performed, one containing all short forms but only the 11 scales that appeared on all short forms and the other containing all scales but only the three short forms that contained all scales. McLachlan's (1974) Maxi-Mult was excluded from the analysis because of its nearly identical statistical properties to Spera and Robertson's (1974) Maxi-Mult. The interaction was significant on most scales in both analyses. Simple-effects breakdowns of the interactions revealed that the accuracy of each short form differed according to gender on several scales, following no consistent pattern. The Midi-Mult and Maxi-Mult are guardedly recommended as the short forms with the lowest number of scales showing a gender difference; however, the reader is cautioned that this difference is still present in more than one third of the scales. Further research on short-form development is advocated.     

Remembering talk: Individual and gender differences in reported speech

This study examined individual and group differences in the nature and frequency of reports of past speech in the autobiographical memories of young adults. A sample of 108 participants (60 females, 48 males) responded in writing to six memory prompts. They also completed the Five Factor Inventory (Costa & McCrae, 1992) and the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (Spence & Helmreich, 1978). The frequency with which participants used reported speech was correlated with agreeableness, openness, and expressivity; however, regression analyses indicated that narrators’ gender alone was the best predictor. Females used more reported speech than did males. The findings suggest that recollections of past speech are an under-appreciated yet important component of autobiographical memory.     

Personality patterns of suicide attempters: gender differences in Ukraine

In the present study, an attempt has been made to investigate the complete 'pattern' of a suicide attempter (SA) within the set of Big Five traits. Two models were used: M1, which includes the five main dimensions of Big Five in the analysis; and M2, which includes facets of those dimensions which were identified as important in M1. The study consisted of a group of SA (men - 326, women - 299) and a group of healthy volunteers (HV) (men - 143, women - 190) with a similar age range. Discriminant analysis (DA) showed that the factors most significant in discriminating the personality pattern of a male SA are (in decreasing order): (E) Extraversion, (N) Neuroticism, (C) Conscientiousness and (O) Openness; and for a female SA these factors were (E) Extraversion, (C) Conscientiousness and (A) Agreeableness. In M2 for men, the largest contribution to pattern recognition is (N3) Depression. Moreover, in M2 for men significant characteristics were (in descending order): (E6) Positive Emotions, (O1) Fantasy, (E4) Activity, and also (N2) Angry Hostility, (C3) Dutifulness, (C4) Achievement Striving, (C2) Order and (O6) Values; and for women: (E4) Activity, (C6) Deliberation, (C2) Order, (A6) Tender-Mindedness, (E5) Excitement Seeking, (E6) Positive Emotions, (C4) Achievement Striving, (A2) Straightforwardness, (C5) Self-Discipline and (E1) Warmth. Analysis of the obtained data demonstrates that suicide attempts amongst males, can largely be associated with personality variables reflecting negative emotions; while female suicide attempts are primarily associated with variables regarding activity and self-regulation.     

Cross-generational stability of gender differences in sexuality

A sample of 4767 people (roughly representative of Britain) replied to a sex questionnaire issued within the pages of a National newspaper. Respondents were divided into two broad age-groups (above and below thirty) in order to assess the impact of the women's movement on traditional gender differences basic to the so-called ‘double standard’. Men emerged as markedly more interested in casual encounters and sexual variety than women, and there was no sign at all that this difference has diminished among the modern generation. An analysis of reported sexual difficulties indicated that young people have gained little benefit from all the sex manuals and advice that are available today: the problems persist in exactly the same proportion as with the older generation. Of particular interest was the frequency with which women in both age-groups reported boredom and disinterest in sex as problematic.     

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.