Factorial invariance and latent mean differences of scores on trait emotional intelligence across gender and age

Little is known about the factorial invariance and latent mean difference across sex and age in trait emotional intelligence (EI). The purpose of this study was to examine whether the measurement structure underlying trait EI is equivalent across sex and age groups. The sample consisted of 2919 teenagers, youths and adults. In order to investigate the above hypothesis the measurement and structural equivalence as well as the equality of latent means of scores across sex and age were tested. The multi-group confirmatory factor analysis results revealed that configural, metric, scalar and structural invariance exist across sex and age samples. Findings regarding the latent mean differences across sex and age groups are discussed with reference to recent and past findings.     

On the longitudinal interplay between perfectionism and general affect in adolescents

Cross-sectional studies on perfectionism and general affect tend to interpret their findings suggesting affect is an outcome of perfectionism. However, personality theories posit that individual differences in general affect may also influence perfectionism. Expecting to find bidirectional relations, this 3-wave study sought to examine the longitudinal interplay between perfectionism and general affect in a sample of 489 adolescents (54% female) aged 12–19 years. Cross-lagged panel analyses showed a positive unidirectional effect from positive affect to perfectionistic standards as well as a positive bidirectional effect between perfectionistic concerns and negative affect. As expected, general affect was both an antecedent and an outcome of perfectionism. Implications of the findings for the development and outcomes of perfectionism are discussed.     

Perceiving age and gender in unfamiliar faces: an fMRI study on face categorization

Efficient processing of unfamiliar faces typically involves their categorization (e.g., into old vs. young or male vs. female). However, age and gender categorization may pose different perceptual demands. In the present study, we employed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to compare the activity evoked during age vs. gender categorization of unfamiliar faces. In different blocks, participants performed age and gender classifications for old or young unfamiliar faces (50% female respectively). Both tasks elicited activations in the bilateral fusiform gyri (fusiform face area, FFA) and bilateral inferior occipital gyri (occipital face area, OFA). Importantly, the same stimuli elicited enhanced activation during gender as compared to age categorization. This enhancement was significant in the right FFA and the left OFA, and may be related to increased configural processing. Our findings replicate and extend recent work, and shows that the activation of core components of the face processing network is strongly dependent on task demands.     

Cognitive and emotional empathy in typically developing children: The influence of age,gender, and intelligence

In the current study, the influence of age, gender and IQ on cognitive and emotional empathy in school-aged children and adolescents was examined adopting two behavioural paradigms: participants were shown film clips with different scenes of social interaction to which they were asked to respond. Thus, 134 children aged seven to 17 years (mean age = 138.4 months, sd = 31.66 months) were tested for emotion recognition, perspective taking and emotional empathy. Age strongly influenced components of cognitive empathy and explained 33.5% to 39.1% of the variance. Gender and IQ also were significant predictors, yet only explained 3% to 5%, respectively 8% to 9% of the variance. In contrast, neither age, gender nor IQ were related to emotional empathy. Results suggest developmental maturation of cognitive, but not emotional empathy throughout childhood and adolescence. To explain variability in emotional empathy, additional biological and psychosocial factors need to be studied.     

Variations in decision-making profiles by age and gender: A cluster-analytic approach

Using cluster-analysis, we investigated whether rational, intuitive, spontaneous, dependent, and avoidant styles of decision making (Scott & Bruce, 1995) combined to form distinct decision-making profiles that differed by age and gender. Self-report survey data were collected from 1075 members of RAND’s American Life Panel (56.2% female, 18–93 years, M_age = 53.49). Three decision-making profiles were identified: affective/experiential, independent/self-controlled, and an interpersonally-oriented dependent profile. Older people were less likely to be in the affective/experiential profile and more likely to be in the independent/self-controlled profile. Women were less likely to be in the affective/experiential profile and more likely to be in the interpersonally-oriented dependent profile. Interpersonally-oriented profiles are discussed as an overlooked but important dimension of how people make important decisions.     

The independence of positive and negative affect depends on the affect measure

This study examined the degree of independence between Positive Affect (PA) and Negative Affect (NA) within a given situation. The affective state was measured before and after an experimentally induced success or failure experience in an anagram task. Two types of affect measures were used to assess PA and NA: the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and a Pleasantness-Unpleasantness scale. Consistent with our hypotheses, results show that PA and NA are independent when measured with the PANAS but are correlated when assessed with the other scale. These PA-NA correlations differed significantly from each other before and after emotion induction, respectively. Additional analyses indicate that both PA scales are differentially sensitive to the mood induction procedure. The findings are discussed with respect to circumplex models of emotion.     

Level of emotional awareness in the general French population: Effects of gender,age, and education level

The Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale (LEAS) developed by Lane et al. ( 1990 1990) measures the ability of a subject to discriminate his or her own emotional state and that of others. The scale is based on a cognitive‐developmental model in which emotional awareness increases in a similar fashion to intellectual functions. Because studies performed using North American and German populations have demonstrated an effect of age, gender, and level of education on the ability to differentiate emotional states, our study attempts to evaluate whether these factors have the same effects in a general French population. 750 volunteers (506 female, 244 male), who were recruited from three regions of France (Lille, Montpellier, Paris), completed the LEAS. The sample was divided into five age groups and three education levels. The results of the LEAS scores for self and others and the total score showed a difference in the level of emotional awareness for different age groups, by gender and education level. A higher emotional level was observed for younger age groups, suggesting that emotional awareness depends on the cultural context and generational societal teachings. Additionally, the level of emotional awareness was higher in women than in men and lower in individuals with less education. This result might be explained by an educational bias linked to gender and higher education whereby expressive ability is reinforced. In addition, given the high degree of variability in previously observed scores in the French population, we propose a standard based on our French sample.     

The fading affect bias across alcohol consumption frequency for alcohol-related and non-alcohol-related events

The Fading Affect Bias (FAB) is the tendency for unpleasant emotions to fade more over time than pleasant emotions (Walker, Vogl, & Thompson, 1997). The FAB is negatively related to dysphoria (Walker, Skowronski, Gibbons, Vogl, & Thompson, 2003), which led researchers to suggest that the FAB is a healthy coping mechanism that improves the overall positivity of life (Walker, Skowronski, & Thompson, 2003). The FAB may also reinforce certain maladaptive behaviors, such as drinking alcohol, as the unpleasant emotions associated with those behaviors quickly fade from memory, and increase the likelihood of those behaviors in the future. If the FAB increases the likelihood of maladaptive alcohol consumption, the FAB should be greatest for ordinary events at low alcohol consumption levels, whereas the FAB should be greatest for alcohol events at high alcohol consumption levels. The results of two studies provided support for the hypotheses. The implications are discussed.     

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 worker scale: Developing a measure to explain gender differences in behavioral self-handicapping

Research has consistently found that men engage in more behavioral self-handicapping than do women. We first review evidence suggesting that these gender differences result from women placing more importance on displaying effort than do men. We then present the results of two studies seeking to develop measures of beliefs about effort that might explain these gender differences in behavioral self-handicapping. Women, across a wide range of measures, placed more importance on effort than did men. However, only a new measure of more personalized effort beliefs, dubbed the Worker scale, uniquely explained gender differences in dispositional tendency to behaviorally self-handicap. The Worker scale also predicted academic performance, consistent with the notion that these effort beliefs would predict engagement in actual behavioral self-handicaps that undermine performance.     

Age and gender comparisons of driving while sleepy: Behaviours and risk perceptions

To assist road safety professionals in developing effective strategies to combat the risk associated with driving while fatigued, a survey was administered to 1000 Australian drivers. Participants reported their past behaviours in regards to driving while sleepy and their perceptions of risk associated with driving fatigued as compared to speeding and driving under the influence of alcohol. Although participants appeared to be aware of the substantial risk associated with driving while sleepy, many drivers reported that they frequently drive when sleepy. Age and gender comparisons, revealed that risk taking behaviour in regards to driving while sleepy is occurring across all age groups and in both male and female drivers. Overall young to middle age drivers and male drivers reported the highest frequency of driving while sleepy and reported the lowest perceived personal risk in regards to driving while sleepy.     

An examination of gender differences in the construct validity of the silencing the self scale

Jack’s (1991) theory of self-silencing was originally designed to explain higher rates of depression in women in comparison to men. However, research finding that men score equal or even higher than women on measures of self-silencing has lead theorists to speculate that self-silencing tendencies may be driven by different motivations and have different consequences for women versus men (Jack & Ali, 2010). Using a sample of 247 college students, we examined gender differences in the construct validity of the Silencing the Self Scale (STSS; Jack & Dill, 1992). We hypothesized that women would score higher on the Externalized Self-Perception subscale, but not the other three subscales. Gender differences in the relationship between the STSS subscales and theoretically-relevant constructs were also explored. The results indicated that women on average scored higher than men on the Externalized Self-Perception subscale, whereas men scored higher on the Care as Self-Sacrifice subscale. Further, there was a significant Gender × Care as Self-Sacrifice subscale interaction in the prediction of depression, such that this subscale was negatively correlated to depression in men, and uncorrelated in women. These results clarify how self-silencing might translate into different mental health outcomes for women and men.     

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.     

Factorial structure and invariance across gender of the Swedish self-consciousness scale

In this study, I tested different factor models and the factorial invariance across gender for the Self-Consciousness Scale (Fenigstein, Scheier, & Buss (1975) using confirmatory factor analyses. University students (251 women and 259 men) completed the Swedish version of the scale. A respecified (Item 15 loading on the factor Internal State Awareness [ISA] instead of on the factor Self-Reflection [SR]) 17-item, 4-factor model of Burnkrant and Page (1984) including the factors SR, ISA, Public Self-Consciousness, and Social Anxiety demonstrated the best fit for both men and women. Factor intercorrelations were overall stronger for women. The respecified model demonstrated factorial invariance across gender. I discuss the strengthening of scale reliability through the expansion of subscale items and invariance testing across groups.     

Gender and age differences in emotion regulation strategies and their relationship to depressive symptoms

We examined differences between men and women, and between young, middle and older age adults in emotion regulation strategies (rumination, suppression, reappraisal, problem-solving, acceptance, social support) and the relationships between these strategies and depressive symptoms. Women were more likely than men to report using several different emotion regulation strategies, and these gender differences were significant even after statistically controlling for gender differences in depressive symptoms. Use of most strategies decreased with age, with two exceptions: (1) use of suppression increased with age for women but not for men and (2) use of acceptance did not decrease with age for women. Use of maladaptive strategies was associated with more depressive symptoms in all age groups and both genders, yet, the use of adaptive strategies generally was not related to lower levels depressive symptoms across groups.     

Age and gender differences in adolescents' homework experiences

Extant data collected through the Experience Sampling Method were analyzed to describe adolescents' subjective experiences of homework. Analyses explored age and gender differences in the time adolescents spend doing homework, and the situational variations (location and companions) in adolescents' reported concentration, effort, interest, positive affect and stress while doing homework. Regarding age differences, middle school students reported more positive experiences when homework was done with companions and in locations other than home, whereas high school students reported more positive experiences when homework was done alone and at home. Regarding gender differences, girls, regardless of age, reported greater stress than boys when doing homework alone, and lower stress when doing homework with friends. High school girls reported lower interest than middle school boys when doing homework alone. Findings provide an understanding of age and gender differences in adolescents' perceptions of homework, which might help educators and parents structure engaging homework environments.     

The relationship between personality and affect over the lifespan

This study compared the trait and emotion perspectives of personality development by examining relationships between extraversion, neuroticism, positive and negative affect across the lifespan. A total of 533 volunteers: 228 children and early adolescents (8 to 15 years), 163 late adolescents and young adults (16 to 29 years) and 142 adults (30 to 68 years) completed Eysenck's Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). Extraversion correlated significantly with positive affect and neuroticism with negative affect in each age group. As predicted by the emotion perspective, correlations were significantly stronger for adults than children and early adolescents. In addition, extraversion-positive affect and neuroticism-negative affect factors explained less variance for children and early adolescents compared to those of adults.