Gender,sex roles,and attitudes toward war and nuclear weapons

The observation that men are usually more supportive of war than women had led several authors to suggest that masculinity plays a causal role in the decision to make war and stockpile nuclear arms. In order to examine the relationship between sex role orientation and attitudes towards war and nuclear weapons, gender and measures of sex role orientation were used to predict three attitudes about nuclear weapons and the use of military force. Two specific and two classes of hypotheses regarding the possible relationships among these variables were tested: masculinity, femininity, Masculinity × Femininity interaction, and Gender × Sex Role Orientation hypotheses. The results provided limited support only for the femininity hypothesis—that attitudes toward war are associated with feminine traits. However, neither masculinity nor femininity was found to be the only mediators of the gender/war attitude relationship, indicating that sex role orientation (and especially masculinity) should be given less emphasis when trying to explain the relationship between gender and attitudes toward war.The author gratefully acknowledges the helpful comments of Douglas Kenrick, Nancy Russo, and an anonymous reviewer on a earlier version of this paper.     

How Masculine Ought I Be? Men's Masculinity and Aggression

Male undergraduates completed the Bem Sex RoleInventory (BSRI) as they are (actual), as others thoughtthey should be (ought), as they thought they should beideally (ideal), and then rated the importance of each item. Discrepancy scores were derivedby subtracting actual from either ought (oughtdiscrepancy) or from ideal (ideal discrepancy) andweighting scores by the importance of each item. BSRImasculine items provided the basis for masculinitydiscrepancies, and filler items, for generaldiscrepancies. With only two or three exceptions,participants were Caucasian. Each man competed againsta bogus competitor on a computer version of the Taylorreaction-time aggression paradigm that yielded a measureof both overt (intensity of the noise blast putativelydelivered to the opponent) and covert (noise blastduration) aggression. Men with high masculine"ought" discrepancies engaged in morecovert-and not more overt — aggression than didlows, an effect not moderated by provocation level.Those with high masculinity scores were more overtly aggressive than werelow masculinity men.     

Predictors of women's aggressive driving behavior

Predictors of women's aggressive driving behavior were explored in a study involving 256 female motorists. Sex role orientation, dispositional aggressiveness, age, and annual mileage were measured as independent variables, and aggressive driving behavior was included as the dependent variable. Stepwise hierarchical regression analysis showed that age was negatively related to driving aggression, whereas annual mileage had a positive relationship with driving aggression. Dispositional aggressiveness was a significant predictor of driving aggression. Of the two components of sex role orientation, only femininity was associated with driving aggression, with higher femininity scores predicting lower aggressive driving scores. Masculinity failed to predict aggressive driving, as did the interaction of masculinity and femininity. In combination, the predictors explained 29% of the variance in women's aggressive driving. The results are discussed with respect to the role of dispositional variables as predictors of driving aggression in women. Aggress. Behav. 00:1–10, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Models and Measurements of Psychological Androgyny: A Cross-Cultural Extension of Theory and Research

This paper explores models and measurements of psychological androgyny by extending research to a new cultural context—Singapore. Five studies, which include the construction of a culturally appropriate measurement of masculinity and femininity and the investigation of the masculine, additive, and interactive models of psychological androgyny, are reported. The results indicate that the Singapore Androgyny Inventory (SAI) demonstrated good internal consistency and temporal stability. M and F scales were unidimensional and orthogonal with composite items reflecting instrumental and expressive orientations. Masculinity was associated with need for achievement (r = .56), and femininity related to need for affiliation (r = .24). In addition, a 2 (gender) × 2 (M) × 2 (F) analysis of variance revealed main effects for both masculinity and femininity on personal and social self-concept, but no significant interaction effects. The same analysis demonstrated main effects only for masculinity on psychological well-being and self-acceptance. Taken together, evidence supported a differentiated additive model rather than a masculine or interactive model of androgyny, self-concept, and mental health. The advantages of cross-cultural extensions in psychological androgyny research are also discussed.     

Volition as cognitive self-regulation

Living organisms exhibit various levels of self-regulation, the highest of which is man's ability to regulate the operation of his conceptual faculty. Ayn Rand's theory of free will, the basis of this article, identifies this level of self-regulation with volition. The locus of direct volitional choice is placed in the choice “to think or not to think,” where thinking is understood as rational, purposefully directed cognition. The nature of this choice is analyzed in detail, with special emphasis on Rand's concept of mental “focus.” The epistemological status of the theory is discussed, including the role of introspective evidence in its behalf. It is argued that one's volitional control over one's own thinking has the status of an axiom, and that any attempted denial of this control is self-refuting.     

Where is the facilitation of media violence: The effects of nonexposure and placement of anger arousal

The present study examined the conditions under which media violence would “facilitate” aggression in angered individuals. It was noted that previous research has lacked support for facilitation due to improper control groups. It was predicted, based upon evidence that aggressive and neutral films are capable of both arousing a subject and shifting his attention away from previous anger instigation (attentional shift), that only under a condition where an aggressive film is viewed prior to anger arousal will increased aggression occur if compared to a no-film control. It was found that when subjects were angered prior to film exposure, netural films reduced aggression, with aggressive films not differing from a no-film control. Under subsequent anger arousal, however, there was a facilitation for aggressive film exposure. The implication of this, and other recent media violence studies, for past and future research in the area of media violence and aggression is discussed.     

Narcissism and body image

This research examined the relationship between narcissism, as measured by the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI; Raskin & Hall, 1979), and body image, as measured by the Body-Self Relations Questionnaire ( Winstead & Cash, 1984), in a nonclinical sample of college students. Also examined were narcissism's relationships to masculinity, femininity, and self-esteem. Results indicated that more narcissistic individuals had more favorable body images and were higher in masculinity and self-esteem. No gender differences were observed in either the levels of narcissism or its body image correlates. Overall, the findings suggest that the NPI measures “adjusted” narcissism rather than the “maladaptive” narcissism emphasized in theoretical and clinical accounts of the construct.     

Hegemonic Masculinity and the Experience of Prostate Cancer: A Narrative Approach

Prostate cancer is a major health problem—one that inevitably challenges men's notions about themselves and their expressions of masculinity. As part of a larger study investigating linkages between masculinity and prostate cancer, this article focuses on the narratives of three men with prostate cancer—all of whom shed light on contemporary forms of hegemonic masculinity. Multiple interviews were conducted with study participants, capturing experiencesboth prior to and following cancer diagnosis. Analysis of individual narratives showed how social factors such as work and family influenced (and were influenced by) men's experiences with illness. All three men were forced to renegotiate their performances of masculinity—with this renegotiation mostly occurring within the parameters of performance consistent with hegemonic masculinity. However, there was also some evidence of shifts into new socialterritory and new expressions of masculinity. In contrast to more traditional, trait-based approaches to studying men's experiences, a narrative approach allows social scientists to do justice to the temporal realities and contextual complexities of men's lives. Men will be better understood as more attention is paid to the actual shape of individual lives.     

Fusions and Ordinary Physical Objects

In “Tropes and Ordinary Physical Objects”, Kris McDaniel argues that ordinary physical objects are fusions of monadic and polyadic tropes. McDaniel calls his view “TOPO”—for “Theory of Ordinary Physical Objects”. He argues that we should accept TOPO because of the philosophical work that it allows us to do. Among other things, TOPO is supposed to allow endurantists to reply to Mark Heller’s argument for perdurantism. But, we argue in this paper, TOPO does not help endurantists do that; indeed, we argue that anyone who accepts TOPO should reject endurantism.     

Physical aggression as a function of strength of frustration and instrumentality of aggression

Direct physical aggression was related to three variables through a modification of the Buss (1961) “aggression machine” and procedure. There were two intensities of frustration and a control group established on the basis of the goal gradient principle. Aggression was either instrumental or noninstrumental in overcoming the frustration. Frustration was arbitrary (unreasonable) or nonarbitrary (reasonable). More aggression occurred under the instrumental condition than under the noninstrumental condition. The stronger frustration produced more aggression than the weaker frustration, but only when aggression had previously been experienced as instrumental. No more aggression occurred under the arbitrary frustration condition than under the nonarbitrary condition. The results were discussed in relation to the frustration-aggression hypothesis and the goal gradient principle.     

Contesting and Maintaining Hegemonic Masculinities: Gay Asian American Men in Mate Selection

Masculinity is a prized commodity in mate selection among gay men. However, few studies systematically examine how gay Asian American men interpret their form of masculinity in the context of mate selection. Using data from in-depth interviews with 37 Asian Americans, I study how they interpret and negotiate their form of masculinity within a racialized gender hierarchy. The results show gay Asian American men maintain the hegemonic masculinity frame in the negotiation of their desirability and desires. Concurrently, they also attempt to reframe their masculinity to contest the subordination of their form of masculinity. Ironically, their alternate frame still maintains a gendered hierarchy whereby masculinity is still preferred over femininity, even as it contests the racialized hegemonic masculinity frame.     

Psychometric intelligence and adaptive competence in rural Philippine children

Psychometric intelligence and adaptive competence constructs were compared in 5-to 7-year-old children in a rural Philippine barrio. Individual psychometric subtests of intelligence, indigenous with respect to content, and a form for obtaining adults' ratings of children's adaptive competencies (skill in, or adaptation to, the natural and social demands of their environment) were developed. Acceptable reliabilities, increases in performance with age, and reasonable patterns of scale intercorrelations indicate that the two ecologically relevant measures are reasonably reliable and construct-valid operationalizations of the psychometric intelligence and adaptive competence constructs. Concurrent validities of the psychometric intelligence subtests versus school grades demonstrate the meaningfulness of the psychometric intelligence construct in this setting and associate it with “scholastic aptitude,” as in Western settings. Verbal/intellective aspects of adaptive competence—as compared to the children's competence in everyday barrio skills and responsibilities (e.g., domestic and livelihood tasks, personal-care functions)—were found to be more related to school performance and psychometric intelligence.     

Women's Sexual Aggression Against Men: Prevalence and Predictors

In this study, we investigated the prevalence of women's sexual aggression against men and examined predictors of sexual aggression in a sample of 248 women. Respondents reported their use of aggressive strategies (physical force, exploitation of a man's incapacitated state, and verbal pressure) to make a man engage in sexual touch, sexual intercourse, or oral sex against his will. Childhood abuse, gender role orientation, ambiguous communication of sexual intentions, level of sexual activity, and peer pressure were included as predictors of sexual aggression. Almost 1 in 10 respondents (9.3%) reported having used aggressive strategies to coerce a man into sexual activities. Exploitation of the man's incapacitated state was used most frequently (5.6%), followed by verbal pressure (3.2%) and physical force (2%). An additional 5.4% reported attempted acts of sexual aggression. Sexual abuse in childhood, ambiguous communication of sexual intentions, high levels of sexual activity, and peer pressure toward sexual activity were linked to an increased likelihood of sexual aggression. The findings are discussed in relation to the literature on men's sexual aggression.     

Immigrant Sex: the Transport of Affection and Sensuality across Cultures

This paper outlines the ways in which an individual’s notions of sexuality are challenged by immigration. It describes four basic facets of sexuality and the ways in which each are rooted in culture. These include (1) the relative importance of sexuality in daily life; (2) potential or overt homosexuality; (3) marriage—whether based on arrangement or love; and (4) cross-cultural romantic and marital relationships. Immigration can stir up conflicts in each of these realms and lead to defensive retreat into familiar customs or a counterphasic plunge into new cultural avenues. Ideally, it would lead to a working-through of these conflicts and subsequent growth in the immigrant’s understanding of his or her sexual self.     

Cognitive reference points

Two methods were used to test the hypothesis that natural categories (such as colors, line orientations, and numbers) have reference point stimuli (such as focal colors, vertical and horizontal lines, and numbers that are multiples of 10) in relation to which other stimuli of the category are judged. In Experiment I, subjects placed pairs of stimuli into sentence frames consisting of linguistic “hedges” such as “— is essentially—.” Results were that the supposed reference stimuli were most often placed in the second (reference) slot. In Experiment II, the subject placed a stimulus in physical space to represent his feeling of the psychological distance of that stimulus from another spatially fixed stimulus. Results showed that, when supposed reference stimuli were fixed, other stimuli were placed closer to them than vice versa. The results have substantive implications for the understanding of internal structure of categories and methodological implications for the mapping of reference points, quantification of linguistic intuitions, and the assumption of symmetry in psychological distance judgments.     

Gender,masculinity-femininity,and emotional intimacy in same-sex friendship

Using multiple regression techniques, this research examines the relationship of gender and of masculinity— femininity to self-reported emotional intimacy in same-sex friendship among male and female college students, a segment of the population for which friendship is thought to be of particular salience. Findings indicate that, as hypothesized, males report significantly lower levels of emotional intimacy in same-sex friendship than do females. Masculinity, defined in terms of instrumental qualities, has little effect on the degree of reported intimacy, while femininity, defined in terms of expressive qualities, is positively associated with intimate friendship. Findings for differences among individuals classified on combinations of masculinity and femininity are also presented. Results are interpreted in view of sex-role expectations which appear to prohibit displays of emotional vulnerability among men.The author wishes to thank Frank Bean for his many contributions to the research on which this paper is based. Appreciation is also extended to Susan Marshall for comments on an early draft.     

Aggressive driving: the contribution of the drivers and the situation

Aggressive driving is defined in terms of the frustration–aggression model. In that context aggressive driving is a syndrome of frustration-driven behaviors, enabled by the driver's environment. These behaviors can either take the form of instrumental aggression—that allows the frustrated driver to move ahead at the cost of infringing on other road users’ rights (e.g., by weaving and running red lights)—or hostile aggression which is directed at the object of frustration (e.g., cursing other drivers). While these behaviors may be reflective of individual differences in aggression, it is argued that the exclusive focus on the characteristics of the aggressive drivers and how to control them is short-sighted. Instead, this paper proposes a multi-factor approach to the problem. Five studies conducted so far tend to support this approach, by showing that specific aggressive behaviors—such as honking and running red lights—are associated with cultural norms, actual and perceived delays in travel, and congestion. Ergonomics-oriented approaches that involve environmental modifications are proposed.     

Masculinity and Femininity in Japanese Culture: A Pilot Study

This study examined masculinity and femininityin Japanese culture. Two hundred sixty-five collegestudents (male = 104; female = 161) took the Japaneseversion of the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) with pertinent demographic questions. Subjects wereall Japanese and no other races were included. Theresults showed no significant difference betweenJapanese male college students and Japanese femalecollege students on both the Masculinity and Femininityscale of the BSRI. It was also found that both male andfemale Japanese college students scored higher on theFemininity scale than on the Masculinity scale of the BSRI. A confirmatory factor analysisalso supported that Bem's gender role model did not fitthe data collected in Japan. The limitations andimplications of the study are also discussed.     

Are Traditional Gender Role Attitudes Associated With Risky Sexual Behavior and Condom-related Beliefs?

Traditional gender role attitudes, which emphasize an unequal distribution of power in the family and stereotypical norms about masculinity, may be associated with unsafe sexual behavior and beliefs in young men and women. This study was designed to examine associations between gender role attitudes including gender-based family role attitudes and masculinity ideology, sexual behaviors, and condom-related beliefs in a sample of sexually active college students (N = 154). Family role attitudes were related to risky condom-related beliefs but not to risky sexual behavior. Masculinity ideology was related to both sexual behaviors and condom-related beliefs but, in some cases, in a direction opposite to that predicted. These unexpected findings and the utility of examining masculinity ideology among women are discussed.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 2002 Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research on Adolescence, New Orleans, Louisiana.