Using Egalitarian Items to Measure Men’s and Women’s Family Roles

This study was designed to show that measuring gender ideology by egalitarian items might be problematic, as gender egalitarianism is not simply the reverse of gender traditionalism and includes very different stances. Egalitarian items are likely to lead to an insufficient discrimination between traditional and non-traditional respondents. While the former often ignore the egalitarian stance, the latter hold different egalitarian positions which prevents agreement with any specific item. Empirical evidence is reported from quantitative and qualitative data: an international survey based on random samples (n?=?5.692) and a cognitive study, which was conducted in Germany by both internet (n?=?889) and telephone (n?=?285). Here, the selection of a response category was analyzed by using probing questions.     

Reference Points in Men’s and Women’s Judgments of Progress Toward Gender Equality

Men rate progress toward gender equality more favorably than do women. Across two studies with U.S. undergraduate samples, we explore whether this difference in perceived progress stems from a gender difference in chosen reference points. Using ANOVA and regression, we demonstrate that men (n?=?33) assess progress relative to the past more than to the goal of full equality. In contrast, women (n?=?46) assess progress relative to full equality as much as to the past. As a result, current progress seems more substantial to men than to women. Experimental manipulation of reference points led men (n?=?60) and women (n?=?60) to adopt the same reference point and, consequently, to offer similar assessments of progress.     

Exploring College Men’s and Women’s Attitudes about Women’s Sexuality and Pleasure via their Perceptions of Female Novelty Party Attendees

Women’s sexual desire, agency, and activity have long been stigmatized. In contemporary times, however, adult novelty parties, or gatherings where women can learn about and purchase sex toys or other sensual aids in a group setting, are widespread. The current pervasiveness of novelty parties may be indicative of greater acceptance of women’s sexuality in contemporary Western society. The goal of the present study is to determine whether young people are more accepting of women’s sexuality and desire via their evaluations of women who attend novelty parties relative to more traditional kitchen product parties. In two experiments, U.S. college students read either a novelty party catalog or a kitchen party catalog, and they evaluated hypothetical female attendees of their respective party catalog type across ten total domains. In Experiment 1 (n = 205), novelty party attendees were rated as more vivacious, less traditional, and more insecure than were kitchen party attendees. In Experiment 2 (n = 211), women were harsher than men on novelty party attendees compared to kitchen party attendees in most domains, and men rated novelty party attendees as more masculine than kitchen party attendees, whereas women rated novelty party attendees as less masculine and feminine than kitchen party attendees. Applied and social implications of the present results are discussed, highlighting ways to improve perceptions of women’s sexual desires and pleasure.     

Gender and Compensation: Understanding the Impact of Gender and Gender Stereotypes in Children’s Rewards

Children’s understanding of rewards for task completion was examined in the context of gender, and gender-based stereotypes. Eighty-eight children (43 girls, M_overall?=?58.39 months) completed a measure assessing gender-based occupational stereotypes. This measure, along with gender, was used to predict children’s self-reward for undergoing the testing, as well as their reward for a fictional other child having undergone the same procedure. The methodology provided a novel approach for studying reward allocation in children, as it did not require children to divide resources between themselves and another child for completing the same task. An occupation-based stereotype measure was found to predict the self-reward, as well as the reward allocated to the other child. In addition, the participant’s gender predicted self-reward, and an interaction between participant gender and gender of the experimenter contributed to predicting the other child reward. Overall, these findings suggest that gender and gender-based stereotyping have an impact on reward allocation of young children. Implications of these results in the context of reward allocation research among children and adult populations are discussed.     

Implicit and Explicit Gender Stereotypes at the Bargaining Table: Male Counterparts’ Stereotypes Predict Women’s Lower Performance in Dyadic Face-to-Face Negotiations

Sex Roles - In every major occupational group and at every level of educational attainment, U.S. women earn less than men (Carnevale et al. 2018). Besides a component explained by objective factors...     

How Undergraduate Engineering Students Perceive Women’s (and Men’s) Problems in Science, Math and Engineering

This paper compares perceptions of problems for women and men in the fields of science, math, and engineering among undergraduate engineering students surveyed at a mid-Atlantic American university over a period of 5 years. Gender differences in these perceptions are analyzed, as are changes in these perceptions over the course of the undergraduate years. Undergraduate exposure to female role models in these fields has little impact on these perceptions, but exposure to professional engineering experiences reduces the seriousness with which some problems are perceived, especially by women. While perceived problems do not seem to be related to engineering self-confidence, they are related to men’s satisfaction with engineering, and to women’s intentions to persist in the engineering field after graduation.     

The Impact of Film Manipulation on Men’s and Women’s Attitudes Toward Women and Film Editing

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of film manipulation on men’s and women’s attitudes toward women and film editing. One hundred and seventy-four participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups. Three groups viewed a particular manipulation of the treatment film (i.e., uncut, mosaic-ed, or edited) The Accused, a movie about gang rape that was based on a true story. The fourth group served as a control. As predicted, men reported significantly higher levels of traditionalism and rape myth acceptance-related attitudes at the onset of the study, whereas women reported higher levels of empathic attitudes. Following the study, and as expected, women experienced significantly more attitude change as a result of viewing the treatment film; men’s rape myth-related attitudes nonetheless continued to exceed those of women. Finally, men’s positive attitudes toward favoring editing decreased as sexual violence increased, whereas women’s pro-editing attitudes increased as sexual violence increased. The theoretical implications of the study, as well as the impact of viewing sexual violence in a more reality-based, versus a more entertaining, forum are discussed.     

Gendered Racial Stereotypes and Coaching Intercollegiate Athletic Teams: The Representation of Black and Asian Women Coaches on U.S. Women’s and Men’s Teams

Sex Roles - The purpose of this study was to examine the representation of Black and Asian women coaches on women’s and men’s intercollegiate athletic teams. Through the theoretical...     

Gender Typicality of Faces Affects Children’s Categorization and Judgments of Women More than of Men

Sex Roles - Most infants display more perceptual knowledge of female than male faces, which is related to their predominant experience with women. If disparities in social experience persist beyond...     

When Women’s Gains Equal Men’s Losses: Predicting a Zero-Sum Perspective of Gender Status

Believing that reduced discrimination against women directly corresponds to increased discrimination against men, referred to as a zero-sum perspective (ZSP), may inhibit further attempts toward gender equality. Based on a sample of 313 men and women, we developed and tested both a general measure and a domain-specific measure of the ZSP of gender status then examined sociodemographics (age, education, political orientation, religious beliefs, and past experience with discrimination) and social dominance orientation as predictors of the ZSP of shifts in gender status. Hostile and modern sexism were examined as potential mediators of this relationship. Structural equation models were computed to examine predictive paths separately for men and women. Although some similarities were found, results showed important differences in predictive paths for women and men, and supported the expected mediating role of sexism in the relationships between sociodemographic predictors and the ZSP. Findings have implications for targeting intervention efforts to enhance a win-win or non-zero-sum perspective that may facilitate efforts toward reducing gender discrimination.     

How Gendered Attitudes Relate to Women’s and Men’s Sexual Behaviors and Beliefs

This study examines associations between endorsement of a sexual double standard, gender role attitudes, and sexual behaviors and beliefs. First year university students in the northeastern United States (N = 434; 52 % female; 33 % Black, 29 % Latino, 39 % White; ages 17–19) participated during their first year of college. Endorsement of a sexual double standard was associated with more conventionally gender-stereotyped sexual behaviors and beliefs, specifically, more sexual partners and fewer perceived barriers to condom use for young men, and more perceived barriers to condom use for young women. Women who were more conventional about men’s roles in society tended to use condoms less, whereas women who were more conventional about women’s roles tended to use condoms more. Men who were more conventional about men’s roles tended to have fewer sexual partners. Findings suggest the importance of examining gender’s role in sexual behaviors and beliefs by assessing multiple gendered attitudes, rather than simply considering biological sex.     

Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM): An Investigation of Their Implicit Gender Stereotypes and Stereotypes’ Connectedness to Math Performance

In spite of many barriers facing women??s enrollment in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), some women are successful in these counter-stereotypic disciplines. The present research extended work primarily conducted in the United States by investigating implicit gender-STEM stereotypes??and their relation to performance??among female and male engineering and humanities students in Southern France. In study 1 (N?=?55), we tested whether implicit gender-math stereotypes??as measured by the Implicit Association Test (IAT; Greenwald et al. 1998)??would be weaker among female engineering students as compared to female humanities, male engineering and male humanities students. In study 2 (N?=?201), we tested whether this same results pattern would be observed with implicit gender-reasoning stereotypes (using a newly created IAT) and, in addition, whether implicit gender-reasoning stereotypes would be more strongly (and negatively) related to math grades for female humanities students as compared to the three other groups. Results showed that female engineering students held weaker implicit gender-math and gender-reasoning stereotypes than female humanities, male engineering and male humanities students. Moreover, implicit stereotyping was more negatively related to math grades for female humanities students than for the three other groups. Together, findings demonstrate that female engineering students hold weaker implicit gender-STEM stereotypes than other groups of students and, in addition, that these stereotypes are not necessarily negatively associated with math performance for all women. Discussion emphasizes how the present research helps refine previous findings and their importance for women??s experience in STEM.     

Images of Women’s Sexuality in Advertisements: A Content Analysis of Black- and White-Oriented Women’s and Men’s Magazines

This article represents an analysis of the sexual images of women in magazine advertisements. I examined advertisements in Black- and White-oriented, mens and womens magazines to compare the images of womens sexuality that are constructed for each specific audience. Over 600 images of women were analyzed based on seven dimensions, including function/role, relative function/authority, physical/body position, relative size/height, character traits, body view, and physical characteristics. The images of womens sexuality vary depending on the race of the intended audience and the race of the women in the advertisements. Advertisements for White audiences portray women in roles and with characteristics that suggest dependency and submissiveness, whereas advertisements for Black audiences portray women as independent and dominant. I also found that White women are objectified much more than Black women are.     

White Men’s Fears, White Women’s Tears: Examining Gender Differences in Racial Affect Types

This investigation extends research on White students’ affective costs of racism. Consistent with previous research that identified distinct costs of racism (or racial affect) types, the authors used cluster analysis to examine unique patterns in White empathy, guilt, and fear among White undergraduate women (n?=?227) and men (n?=?175) from a large university in the Midwestern United States. Extending prior research and building on conceptual scholarship concerned with intersections of race and gender, the authors separated the sample by gender to determine whether different affective costs of racism types emerged for women and men. The authors found the same five cluster solution for both women and men in the present study, and these solutions were consistent with previous research conducted among combined samples of women and men. Findings suggested that women were significantly more likely than men to be in the most desirable, Antiracist type, compared to the least desirable, Insensitive and Afraid type. Additionally, the authors examined whether support for affirmation action differed by racial affect type for women and men. Partially supporting their hypothesis, the authors found that racial affect types with different levels of White empathy distinguished levels of support for affirmative action among White women. Among White men, the authors found that racial affect types with different levels of White fear explained differing levels of affirmative action support. Implications for future research and diversity education interventions are discussed.     

Matching Abilities to Careers for Others and Self: Do Gender Stereotypes Matter to Students in Advanced Math and Science Classes?

Interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) careers falls off more quickly for young women than for young men over adolescence, and gender stereotypes may be partially to blame. Adolescents typically become more stereotypical in their career interests over time, yet they seem to become more flexible in applying stereotypes to others. Models of career interest propose that career decisions result from the alignment of self-perceived abilities with occupation-required skills and that gender stereotypes may influence this process. To investigate the discrepancy between applying stereotypes to self and others, we examined if these models can be applied to perceptions of others. Focusing on students from fifth grade through college enrolled in advanced STEM courses, we investigated how STEM occupational stereotypes, abilities, and efficacy affect expectations for others’ and own career interests. U.S. participants (n = 526) read vignettes describing a hypothetical male or female student who was talented in math/science or language arts/social studies and then rated the student’s interest in occupations requiring some of those academic skills. Participants’ self-efficacy, interest, and stereotypes for STEM occupations were also assessed. Findings suggest that ability beliefs, whether for oneself or another, are powerful predictors of occupational interest, and gender stereotypes play a secondary role. College students were more stereotypical in their ratings of others, but they did not manifest gender differences in their own STEM self-efficacy and occupational interests. Experiences in specialized STEM courses may explain why stereotypes are applied differentially to the self and others.     

“I Don’t Need Help”: Gender Differences in how Gender Stereotypes Predict Help-Seeking

Although self-report and correlational studies suggest that gender stereotypes are related to men’s health behavior, particularly in relation to seeking help, there is minimal research that has tested this hypothesis experimentally. The present study examined how two stereotype pathways, personally endorsed gender stereotypes and gender stereotyped attitudes, predicted help-seeking behavior among U.S. undergraduate women (n = 68) and men (n = 72) when they worked on challenging puzzles and recalled previous health help-seeking behavior for physical or psychological problems. Results revealed gender and domain differences in how the two pathways predicted help-seeking. For the puzzle tasks, both attitudinally and personally endorsed gender stereotypes predicted men’s help-seeking, whereas only personally endorsed gender stereotypes predicted women’s help-seeking. For recalled health behaviors, personally endorsed gender stereotypes predicted men’s help-seeking, whereas gender stereotypes did not predict women’s help-seeking. The gender and domain differences in how personal and attitudinal gender stereotypes predicted help-seeking are important to consider when designing interventions to increase help-seeking.     

Henry the Nurse is a Doctor Too: Implicitly Examining Children’s Gender Stereotypes for Male and Female Occupational Roles

Eagly’s social role theory (Eagly and Steffen 1984) was tested examining children’s gender role stereotypes via implicit information processing and memory measures. We explored whether children’s occupational stereotypes were less restrictive for females who engaged in counterstereotypic occupations (Mary-Doctor) compared to males who engaged in counterstereotypic occupations (Henry-Nurse). Fifty-seven American eight- and nine-year-olds from a southwestern city were orally presented with stereotypic male and female names paired with masculine and feminine occupations and asked to create sentences using the name-occupation pairs. We conducted analyses of the created sentences as well as tested children’s memories for the various pairings. Consistent with social role theory, the findings revealed that children’s gender role stereotypes were more restrictive for males, than for females.