Determinants of expectancy of examination results

Abstract.— In a group of undergraduate psychology students, expectancy of examination results was found to be positively related to experienced effort (work put out for the exam) and estimated importance of success for future career, both for men and women. The assumptions that men consider success to be more important for self esteem and future career than women do, and that women consider success to be more important in connection with social acceptance than men do, were not supported. Women were found to have a lower expectancy level than men in spite of there being no sex difference as to experienced effort. It was suggested that women perceive their ability to be lower than men do. In a group of persons who were homogenous as to the importance of success for future career, incentive value of success for social acceptance correlated positively with expectancy for men, but negatively for women.     

Sex role orientations,attributions for achievement,and personal goals of Chinese youth

The role of women in the People's Republic of China has changed dramatically in the last 40 years. This study assesses what impact these changes have had on the attitudes of Chinese youth. The sample consisted of 164 subjects (77 men and 87 women) who completed the Bem Sex Role Inventory, the Objective Fear of Success Measure, a locus of control scale, and a personal goals questionnaire. They also evaluated a painting attributed to artists of different gender and status. The results indicate that the sex role orientations of Chinese students were similar to those of American students. On the Bem inventory, the direction of the sex differences on the sex role scales was the same for U.S. and Chinese students, but the latter had a sex role orientation that, in our culture, is regarded as more “traditional.” Chinese women were significantly more likely to endorse statements expressing fear of success than were Chinese men. On the locus of control measures, Chinese women were more likely than men to attribute their achievement successes to luck and failures to a lack of ability. The women students also attributed affiliation outcomes more to luck than did the men. The most important personal goal cited by both men and women was that of career success. Chinese men placed greater importance than women on achieving wealth, and their expectancy of actually becoming wealthy was higher. Finally, in an evaluation of a painting, Chinese men, but not the women, devalued a painting when it was supposedly the work of a female student artist.     

A model of career success: A longitudinal study of emergency physicians

Objective and subjective career success were hypothesized to mediate the relationships between sociodemographic variables, human capital indices, individual difference variables, and organizational sponsorship as inputs and a retirement decision and intentions to leave either the specialty of emergency medicine (EM) or medicine as output variables. Objective career success operationalized as the number of leadership positions held did not mediate the relationship, but income change and career satisfaction mediated the relationship between the hours worked and years employed in emergency medicine. Work centrality was significantly related to subjective career success more so for men than women and perceptions of success or self-efficacy were positively related to subjective career success for women, but not for men. The expected pattern of women indicating more difficulties with personal time and family time did not emerge; but women did indicate less perceived support from the organization, fewer EM leadership positions, less perceived control over their work situation and less organizational support than did men.     

Sex differences in personality and expectancy

It has been shown that women have a lower expectancy than men before examinations, without there being any differences in past performance levels or in work spent in exam preparations. It was proposed that these sex differences in expectancy could be understood as an expression of differences in instrumental/expressive personality dispositions. In a group of undergraduate psychology students tested a short time before examination, scores on a composite index called “Strong” were found to account for a significant but small amount of variance in expectancy estimates. The relationship between expectancy and Strong was also found to depend on the level of another composite index called “Warm.” A fairly high correlation between expectancy and Strong was thus found for Ss describing themselves as warm. For Ss describing themselves as not very warm, no relationship between expectancy and Strong was found. When differences in personality traits were controlled, however, women were still found to have a lower expectancy than men. Expectancy was found to be a more accurate predictor of actual grades for Ss with high scores on instrumental traits than for Ss with low scores.     

Why do men have higher expectancy than women?

The aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis that sex differences in expected academic achievement could be explained by corresponding differences in perceived intellectual ability, and to explore the relationship between perceived ability and the sex role related traits of instrumentality and expressiveness. Results showed sex differences both in expectancy and perceived ability. When perceived ability was controlled, sex no longer related to expectancy. A small correlation was found between expectancy and a measure of instrumentality. The latter variable correlated substantially with perceived ability. A measure of expressiveness was unrelated both to expectancy and perceived ability. Path analysis gave results consistent with the hypotheses that men have higher perceived ability than women because men think of themselves as more instrumental than women do, and that instrumentality determines expectancy indirectly through its relationship to perceived ability.     

Exploring sex differences in expectancy,attribution, and academic achievement

Two studies were carried out to explore if sex differences in expectancy and attribution of achievement are related to sex differences in academic performance. Study I investigated expectancy and attribution of achievement, operationalized as grade point index, among 176 male and 116 female college freshmen. Men were found to form higher expectations for future grades. Attributions measured through assigning percentage weights to ability, luck, effort, and difficulty as causal explanations of one's grade point index showed that men make more ability and women more effort attributions. Despite these differences in expectancy and attribution patterns, men and women were found not to differ in their performance. In Study II 120 college freshmen, half of them male, half female, filled out questionnaires before and after a midterm examination. A subsample of 49 also completed the Bem Sex Role Inventory. The results basically confirm the previous study's findings, except in Study II, men and women gave equally high weights to effort as a cause. The results also show that a feminine sex-role orientation is associated with a debilitating pattern of expectancy and attribution and lower performance, especially among women. Implications of the results for unraveling inconsistencies in the attribution literature and for a need to clarify connotations of femininity are discussed.The author wishes to express her gratitude to the members of the Psychology and Guidance Division of the College of Basic Studies, Boston University, for their assistance in preparing the questionnaire and collecting the data for Study I. Research for Study II was supported by grant MH 31181-01 from the National Institute of Mental Health. Mark Nachbar provided assistance in analyzing the data to both studies. Jan Mokros, Joseph Pleck, and Dan Jaquette provided valuable comments on an earlier version of this article.     

MATHEMATICS AND SELF-ESTEEM: IMPLICATIONS FOR WOMEN'S CAREER CHOICE

The relationship of math participation and success to self-esteem and career goals is examined in a sample of 64 women and 52 men college students at the end of their sophomore year. No gender differences were found in math anxiety or perceptions of the usefulness of mathematics, but women were less likely to select a math-related career goal. Among the men students, math participation and self-assessments of math ability were positively related to more general self-estimates of competence; among women, these variables were not related significantly. Women's choices for math-related careers were more closely associated with scholastic ability and math background than were men's career choices. These results are discussed in the context of societal pressures and supports for men and women in regard to math participation.     

Climbing the corporate ladder: do female and male executives follow the same route?

This study compares the careers of matched samples of 69 female executives and 69 male executives by examining perceived barriers and facilitators of advancement, self-reported developmental experiences, and career histories. Consistent with tokenism theory, women reported greater barriers, such as lack of culture fit and being excluded from informal networks, and greater importance of having a good track record and developing relationships to facilitate advancement than did men. Career success, measured by organizational level and compensation, was positively related to breadth of experience and developmental assignments for both genders, but successful women were less likely than successful men to report that mentoring facilitated their advancement. Developmental experiences and career histories were similar for female and male executives, but men had more overseas assignments and women had more assignments with nonauthority relationships.     

How are sociosexuality, sex drive, and lifetime number of sexual partners related?

In two studies (ns = 277 and 221), the authors examined the relationships among sex drive, sociosexuality, lifetime number of sex partners, and gender identity. They found that sex drive is highly and positively correlated with sociosexual orientation, and that both sex drive and sociosexual orientation are positively correlated with lifetime number of sex partners. However, partial correlations revealed that sociosexual orientation is an independent predictor of lifetime number of sex partners, whereas sex drive is not. The authors were also able to replicate and extend Mikach and Bailey's (1999) finding that gender identity is related to women's lifetime number of sex partners. More masculine women had more sex partners and had a less restricted sociosexual orientation than did less masculine women; less masculine men had a higher sex drive than did more masculine men. The findings are discussed with regard to theory and research on sex drive and sociosexuality.     

Job Seeking Patterns of Female and Male Ph.D. Recipients

A questionnaire survey of female and male Ph.D's was undertaken to examine sex differences in job seeking, job attainment, and factors influencing career advancement. Women and men held generally similar values with respect to home life and a career, but women rated both home and career values somewhat more highly than men. Women also reported more conflicts in pursuing a career. Although job quality did not differ by sex, job seeking patterns of women and men differed: men sought more jobs and obtained more offers. The difference in job seeking patterns combined with the somewhat greater reported job conflicts indicates that these women overcame obstacles in the way of their career advancements. Possible explanations are explored.     

Career Goals of College Women and Men and Perceived Achievement-Related Encouragement

Encouragements and discouragements for achievement-related behavior were reported in an interview setting by three groups of college seniors: Career women (n = 20), career men (n = 20), and traditional women (n = 19). Career women reported significantly more encouragement from teachers, family members (except parents), and significant others of the opposite sex than did either career men or traditional women. Career women also reported more encouragement from counselors and friends, while career men reported more encouragement from parents; however, these differences were not significant. Career women reported a significantly higher grade point average than either of the other groups. Implications of the results for the achievement behavior of women and men are considered.     

Marital Status and Sex: Impact on Career Self-Efficacy

Bandura's (1977, 1986) self-efficacy theory served as the theoretical framework for examining the preferences of 214 individuals for either traditionally male or traditionally female occupations. An interaction between sex and marital status was found with regard to efficacy for traditionally female occupations. Married women scored higher than did married men, and unmarried women scored higher than did unmarried men for the traditionally female occupations. No difference between married and unmarried men or between married and unmarried women was indicated for the traditionally female occupations. A significannt main effect of sex, with men scoring higher than women, was found for both the traditionally male and traditionallyfemale occupations. Implications for further research as well as for career counseling and development are discussed.     

Preferences for skill versus chance-determined activities: The influence of gender and task sex-typing

Three experiments tested the hypothesis that skill-chance activity preference by men and women is moderated by task sex relatedness. Men and women (total N = 368) opted to perform either skill or chance versions of masculine and feminine tasks, and then provided ratings of performance expectancy, importance of success, and perceptions of task characteristics. Results support the conclusion that men do not prefer skill and women chance as had been found previously, but rather that while men's skill preferences are higher than women's on a masculine taks, women prefer skill more than do men on a feminine task. Skill-chance preferences were primarily a function of the expectancy of success on skill tasks.     

Sex differences in achievement motivation

Abstract.— Norwegian undergraduate psychology students were given Heckhausen's TAT test of achievement motivation prior to or after final course examination. Women obtained higher mean score on Fear of Failure than men on both occasions. There was no sex difference in length of protocol, nor was this variable related to any of the motivation scores. Success in terms of examination results did not affect motivation scores, whereas failure led to higher score on Hope of Success for men but not for women.     

Gender,sex role,and career decision making of certified management accountants

The relationships of gender and sex role with career decision making of Certified Management Accountants (CMAs) were investigated. A questionnaire that included the Bem Sex Role Inventory was mailed to a matched group of women and men CMAs. The responses of 87 women CMAs and 87 men CMAs indicated that both gender and sex role were significantly related to various aspects of career decision making. Implications of this study are discussed.I would like to acknowledge the helpful comments of an anonymous reviewer.     

Body image and exercise: A study of relationships and comparisons between physically active men and women

A group of physically active women (n=112) and men (n=88) of a broad range of ages were compared on a number of variables related to body image, weight and diet concerns, and degree of exercise participation. Interrelationships between these measures were also examined. Results indicated that men and women were equally dissatisfied with their current weight. Although most women wanted to lose weight, the men were evenly divided between those who wanted to lose and those who wanted to gain. Women, however, were more dissatisfied with their bodies and placed greater importance on their appearance as an influence on their feelings of well-being. Although there were no sex differences in degree of physical activity, women were more likely than men to exercise to try and lose weight. Of interest was the finding that age was not related to body focus or body dissatisfaction for either sex. For women and older men, the degree to which they exercised was not associated with any of the body image variables. A very different pattern of relationships was found for young men. Greater body satisfaction was associated with increases in exercise participation and with increased body focus, a variable that was also associated with increased levels of exercise. The profile of results is considered in the context of social influences such as health promotion and sex roles — factors that have likely affected current attitudes to physical appearance and physical attractiveness among both sexes.     

Development, gender equality, and suicide rates

A component of the United Nations Development Programme Human Development Index which measures longevity was negatively associated -.55 with suicide rates in 37 nations for men; the correlation with the suicide sex ratio was also negative (r = -.59). Women's access to social, political, and economic power in a subsample of 26 nations, summarized in the UNDP's Gender Empowerment Measure, was positively correlated with suicide rates (r = .36 for both women and men). UNDP measures of attainment in literacy and income showed no individual relationship with suicide rates. In a multiple regression model, life expectancy was negatively related, and the Gender-related Development index was positively related, to suicide rates.     

Voice pitch influences perceptions of sexual infidelity

Sexual infidelity can be costly to members of both the extra-pair and the paired couple. Thus, detecting infidelity risk is potentially adaptive if it aids in avoiding cuckoldry or loss of parental and relationship investment. Among men, testosterone is inversely related to voice pitch, relationship and offspring investment, and is positively related to the pursuit of short-term relationships, including extra-pair sex. Among women, estrogen is positively related to voice pitch, attractiveness, and the likelihood of extra-pair involvement. Although prior work has demonstrated a positive relationship between men?s testosterone levels and infidelity, this study is the first to investigate attributions of infidelity as a function of sexual dimorphism in male and female voices. We found that men attributed high infidelity risk to feminized women?s voices, but not significantly more often than did women. Women attributed high infidelity risk to masculinized men?s voices at significantly higher rates than did men. These data suggest that voice pitch is used as an indicator of sexual strategy in addition to underlying mate value. The aforementioned attributions may be adaptive if they prevent cuckoldry and/or loss of parental and relationship investment via avoidance of partners who may be more likely to be unfaithful.     

The role of future time perspective in career decision-making

The present study of two hundred and seven university students examined the structural relation of future-orientation (both valence and instrumentality), career decision-making self-efficacy and career indecision (choice/commitment anxiety and lack of readiness) in a sample of 218 college students. Future time perspective was viewed as a key input to career decision making. Structural equation modeling results indicated that valence was not significantly related to career decision-making self-efficacy, choice/commitment anxiety and lack of readiness. However, instrumentality completely mediated the relation between valence and career decision-making self-efficacy, choice/commitment anxiety and lack of readiness. Instrumentality was significantly related to career decision-making self-efficacy and lack of readiness. Career decision-making self-efficacy completely mediated the relation between instrumentality and choice/commitment anxiety; however, it only partially mediated the relation between instrumentality and lack of readiness. Although the proposed model was invariant across gender, the findings indicated that women reported higher instrumentality and lower lack of readiness than did men. No differences were found for career decision-making self-efficacy and choice/commitment anxiety across gender. The findings suggest that psychologists, counselors, and teachers should consider the role of future time perspective in university students' career development.     

Sex differences in coping with career decision making

Sex differences in coping with career decision making were investigated among 247 undergraduate students. Men and women differed on three of four coping factors. Men scored significantly higher on Self-Efficacy Behavior (p < .05) while women scored higher than men on Reactive Behavior (p < .01) and Support-Seeking Behavior (p < .001) strategies. Coping factors were investigated in relation to career decidedness. Although men and women differed on the coping factors, the pattern of relationships between coping and career indecision was virtually identical for both sexes. Self-Efficacy Behavior (Factor 1) was negatively related to career indecision while Symptom-Altering/Avoidant Behavior (Factor 2) was positively related to indecision for both men and women.