Student Ratings of a Male and Female Professors’ Lecture on Sex Discrimination in the Workforce

Using an experimental design, male (n = 41) and female (n = 46) undergraduate students in the southeastern USA evaluated an identical written lecture by a male and female professor on pay disparities between men and women in the workforce suggesting sex discrimination. Regardless of the students’ sex, the male professor and his lecture was rated more positively and less sexist than the female professor. Moderated multiple regression analysis indicated that more traditional and gender stereotypical attitudes toward women in male students were related to greater sexism ratings of the female professor compared to the male professor whereas; no differences on ratings of sexism between the male and female professor were found for male students with more liberal attitudes.     

Frequency of Exposure and Evaluation of Candidates and Campaign Speeches1

Three slides, each showing the photograph of a college-age male, were shown either 5, 10, or 25 times to a total of 95 students (S s). After the presentation, the slides, plus a fourth not previously shown, were presented as photographs of candidates in a campus election, each being paired with a campaign speech. Three speeches consisted of bland platitudes, whereas the fourth argued in favor of a large tuition increase. Ratings of the speeches and the candidates indicated that subjects were accurate in ranking the relative frequency of exposure of the four slides and that the controversial speech elicited less agreement and less favorable ratings than the three other messages. There were U-shaped curvilinear effects of exposure on S s' agreement with the messages, and with ratings of the persuasiveness of the message. Neither exposure nor speech effects were found in ratings of the candidates themselves. Implications of these findings for the frequency of exposure hypothesis (Zajonc, 1968) and for political campaigns are discussed.     

Peer Nominations for Leadership and Likability in Problem-Solving Groups as a Function of Gender and Task

Abstract

The relation of situational variables and gender to leadership selection and likability ratings was examined. Six mixed-gender groups of American students were given either an impersonal or personal task. There were measurements of frequency of speaking, leadership nominations, and likability ratings by group members. No significant differences in task performance associated with gender were found, but, consistent with traditional sex roles, in impersonal groups male students spoke more and were selected as leaders and most important contributors more frequently than were female students. The reverse was found for personal groups, in which women spoke more, were chosen as leaders more often, and received higher contribution rankings. Likability ratings were not as strongly determined by context: Female students were selected more frequently as most likable in both groups.     

Menopausal stage and age and perceptions of body image

Abstract

The aim of This study was to investigate the association between menopausal stage and age and women's perception of their body image. Females from a community sample (n = 304. age range from 35 to 65 years) volunteered to complete a structured questionnaire which contained the Multidimensional Body Self Relations Questionnaire (MBSRQ) and the Stunkard Body Shape Figure Scale. One hundred and twenty women were premenopausal, 76 women were perimenopausal and 108 were postmenopausal. The effects of age and menopausal stage could not be separated in ratings of appearance evaluation, fitness evaluation, current, ideal and societal ratings of the Stunkard Body Shape Figure Scale. Premenopausal women (who were likely to be younger) had more positive ratings of appearance evaluation and fitness evaluation than menopausal women (who were likely to be older). Women who were premenopausal nominated smaller figures from the Stunkard Body Shape Figure Scale for ratings of the current, ideal and societal body shape than women who were perimenopausal and postmenopausal. The implications of these findings as they relate to women as they progress through the menopausal transition and as they become older is discussed.     

Social perceptions of male and female extreme mesomorphs.

In this study, male and female university students in the United States were exposed to mesomorphic or nonmesomorphic stimuli as reflected by photographs of either male body builders and non-body builders or female body builders and non-body builders. Then they were asked to attribute various personality traits and sex-role behaviors to them. Subjects, irrespective of their sex, perceived male and female body builders as possessing more traditionally masculine and less traditionally feminine personality characteristics than male and female non-body builders. Also, male and female body builders were seen as possessing less socially desirable traits than non-body builders. As predicted, female body builders were perceived generally as being more likely to engage in traditionally masculine sex-role behaviors in their dating and marriage relationships than female non-body builders. Contrary to expectation, however, male body builders were not perceived as more likely to engage in higher levels of masculine sex-role behaviors than male non-body builders.     

More Than Just Skin Deep? Personality Information Influences Men's Ratings of the Attractiveness of Women's Body Sizes

ABSTRACT

This study examined the influence of personality information on perceptions of the physical attractiveness of a range of female body sizes. A sample of 2,157 male university students were randomly assigned to one of 10 groups in which they received personality information about women they were rating, or a control group in which they received no personality information. Controlling for participants' age and body mass index, results showed no significant between-group differences in the body size that participants found most attractive. However, participants provided with positive personality information perceived a wider range of body sizes as physically attractive compared with the control group, whereas participants provided with negative personality information perceived a narrower range of body sizes as attractive. Correlations showed that participants' own Extraversion was associated with their body size ratings. These results suggest that non-physical cues have an influence on the perception of physical beauty.     

Birth order differences in normal personality traits: Perspectives from within and outside the family

The hypotheses of Sulloway (1996) regarding birth order differences in five-factor model personality traits were tested in a sample of 231 college students with the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI; Costa & McCrae, 1992). Data were collected from three sources (self, peer, and parent) to systematically evaluate previous observations that birth order differences are more commonly found when ratings are obtained from family members than from observers outside the family (Ernst & Angst, 1983). Using a between-family design, students were selected only from families with two or three full biological siblings and no half-siblings, step-siblings, or adopted siblings. Firstborn (n = 103) and laterborn (n = 128) students were compared using NEO-FFI ratings by the self, by a same-sex college peer, and by a biological parent. No birth order differences were found for any of the five NEO-FFI scores using any of the three rating sources. Effect sizes (Cohen’s d) were less than .20 for all comparisons. Suggestions for new approaches to the study of birth order differences are considered, including the use of within-family designs and more contextualized personality variables.     

The Impact of Actual and Perceived Changes in Body Weight on Women's Physical Attractiveness

To determine whether small changes in body weight are likely to alter women's physical attractiveness, 100 college students were asked to select the more attractive photograph of 33 young women. Each of these 33 women were photographed twice, separated by an 8-ween interval during which all of them changed weight. These pairs were presented in varied orders to control for the effects of order and side of presentation. All photographs showed women in a standardized pose and attire with their faced masked. Lighter targets were not consistently selected as more attractive though 66% of the pairs of photographs differed in perceived attractiveness. The percentage weight difference between the photographs in each pair did not significantly alter the level of preference for one of the photographs. Nonetheless, photographs did tend to receive higher attractiveness ratings when the targets were perceived as weighing less. The results suggest that attractiveness varies more as a function of perceived than actual weight and that small changes in weight may not have a reliable influence on physical attractiveness.     

Some Characteristics of the Good Judge of Personality

Summary

Although ratings of subjects and judgments of personality from photographs may, on the average, be highly inaccurate, yet there exist considerable individual differences in the “intuitive” abilities of different judges or raters. Twenty measures of ability to judge personality were obtained for 48 judges, together with a number of measures of intellectual, social-asocial, and artistic tendencies. An extreme absence of consistency was found between the judging tests; the accuracy depends not only on the subject who is judged, but also on the content of the judgment and on the conditions under which the judgment is given. However, the personalities of the good and bad judges manifested fairly uniform characteristics. Good judges of self are more intelligent and possess more sense of humor than the average. Good judges of friends and associates are less socially inclined and less intelligent, but more artistic than good self-judges. Good judges of strangers are distinctly more artistic and intelligent than the average, and, under certain conditions, more asocial.     

Gender Bias in the Evaluation of Female Faculty at The Citadel: A Qualitative Analysis

The purpose of this study was to investigate the possibility of gender bias in student ratings of female faculty at The Citadel. Four (Caucasian) female faculty members, one at each level of academic rank, and four (Caucasian) male cadets were interviewed to determine their views on bias in the instructional process, especially with regard to ratings of faculty by students. From the data we concluded that there is a contradiction between beliefs about gender bias and the actual presence of bias for both faculty and students. Women are subjected to a double standard, and in the military setting of The Citadel, nontenure track female faculty are doubly penalized. Faculty women believe gender bias is part of the institutional culture, and contrapower harassment in ratings of female faculty by male students is likely.     

Exploring Internet Motives and Life Satisfaction Among Hungarian and Israeli Medical Students, Living in Hungary

Objective Using the Internet can influence psychological well-being, for instance life satisfaction has been negatively related to Internet uses. The first aim of this study was to compare the motives for Internet use and life satisfaction. The second aim was to explore nation- and gender-based differences in Internet uses. Method The questionnaires related to Internet motives and life satisfaction, and were filled out by 300 medical students, including 150 Israeli students (75 females, 75 males) and 150 Hungarian students (75 females, 75 males). Results In the Israeli and Hungarian sample, the entertainment motive was rated the highest while the escape motive was rated the lowest. There were significant differences between the Israeli male and female students in arousal and information-seeking, while for the Hungarian male and female students there were significant differences for pass time. Life satisfaction was higher in the Israeli sample. In both samples it was shown that the higher the life satisfaction was, the less likely the students were to use the Internet for companionship purposes. Again in both samples, a higher life satisfaction predicted less frequent use of the Internet for the social interaction motives.     

Self-Ratings of Physical Attractiveness in a Competitive Context: When Males are More Sensitive to Self-Perceptions Than Females

Abstract

The authors investigated sex differences in the ratings of physical attractiveness in a competitive context. Participants in an Ultimatum Game experiment offered to split a sum of money with their opponents who could either accept or reject the offers; subsequently, physical attractiveness ratings (both self-ratings and of the other) were obtained. The authors found that male participants rated themselves higher on physical attractiveness when facing male opponents than when facing female ones; there was no such difference for the female participants. Furthermore, male participants' self-ratings of physical attractiveness were higher than the ratings provided by their corresponding male opponents. The authors discuss these findings using the tenets of evolutionary psychology pertaining to as male intra-sexual rivalry in competitive contexts.     

Gender-Related Stereotypes of Transformational and Transactional Leadership

This study investigated gender differences in transformational and transactional leadership, and gender-related stereotypes for these forms of leadership. Results indicated that there were no differences in the way the primarily Caucasian subordinates evaluated their actual male and female managers. There were, however, differences in ratings of stereotypic male versus stereotypic female leaders on transformational and transactional leadership, but only by female respondents. Finally, congruence between ratings of actual managers and ratings of stereotypic managers was found primarily for male respondents. Results suggest that stereotypes may be one explanation for gender differences found in prior research on transformational and transactional leadership.     

Homeschool and Underage Drinking: Is It More Protective than Public and Private Schools?

This article examines differences in alcohol use between homeschool and both public and private school students. Applying regression analyses to two waves of the National Study of Youth and Religion, we found that homeschoolers were less likely to drink alcohol and get drunk than non-homeschoolers, which was explained in part by variables of social bonding, social learning, and, to a greater extent, religiosity. Specifically, parental monitoring helped explain differences between homeschool and private school students, while association with deviant friends partially accounted for differences with public school students. Religiosity, however, explained differences between homeschoolers and both types of non-homeschoolers.     

Non-binary and binary transgender youth: Comparison of mental health,self-harm,suicidality, substance use and victimization experiences

ABSTRACT

?Background: Little research has compared the mental health and victimization experiences of non-binary youth depending on their sex assigned at birth (SAAB), or compared these two groups with binary transgender youth.

Aims: To compare mental health, self-harm and suicidality, substance use and victimization experiences between non-binary and binary transgender young adults, both male assigned at birth (MAAB) and female assigned at birth (FAAB).

Methods: Online survey data from 677 participants from the “Youth Chances” community study of 16 to 25 year olds in the United Kingdom was analyzed, comparing across binary participants (transgender females (n = 105) and transgender males (n = 210)) and non-binary participants (MAAB (n = 93) and FAAB (n = 269)).

Results: Female SAAB participants (binary and non-binary) were more likely to report a current mental health condition and history of self-harm than male SAAB participants (binary and non-binary). Similarly, female SAAB participants (binary and non-binary) were more likely to report childhood sexual abuse than male SAAB participants (binary and non-binary); the reverse pattern was found for lifetime physical assault relating to being LGBTQ. Non-binary MAAB participants were less likely than the other groups to report past suicide attempts and previous help-seeking for depression/anxiety. Binary participants reported lower life satisfaction than non-binary participants. For all four groups, mental health problems, self-harm, suicidality, alcohol use and victimization experiences were generally higher than that of youth in general population studies.

Conclusions: These findings highlight the importance of considering both non-binary versus binary gender identity and SAAB in relation to mental health problems, self-harm, suicidality and substance use in transgender youth. The roles of sexual abuse, other abuse and discrimination in contributing to increased rates of mental illness and self-harm in non-binary and binary transgender individuals, particularly those who were assigned female at birth, relative to those assigned male, require investigation.     

Ethnicity and the stigma of disabilities

Abstract

Recent studies reveal significant differences in the attitudes held by people of various ethnic groups toward people with disabilities. We surveyed university students and community members on a scale of desired social distance from people with disabilities. Study 1 revealed that Asian-American participants were more likely to stigmatize and less likely to differentiate between individuals with physical and mental illness than were their African-American, Latin-American or European-American counterparts. Study 2 compared U.S. born with Asian born Asian-Americans and found that nativity was a useful predictor of attitudes toward people with disabilities. Asian born participants were more likely to stigmatize disabilities overall (except mental illness and old age) than U.S. born participants presumably because of the level of assimilation. These cultural differences may have health care and psychosocial implications for those who are disabled and for health care providers.     

The Representation of the Body Self in Human Figure Drawings

The matching of 25 frontal drawings of the female human figure with 25 frontal photographs of the college women who drew the figures was attempted by 30 male graduate psychology students and 30 women religious graduate students of art. The drawings and photos were arranged in envelopes according to a balanced lattice design, and presented to each of the judges in different envelopes in an order determined by randomized latin squares. Both groups matched the drawings with the photographs of the same Ss at significantly higher than chance expectancy (p<.01). These findings suggest that this matching technique may be of some value in testing the hypothesis of objective body self projection in human figure drawings.     

Gender congruence and body satisfaction in nonbinary transgender people: A case control study

Abstract

Background: Binary transgender people access gender affirming medical interventions to alleviate gender incongruence and increase body satisfaction. Despite the increase in nonbinary transgender people, this population are less likely to access transgender health services compared to binary transgender people. No research has yet understood why by exploring levels of gender congruence and body satisfaction in nonbinary transgender people.

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare levels of gender congruence and body satisfaction in nonbinary transgender people to controls [binary transgender people and cisgender (nontrans) people].

Method: In total, 526 people from a community sample in the UK took part in the study (97 nonbinary, 91 binary, and 338 cisgender identifying people). Participants were asked to complete an online survey about gender congruence and body satisfaction.

Results: There were differences in gender congruence and body satisfaction between nonbinary and binary transgender people. On sex-specific parts of the body (i.e., chest, genitalia, and secondary sex characteristics), nonbinary transgender people reported significantly higher levels of gender and body satisfaction compared to binary transgender people. However, there was no difference in congruence and satisfaction with social gender role between the two transgender groups (nonbinary and binary). Cisgender people reported significantly higher levels of gender congruence and body satisfaction compared to transgender people (nonbinary and binary).

Conclusions: There are differences in gender congruence and body satisfaction between nonbinary and binary transgender people. Nonbinary individuals may be less likely to access transgender health services due to experiencing less gender incongruence and more body satisfaction compared to binary transgender people. Transgender health services need to be more inclusive of nonbinary transgender people and their support and treatment needs, which may differ from those who identify within the binary gender system.