Gender Differences in Job Site Perceptions

Perceptions of work site characteristics have been described in school pscyhology literature. The current investigation focused on perceptions of Job Satisfaction, Job Stability, and Quality of Professional Life among male and female school psychologists. Analyses of responses from 209 professionals indicate positive perceptions of school psychological roles and functions across subjects, and specifically for female school psychologists. Of the three areas examined, the greatest differences between male and female school psychologists were found in the Quality of Professional Life category.     

Fear and Loathing: A Meta-Analytic Review of the Specificity of Anger in PTSD

The available empirical literature suggests that anger may be characteristic of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Meta-analytic strategies were used to evaluate the extent to which the experience of anger is specific to PTSD rather than anxiety disorders in general. Thirty-four anxiety disorder patient samples (n = 2,169) from 28 separate studies were included in the analysis. Results yielded a large effect size indicating greater anger difficulties among anxiety disorder patients versus controls. Compared to control samples, a diagnosis of PTSD was associated with significantly greater difficulties with anger than was any other anxiety disorder diagnosis. Other anxiety disorder diagnoses did not differ significantly from each other. However, the specific association between PTSD and anger did vary depending on the anger domain assessed. Difficulties with anger control, anger in, and anger out significantly differentiated PTSD from non-PTSD anxiety disorder samples, whereas difficulties with anger expression, state anger, and trait anger did not. These findings are discussed in the context of future research on the role of anger in PTSD.     

On the Perils of Living Dangerously in the Slasher Horror Film: Gender Differences in the Association Between Sexual Activity and Survival

The slasher horror film has been deplored based on claims that it depicts eroticized violence against predominately female characters as punishment for sexual activities. To test this assertion, a quantitative content analysis was conducted to examine the extent to which gender differences are evident in the association between character survival and engagement in sexual activities. Information pertaining to gender, engagement in sexual activities, and survival was coded for film characters from a simple random sample of 50 English-language, North American slasher films released between 1960 and 2009. Results indicated that sexual female characters were less likely to survive and had significantly longer death scenes as compared to those female characters who did not engage in sexual behaviors.     

Gender Differences in Managers' Conceptions and Perceptions of Commitment to the Organization

This study explored the effect of gender on managers' conceptions and perceptions of those behaviors seen as demonstrating commitment to the organization. Three major findings are reported: (1) female managers and male managers with families evaluated traditional commitment behaviors as less indicative of commitment than their single male counterparts; (2) managers' conceptions of behaviors indicative of commitment conformed to the views of the majority gender within their work-group; and (3) managers' perceptions of commitment were not affected by gender-based in-group biases.     

Gender Differences in Gender-Role Perceptions Among Japanese College Students

This study investigated gender differences ingender role perceptions among contemporary Japanesecollege students. Originally, a total of 309 students(111 men and 198 women) rated the desirability of 60 items of the Japanese version of Bem SexRole Inventory for both men and women. One hundredfifty-nine students' desirability ratings for men and150 students' desirability ratings for women wererandomly selected. A significant gender difference wasfound only on the desirability ratings of feminine itemsfor men with the males having a higher mean score thanthe females (p < .001). There was no gender difference in the desirability ratings offeminine items for women and masculine items for men andfor women. Several possible explanations for the presentresults were discussed. A comparison of the present findings to the results of the previous study(Kashiwagi, 1974) was also discussed.     

Perceptions of Gender Differences in Self-Report Measures of Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence (EI) refers to the abilities/competencies that an individual has about emotions and has proven to be related to positive aspects in life. Despite its growing relevance, results about the existence and magnitude of gender differences have been inconclusive, with some studies suggesting that such differences depend on the theoretical approach and type of instrument used. In an effort to better understand these relationships, this study examined the stereotyped nature of self-report instruments of EI from the two main theoretical EI approaches (ability-based and mixed models). Two hundred sixty Spanish undergraduates from a university in the South of Spain indicated the extent to which they considered several EI competences as typical of women/men. Results show that most EI dimensions are biased by gender stereotypes, in terms of being perceived as more characteristic of one gender or the other. An in-group gender bias appeared particularly among female participants whereby they attributed higher scores to women than to men in most EI dimensions. Men also favored men giving higher scores than women did in some of the dimensions. These results suggest that self-report EI measures may be influenced by gender stereotypes, which has relevant implications for EI researchers.     

Age and Gender Differences in Young People's Perceptions of Sport Participants1

Pre‐ and middle‐adolescent girls’ and boys’ perceptions of sport were examined using the Draw a Sportsperson test. Almost all the boys drew male figures, while the girls drew figures of both sexes. However, older girls drew a majority of male figures, many of whom were sports celebrities, while younger girls drew similar numbers of male and female figures, most of the latter being peers. A substantial number of drawings of sports celebrities were produced. The majority of these were of male, high‐profile soccer players. The possible significance of these results for the increase in the gender gap in sporting interest at adolescence, and the influence of the media on boys’ and girls’ perceptions of sport are discussed.     

Gender Differences in Fear of Success Imagery and Other Achievement-Related Background Variables Among Medical Students

Gender differences in the background variablesof 95 male and 94 female (85 Asian-American and 104primarily Caucasian non-Asian American) medical studentsenrolled in Phase I of a BS/MD six-year medical program were investigated. Fear of successimagery, resultant achievement motivation and severaldemographic and achievement-related home, school,personal motivational variables were analyzed. Therewere no significant gender differences in most ofthe variables. However, during high school, women spentless time in watching TV (p < .000), more time instudying (p < .000), and perceived that their chores were minimized before examinations (p< .002), while during their medical study, their useof conversation with someone to cope with theirpressures and their perception of unique parentalsupport were higher than those of men (p < .05 andp < .01, respectively). Hours spent in studying andin watching TV during high school, and parents'minimizing chores before tests can discriminate about two-thirds of the students in their appropriategender (p < .000).     

The Proof is in the Punch: Gender Differences in Perceptions of Action and Aggression as Components of Manhood

Two studies test the hypotheses that men, relative to women: 1) see manhood as a more elusive, impermanent state than womanhood, and 2) understand aggression as a means of proving or re-establishing threatened manhood, but not threatened womanhood. In Study 1 (N?=?175 Northeastern U.S. undergraduates), men’s (but not women’s) sentence completions revealed tendencies to define manhood by actions and womanhood by enduring traits. In Study 2 (N?=?113 Southeastern U.S. undergraduates), men were more likely than women to explain a man’s physical aggression in primarily situational terms, whereas men and women did not differ in the attributions they made for a woman’s physical aggression. Results suggest that men perceive active and aggressive behaviors as integral parts of manhood and its defense.     

Adult Age and Gender Differences in Perceptions of Facial Attractiveness: Beauty is in the Eye of the Older Beholder

The authors examined ratings of facial attractiveness, rankings of faces, and reasons given by young, middle-aged, and older men and women for young, middle-aged, and older male and female face attractiveness. No support for predictions derived from similarity, interest, and cohort hypotheses was obtained. In support of the expertise hypothesis, young and middle-aged adults rated younger faces as more attractive than old faces, whereas older adults rated all aged faces equally. In support of the crone hypothesis, older female faces were rated the lowest of all faces. Theoretical implications and real-world applications are discussed.     

Gender Differences in Perceptions of How Others Are Affected by Self-Disclosure of Achievement

Three experiments were conducted at two east coast Universities with primarily Caucasian students participating. In experiment one, college students disclosed that they scored in the 91st percentile or in the top half on an intelligence-related test to a female student who had scored either in the 42nd percentile (low-achieving) or the 92nd percentile (high-achieving) on the same test. Women who disclosed modestly (top half) judged that the low-achieving other felt better than women who disclosed immodestly (91st percentile). Also, women who disclosed modestly judged that the other liked them more than women who disclosed immodestly. These effects did not occur with men. In experiment two, college students disclosed that they scored in the 91st percentile or in the top half on an intelligence-related test to either a male or a female student who had scored in the 42nd percentile on the same test. Women who disclosed modestly judged that a female peer liked them more and felt more intelligent and confident than did women who disclosed immodestly. In contrast, men who disclosed immodestly judged that a female peer liked them more than did men who disclosed modestly. Regardless of the peer's gender, women judged that peers felt worse about themselves, were less happy and more upset when subjects had disclosed immodestly. In contrast, men judged that the peer felt better about himself or herself, was happier and less upset when the subjects had disclosed immodestly. In Experiment 3, male and female participants rated the intelligence-related test as equally difficult and rated doing well on them as equally important. Participants also indicated that doing well was equally important to males and females. Thus, ego-involvement is ruled out as an alternative explanation. These findings support the interpretation of previous research that women may choose to disclose modestly in an effort to be better liked or to protect the other's feelings.     

Perceptions of Sexual Assault: The Expression of Gender Differences and the Impact of Target Alcohol Consumption1

This research examined the impact of defendant/complainant alcohol consumption and prior sexual history evidence on mock jurors' evaluations of a sexual assault trial. Participants (N = 196) were provided with a simulated trial in which the beverage consumption of both targets and the sexual history between them was manipulated. The results displayed a complex interplay between target beverage consumption and gender of participant. Typically observed gender effects—that is, women, compared to men, were more supportive of the complainant and less supportive of the defendant—was contingent upon target beverage consumption. Depending on how aggressive participants perceived the defendant to be, women were more sympathetic to the complainant, with this being contingent upon complainants' and defendants' beverage consumption.     

Loomingness and the Fear of AIDS: Perceptions of Motion and Menace

The authors examined the role of "perceived loomingness" in fear of HIV. Perceived loomingness refers to perceptions of rapid forward movement and instantaneous changes in the distance and danger of a potential threat (Riskind, 1992). One hundred and twenty undergraduates rated vignettes of two public encounters with an HIV-positive stranger. High-HIV fear subjects perceived greater loomingness and danger in these vignettes than did low-HIV fear subjects. Regression analyses that tested for a mediated model confirmed that the perceptions of loomingness may spark threat cognitions (such as the probability and imminence of harm), which, in turn, lead to fear. As predicted by the harm-looming model, loomingness also had some effects on fear that were not mediated by such standard threat cognitions.     

The Sexual Double Standard and Gender Differences in Predictors of Perceptions of Adult-Teen Sexual Relationships

We study gender differences and the effects of adult’s gender, an authority gap, and an age gap on university students’ perceptions of adult-teen sexual relationships. We specifically examine: the adult’s criminality, damage to the teen’s reputation, and emotional damage to the teen. We use a sample of 2,871 students from a Southwestern university in the U.S. who judged vignettes describing an adult-teen encounter. OLS regression demonstrated that women judged the scenarios more negatively than men. Further analyses found relationships between the experimental variables and each dependent variable and interactions by respondent’s gender and among the experimental variables. Results demonstrate a sexual double standard and highlight respondent’s gender, the age gap, and the authority context for perceptions of adult-teen relationships.     

Age-related Differences in the Production of Textual Descriptions

Narratives produced by 69 healthy Italian adults were analyzed for age-related changes of microlinguistic, macrolinguistic and informative aspects. The participants were divided into five age groups (20-24, 25-39, 40-59, 60-74, 75-84). One single-picture stimulus and two cartoon sequences were used to elicit three stories per subject. Age-related differences were found with respect to semantic paraphasias, paragrammatisms, syntactic complexity, degree of both local and global coherence, local coherence errors (like ambiguous referencing), and in the level of informativeness conveyed by the stories. The results showed some null effects of age, some effects with a sharp drop in performance in the oldest group, and several effects suggesting a gradual decrease in performance across age groups. No age differences were found with respect to phonological selection and noun-verb ratio. In the proportion of details vs. main themes, the results indicated a possibly better story construction ability in the middle aged (40-59) and young elderly (60-74) groups compared to the younger or the oldest group. Story-type (single picture vs. picture sequence) had a significant influence on some macrolinguistic and informativeness measures.     

Incivility at Academic Conferences: Gender Differences and the Mediating Role of Climate

In a survey study of 458 U.S. women and men, we examined experiences of incivility at an academic conference, a context that represents an important extension of the academic/professional workplace. We hypothesized and found that women reported more incivility, perceived the climate to be more sexist, and reported more conference exclusion than men. Counter to our prediction, men and women did not differ in how negatively they viewed the climate or their conference satisfaction. Since incivility may be a subtle form of bias that targets women more than men, women’s experiences of incivility may lead them to view the environment as more sexist. We found support for this, such that the relationship between incivility and sexist climate perceptions were stronger for women than men. Finally, we proposed that incivility would be related to negative conference outcomes through more negative perceptions of the conference climate for both genders, and through sexist climate perceptions only for women. Results of our path analyses indicated that positive, but not sexist, climate perceptions mediated the relationship between incivility and conference satisfaction for both genders. Further, both sexist and positive climate perceptions mediated the relationship between incivility and conference exclusion for both genders. We discuss incivility as a gendered phenomenon related to sexist contexts, as well as reasons for the observed mediated relationships. Additionally, we discuss the significant role that conference experiences may play for women and men in academia and professional settings, and implications for conference organizers.     

Gender and Perceptions of Danger

This study examined how gender affects evaluations of potentially dangerous situations, perceptions of risk, and advice given to a potential victim. Responses of 660 university students (68% female; 52% Anglo, 34% Hispanic) to a multipart questionnaire indicated that gender of the respondent, the potential aggressor, and the potential victim can all influence evaluations of danger, willingness to use a gun, beliefs about risk, and advice concerning how to behave in a dangerous situation. As hypothesized, responses reflected stereotypes of greater male aggressiveness, greater female fearfulness, and greater perceived danger for women than for men. Also as predicted, respondents perceived greater danger to others than to themselves and from strangers rather than from intimates.     

Gender Differences in Perceptions of Household Crowding: Stress,Affiliation, and Role Obligations in Rural India1

Male and female researchers separately interviewed the male and female heads of household in each of 159 homes in three villages in northern India. Analyses revealed consistent gender differences, such that women, compared to men, rated their homes more negatively, experienced more physical symptoms, and thought the supply of resources was insufficient. Surprisingly, women also believed that their homes could house more people and were significantly more likely to want more children. In other words, women reacted negatively to crowding but also appeared to like having many people in the household. Possible reasons for this apparent contradiction are discussed.     

Gender and aggression I: Perceptions of aggression

To investigate how gender and ethnicity influence evaluation, perceptions, and stereotyping of aggression, two studies were conducted with 115 college students (56% male; 50% Anglo and 26% Hispanic) and 79 individuals (72% male; 92% Anglo) who worked on a military base. Participants were asked to respond to four scenarios depicting aggressive interactions in which the gender of the protagonists varied, give their perceptions of 25 potentially aggressive incidents, and answer questions concerning stereotypes of gender related to these incidents and personal aggressive behaviors. Consistent with previous research on gender and aggression, both studies found that the aggressor, target, and respondent all affected perceptions of aggression and likelihood of aggressive behaviors. Aggression from a male and aggression directed towards a female were particularly likely to be evaluated negatively. Age and educational level were both negatively related to tolerance for aggression, and Anglo vs. Hispanic ethnicity was also associated with perceptions of aggression.We would like to thank Angela Bennett, Gail Bliss, Kayleigh Carabajal, Julie Depree, Carmen Gonzales, Deborah Good, Scott Griffin, Gladys Herrera, George Selix, Ruth Tangman, and Jon Woodland for their assistance with the development, distribution, and coding of the questionnaire.