Childhood Gender Nonconformity and Body Dissatisfaction in Gay and Heterosexual Men

Although researchers have long hypothesized a relation between gender role orientation (i.e., masculinity and femininity) and body dissatisfaction, findings have been inconsistent. The current study employed a measure of recalled childhood gender nonconformity to examine gender role behaviors in association with body dissatisfaction among an ethnically diverse (76% Caucasian, 2% African American, 8% Asian, and 16.4% Hispanic American) group of predominantly college-aged males of both homosexual (n = 129) and heterosexual (n = 52) orientation. Consistent with past research, gay males reported more body dissatisfaction and recalled more childhood gender atypical behaviors (e.g., disliking athletics, playing with dolls). Group differences in body dissatisfaction, however, disappeared when childhood gender nonconformity was statistically controlled, suggesting childhood atypical gender role behavior may place males at greater risk for adult body dissatisfaction. A within-group analysis also found that a high feminine subtype of gay males had greater body dissatisfaction than less feminine subtypes had. Results support the assertion that gender role behaviors may contribute to body dissatisfaction among gay males.     

Gender and the Internet: Women Communicating and Men Searching

This research examined gender differences in Internet use and factors responsible for these differences. A sample of 630 Anglo American undergraduates completed the Student Computer and Internet Survey that contained questions about e-mail and Web use, and about potential affective and cognitive mediators of use. Based on a general model of Internet use, we predicted and found that females used e-mail more than did males, males used the Web more than did females, and females reported more computer anxiety, less computer self-efficacy, and less favorable and less stereotypic computer attitudes. Path analysis to identify mediators of gender differences in Internet use revealed that computer self-efficacy, loneliness, and depression accounted in part for gender differences, but that gender continued to have a direct effect on use after these factors were considered. Implications for realizing the democratizing potential and benefits of Internet use are discussed.     

Powerless Men and Agentic Women: Gender Bias in Hiring Decisions

Sex Roles - We examined male power-roles as a potential moderator of gender bias in hiring decisions. Drawing from previous work on perceptions of agentic women and precarious manhood theory, we...     

Few Gender Differences Exist Between Women and Men with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is generally considered to be a women's health issue, but the illness occurs also in men. The research objective of this study was to determine if illness patterns and functional status differed between the sexes. Because our own data showed that women with CFS have significantly more comorbid fibromyalgia or multiple chemical sensitivity than men, we eliminated patients with these comorbid conditions from our evaluation. Women with CFS were quite similar to men with CFS in terms of demographics, psychiatric status, functional status, and assessments of disability. Women reported more infectious/flu-like symptoms (represented by a factor derived from factor analysis) than men, but these differences were insignificant after controlling for other variables. Cluster analysis revealed that women were more likely than men to fall in the cluster characterized by symptom severity. Differences found were those of degree rather than of type; strikingly different illness patterns—suggestive of different pathophysiological processes between the sexes—were not found.     

Dimensions of the Male Gender Role: A Confirmatory Analysis in Men and Women

As researchers become more interested instudying the influences of the male gender role onpeople's physical and psychological well-being, measuresof several male role domains have been created,including psychological agency, traditional attitudestowards men, and masculine gender role stress (MGRS).These measures of the male gender role, however,typically have been constructed and validated using only samples of men. This restriction introducesquestions about the reliability and validity of theseinstruments in samples of women, leading to problemswhen generalizing findings to this group. The present study addressed these issues by examining thefactor structure, factor correlations, and latent meansof these three male role measures for a sample of mostlyCaucasian men and women, using multiple group confirmatory factor analytic techniques.Results showed only the dimensionality of the agenticpersonality traits differed significantly for men andwomen. The interrelationships among and latent means of agency, attitudes, and MGRS differed by sex.These findings demonstrate the utility of the currentconceptualization of sex and gender; in other words,that gender is not totally determined by sexand that men and women internalize many of the samegender cues, but differentially endorse them to varyingdegrees.     

Gender Role Expectations of Disgust: Men are Low and Women are High

Little is known about the gender-based stereotypes of the emotion of disgust. We hypothesized that when addressing core (gross-out) disgust specifically, men would be perceived as lower in disgust matching masculine roles and women would be perceived as higher in disgust consonant with feminine gender roles. In Study 1, we modified and validated the Gender Role Expectations of Pain graphical scale (GREP, Robinson et al. 2001) to address disgust and gave it and a disgust sensitivity scale to 136 (48 men) undergraduates from the northeastern United States. Rating disgust sensitivity of themselves and stereotypical men and women, both genders rated men low in disgust sensitivity compared to a typical woman and women high in disgust compared to a typical man. A significant trend for men higher in masculinity to be less willing to show their disgust was also seen. This exact pattern of significant results was found in an additional sample of 134 students (37 men) from the northeastern U.S. on an online version of the GREP. Study 2 examined gender role expectations for comparison emotions of anger and amusement in a different set of undergraduates from the northeastern U.S. Anger showed a trend toward an opposite pattern of ratings than for disgust; no gender biases were expected or seen for amusement, a control emotion. Thus, the stereotypical profile of high disgust reported for women did not merely reflect general overarching gender-based stereotypes of emotion, but gender-based expectations specific to core (gross-out) disgust. We suggest awareness of gender role expectations of disgust may play a role in observed gender differences reported for disgust.     

Women,Men, and Leadership: Exploring the Gender Gap at the Top

Elite-level leaders in business and government make significant and far-reaching decisions influencing many facets of society. However, relatively few of these powerful positions are held by women. This article explores gender in leadership by focusing on the difficulties women experience in attaining and being seen as effective in top leadership positions. It begins by revealing the lack of parity between the sexes in leadership and in the remaining sections it addresses empirical research that serves to illuminate the leadership labyrinth, or obstacles to women’s progress, also known as the glass ceiling. In the first section, research on gender and leadership styles, traits, and effectiveness is reviewed followed by a consideration of how both domestic responsibilities and current organizational cultures differentially impact women and men on their journey to top leadership positions. The focus then shifts to examining how stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination contribute to women’s under-representation in elite leadership roles by both impacting perceptions of and responses to women as well as impacting the experiences of women themselves. The final section concludes with thoughts on promoting parity in top-level leadership.     

Assessment of Conflicts Associated with a Traditional Masculine Gender Role in Spanish College Men and Women

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Gender Role Conflict Scale – Short Form (GRCS-SF; Wester et al. 2012) in a sample of men. In addition, we extend the gender conflict paradigm by evaluating two samples of women with the same instrument. In Study 1, we investigated the internal structure of the instrument in a sample of 281 Spanish undergraduate women using exploratory factor analysis, finding support to the original factor structure. In Study 2, we analyzed its psychometric properties in a college sample of 184 men and 255 women using confirmatory factor analysis, and we explored differences between the two genders through a factor invariance analysis and a comparison of group means. Sufficient equivalence was found, allowing for comparisons among men’s and women’s scores. Overall, masculine gender conflict was significantly associated with greater distress and less general subjective well-being in both men and women. Our research extends the gender role conflict paradigm to the Spanish context and enhances the study of women’s conflicts associated with the adoption of behaviors traditionally attributed to the male gender role.     

Gender Self-Stereotyping Is Context Dependent for Men But Not for Women

Two experiments tested whether activation of associations between the self and specific aspects of the gender stereotype is context dependent. Self-stereotype associations were assessed with a sequential priming paradigm, using the words “I” versus “others” as primes, and gender-stereotypic trait words as targets in a lexical decision task. For males, self-primes increased the accessibility of male-stereotypic traits in a context in which the stereotypic trait target was relevant but not in an irrelevant context. For females, self-primes increased the accessibility of female-stereotypic traits irrespective of the context. Difference in context dependence of self-stereotyping reflect more flexible gender-role self-concepts for males than females.     

Conditional Parochial Vicarious Ostracism: Gender Collective Narcissism Predicts Distress at the Exclusion of the Gender Ingroup in Women and Men

Sex Roles - Three experiments (two pre-registered) tested whether gender collective narcissism (i.e., a belief that one’s gender ingroup’s exceptionality is not sufficiently recognized...     

Gender,Interdependent Self-construals,and Collective Self-esteem: Women and Men Are Mostly the Same

Women and men may differ in how they define themselves in reference to their social world. Baumeister and Sommer () suggest that women prefer close relationships whereas men prefer large-group memberships. We examined how this hypothesized gender difference relates to collective self-esteem from three interdependent groups: friends, family, and gender. Study 1 revealed that women and men report equivalent levels of collective self-esteem from both relational and collective groups. Study 2 replicated this finding, and further revealed that the importance of group membership to individuals is more crucial to understanding collective self-esteem than is a gender differences approach. We discuss the implications of these results in terms of contingencies of social self-worth and potential cognitive processes involved in self-construal.     

Gender Nonconformity Is Perceived Differently for Cisgender and Transgender Targets

Sex Roles - The present research examined the role gender non-conformity plays in attitudes toward transgender people. Study 1 with 232 U.S college students focused on attitudes toward...     

Joking for Gender Equality: Subversive Humor Against Sexism Motivates Collective Action in Men and Women with Weaker Feminist Identity

Sex Roles - Subversive humor has historically been considered a way of protesting, raising awareness, and seeking change. However, to date, no known empirical research has explored the consequences...     

Gender, Personality, and Prejudice: The Display of Authoritarianism and Social Dominance in Interviews with College Men and Women

One hundred fifty-five men and 256 women were assessed on authoritarianism, social dominance, and other personality traits. Authoritarianism showed few correlations with personality measures; however, social dominance correlated with disagreeableness, coldness, vindictiveness, and aggressiveness for all participants and with masculine interests for men. Ninety-three questionnaire participants (47 men and 46 women) were interviewed and rated on various personality traits. Both authoritarianism and social dominance were highly judgable from interviews. Authoritarian individuals, especially men, were judged to be defensive, maladjusted, and prejudiced. Socially dominant individuals, especially women, were judged to be disagreeable, cold, and prejudiced. Authoritarianism correlated particularly strongly with negative attitudes toward homosexuality, and social dominance with the endorsement of gender inequality. Results are discussed in terms of two kinds of dispositional prejudice.     

Gender Clues and Cues: Online Interactions as Windows into Lay Theories about Men and Women

Based on the hierarchical model of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (Vallerand, 1997 Vallerand , R. J. , Fortier , M. S. , &; Guay , F. ( 1997 ). Self-determination and persistence in a real-life setting: Toward a motivational model of high-school drop out . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 72 , 1161 – 1176 .[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), the purpose of the present research was to propose and test a model that posits that individuals’ perceptions of autonomy support from their supervisor in an activity (e.g., coach, teacher) and their global autonomous motivation jointly promote their autonomous (contextual) motivation toward the activity. In turn, contextual autonomous motivation positively predicts interest in the activity, whereas it negatively predicts intentions to drop out of the activity. In Study 1, the model was tested with a sample of 206 competitive athletes registered in the French Skiing Federation. In Study 2, a short longitudinal design was used, and the sample was composed of 206 French high school students (128 female, 78 male). Results from structural equation modeling analyses supported the hypothesized model. These results provided support for the hierarchical model of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (Vallerand, 1997 Vallerand , R. J. ( 1997 ). Toward a hierarchical model of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation . In M. P. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (pp. 271 – 360 ). New York , NY : Academic Press .[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). The implications of the findings and future research avenues are discussed in light of the hierarchical model and self-determination theory.     

Where Men Appear More Religious Than Women: Turning a Gender Lens on Religion in Israel

Past research, typically focused on Christians in Christian nations, has found that women tend to be more religious than men. This study uses original nationally representative data (N = 5,601) with strategic oversamples of minority groups to examine variation in how religion and gender intersect across ethnoreligious identities in Israel. We demonstrate that Israel diverges from the typical pattern of women appearing more religious than men. In fact, Israeli men are consistently more religious than Israeli women on commonly used measures and frequently more religious on a broader set of questions specific to Judaism and Israel. Subgroup analyses highlight the intersectional nature of gender and religion, showing that men's greater religiosity in Israel is limited to Jews, and, more specifically, nonsecular Jews. We suggest that gender gaps arise, at least in part, because religions are gendered institutions with gendered norms, expectations, and incentives, and that these norms, expectations, and incentives vary from religion to religion.     

Conflicted Gender Identity, Body Dissatisfaction, and Disordered Eating in Adult Men and Women

The relation between gender identity and body dissatisfaction as well as disordered eating was examined in a population-based sample of Finnish adults aged 18 to 44 years (N?=?1,142). Participants with a conflicted gender identity were compared to controls matched on age and biological sex. Participants with a conflicted gender identity showed higher levels of body dissatisfaction, women with a conflicted gender identity also showed more eating disturbance than controls. Among men with a conflicted gender identity, male–male sexual experience was associated with more body dissatisfaction and disordered eating. Among women with a conflicted gender identity, female–female sexual experience was related to less body dissatisfaction. Possible explanations for these findings and the potential clinical implications are discussed.     

Jewish Identity and the Secular Achievements of American Jewish Men and Women

Three questions are addressed concerning the relationship of Jewish identity to secular achievements. Are the secular achievements of American Jews related at all to the strength of their Jewish identity? Which has a stronger relationship to secular achievement, a religious or an ethnic Jewish identity? Do communal aspects or private, personal aspects of Jewish identity have the stronger relationship to secular achievements? Using the 2000–2001 National Jewish Population Survey, we find that educational attainment, labor force participation, and occupational achievements are related to several expressions of Jewish identity, even after controlling for the traditional sources of variation (age, gender, education, family status). Jewish identity, as expressed in terms of religion, ethnicity, communal commitment, and private attitudes and practices, is related to contemporary Jewish secular achievement, albeit differently for men and women.     

Gender and Emotions at Work: Organizational Rank Has Greater Emotional Benefits for Men than Women

Sex Roles - The way people feel is important for how they behave and perform in the workplace. Experiencing more positive?and less negative?emotions at work is often associated with...