Face adaptation to gender: Does adaptation transfer across age categories?

We examined gender adaptation effects for the faces of children and adults and measured the transfer of these effects across age categories. Face gender adaptation is defined by a bias to classify the gender of a gender-neutral face to be opposite to that of an adapting face. An androgynous face, for example, appears male following adaptation to a female face. Participants adapted to male or female faces from the two age categories and classified the gender of morphed adult and child faces from a male–female morph trajectory. Gender adaptation effects were found for children's and adults’ faces and for the transfer between the age categories. The size of these effects was comparable when participants adapted to adult faces and identified the gender of either adult or child faces, and when participants adapted to child faces and identified the gender of child faces. A smaller adaptation effect was found when participants adapted to a child's face but identified the gender of an adult's face. The results indicate an interconnected and partially shared representation of the gender information for child and adult faces. The lack of symmetry in adaptation transfer between child and adult faces suggests that adaptation to adult faces is more effective than adaptation to child faces in activating a gender representation that generalizes across age categories.     

Effect of tactical initiative on predicting passing shots in tennis

This study aimed to demonstrate that one of the main sources of information that tennis players use to anticipate their opponents' strokes is prior knowledge of the upcoming events likely to develop when the player has the opportunity to impose his or her playing intent. Seventeen experienced male players were faced with simulated on‐court situations with three different delivery conditions such that their tactical initiative was high, moderate or weak (reflecting the possibilities of controlling rallies). Each situation finished with a passing shot from the opponent that the participant had to intercept with a volley stroke in the absence of visual information (vision occluded before the opponent's stroke). Analysis of directional responses showed that the participants were more accurate if they were in firm control of the rallies (high level of tactical initiative). Forecasts were also found to be more accurate for down‐the‐line backhand shots. These findings increase our understanding of anticipation in tennis. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Correlation of the Response Potentials of the Skin with “Exciting” and Non-“Exciting” Stimuli

The relationship between psychological test performance and adult judgments of children's intelligence was explored in Guatemala and the U. S. A. In Guatemala, 15 male and 15 female children, age eight, were studied in each of two rural villages. In one village, 48 adult community members ranked the children on intelligence; in the other, 29 adults did the rankings. Male and female children were ranked separately. In the U. S., nine male children in a small New Jersey town were ranked by 25 adults. In a second U. S. community. a small California town, eight male children were ranked by 14 adults. In general, adult judgments were found to be congruent with children's test performance. In Guatemala, a simple family socioeconomic index was also related to both adult judgment and children's test performance. The implications of the results and the utility of these types of judgment techniques in cross-cultural research are discussed.     

The roles of leader emotion management and team conflict for team members' personal initiative: A multilevel perspective

Employees' personal initiative (i.e., their active and future-oriented engagement at work) is of high relevance to organizations that strive for innovation and competitiveness. To better understand its drivers and diminishers, the present study refers to Affective Events Theory and examines the impact of leader emotion management, team conflict, and affective well-being on personal initiative. Data from 300 members of 59 work teams in Germany were gathered from multiple sources at three points in time over the course of 2 weeks. Multilevel analyses indicated that leader emotion management positively affected team members' personal initiative and that this effect was mediated by team members' affective well-being. Data also revealed a contrasting negative indirect effect of task conflict within the team on team members' personal initiative via team members' affective well-being. The study's results suggest that the improvement of leaders' emotion management as well as the establishment of work conditions and experiences that foster affective well-being should be seriously considered by organizations wishing to facilitate personal initiative in team settings.     

Perceived Influence of Male Sex Role Identity on Female Partner's Life Choices

The relationship between a man's sex role identity and his and his female partner's perceptions of his influence on her life choices was investigated in this study. Sex role identity was measured by the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI), and perception of influence was measured by the Interpersonal Influence Survey (IIS). The BSRI and IIS were administered by mail to 131 pairs of female graduate students and their male partners. Male and female perceptions of the man's influence were found to be related to the man's BSRI scores. Masculine men were not found to differ in their perceptions of influence from feminine or un-differentiated men, but they were found to have significantly lower perceptions of their influence than androgynous men. Feminine men were not found to differ in their perceptions of influence from masculine or undifferentiated men, but they were found to be lower in their perceptions of influence than androgynous men. Women with androgynous or feminine male partners perceived the man as being more influential than did female partners of masculine men, but they did not differ in their perceptions of male partner influence from women with undifferentiated male partners. Women with masculine or undifferentiated male partners did not differ in their perceptions of the male partner's influence.     

The Role of Paternal Age in the Prediction of Offspring Intelligence

Recent evidence suggests that paternal age at birth influences myriad developmental outcomes among children, but few studies have examined the possibility for father's age to influence children's intellectual development among a sample of high-risk families. The authors use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to examine the association between paternal age at birth among 480 male and 449 female children's verbal IQ scores, as assessed with a version of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test at 9 years old. The nonlinear association between paternal age and children's verbal intelligence was also examined. Paternal age at birth appears to have a marginally significant nonlinear relationship with male children's verbal IQ scores, despite controlling for a number of possible confounders associated with both young and advanced paternal age.     

Nontraditional gender roles and the sexual experiences of heterosexual college students

The purposes of this study of heterosexual college students were (1) to specify gender differences and similarities in sexual beliefs and experiences, (2) to determine the prevalence of women enacting traditional male roles in dating and sexual interactions, and (3) to examine the relationship between women's enactment of traditional male roles and their sexual experiences. Findings for this predominantly Caucasian sample indicated that there were no significant gender differences in age of first intercourse, frequency of intercourse, oral sex participation, prevalence of coitus and anal sex, rating of how often sex partners satisfied their sex needs and desires, and reactions to recent intercourse. Although less than men's frequencies, sizable proportions of women acknowledged they had multiple sex partners and sex without emotional involvement. Support for an increased proportion of females engaging in the traditional male roles of initiating sexual involvement and dates and paying date expenses was also found. Findings also suggested that there are no simple patterns between women's sexual experience and nontraditional roles but that this association depends on the specific role as well as the status and quality of a woman's current sexual relationship. Findings were discussed in terms of their potential to contribute to women's sexual decisions.     

Gender differences in episodic memory and visual working memory including the effects of age

Analysing the relationship between gender and memory, and examining the effects of age on the overall memory-related functioning, are the ongoing goals of psychological research. The present study examined gender and age group differences in episodic memory with respect to the type of task. In addition, these subgroup differences were also analysed in visual working memory. A sample of 366 women and 330 men, aged between 16 and 69 years of age, participated in the current study. Results indicate that women outperformed men on auditory memory tasks, whereas male adolescents and older male adults showed higher level performances on visual episodic and visual working memory measures. However, the size of gender-linked effects varied somewhat across age groups. Furthermore, results partly support a declining performance on episodic memory and visual working memory measures with increasing age. Although age-related losses in episodic memory could not be explained by a decreasing verbal and visuospatial ability with age, women's advantage in auditory episodic memory could be explained by their advantage in verbal ability. Men's higher level visual episodic memory performance was found to result from their advantage in visuospatial ability. Finally, possible methodological, biological, and cognitive explanations for the current findings are discussed.     

An investigation of the impact of young children's self‐knowledge of trustworthiness on school adjustment: A test of the realistic self‐knowledge and positive illusion models

The study aimed to examine the relationship between self‐knowledge of trustworthiness and young children's school adjustment. One hundred and seventy‐three (84 male and 89 female) children from school years 1 and 2 in the United Kingdom (mean age 6 years 2 months) were tested twice over 1‐year. Children's trustworthiness was assessed using: (a) self‐report at Time 1 and Time 2; (b) peers' reports at Time 1 and Time 2; and (c) teacher‐reports at Time 2. School adjustment was assessed by child‐rated school‐liking and the Short‐Form Teacher Rating Scale of School Adjustment (Short‐Form TRSSA). Longitudinal quadratic relationships were found between school adjustment and children's self‐knowledge, using peer‐reported trustworthiness as a reference: more accurate self‐knowledge of trustworthiness predicted increases in school adjustment. Comparable concurrent quadratic relationships were found between teacher‐rated school adjustment and children's self‐knowledge, using teacher‐reported trustworthiness as a reference, at Time 2. The findings support the conclusion that young children's psychosocial adjustment is best accounted for by the realistic self‐knowledge model ( Colvin & Block, 1994 ).     

Minority influence and idiosyncrasy credit: A new comparison of the Moscovici and Hollander theories of innovation

Moscovici's model of minority influence and Hollander's model of idiosyncrasy credit were compared in an experiment conducted with I6 discussion groups composed of four male undergraduates (N = 64) and a confederate. Their task was to rank-order unanimously 10 proposals to remediate urban problems, to which the confederate attempted to have one more added, thus introducing a norm change. Two variables were manipulated: Status of the innovator (minority versus elected leader) and Ideological criterion for innovation (avant-garde versus reformist). It was predicted that the consistent behavioural style of the minority would make him more influential under the avant-garde condition than under the reformist condition whereas the idiosyncrasy credit of the leader would make him more influential under the reformist condition. Although the adoption hypotheses failed to be supported, the evaluations of the confederate were consistent with both the Moscovici and Hollander models. While the minority con federate's action gained him visibility and distinctive attributions of determination and assurance, the leader con federate's initiative cost him his competence and cooperation credits. Strategies devised to adopt the innovation or to reject it (five groups versus four) pointed to the importance of interactive networks within the majority and to the decisive role played by group leaders for the innovator's influence to be exerted. These findings lead to speculate that Hollander's theorizing could be complementary to Moscovici's to account for the diffusion of minority influence.     

2017: The Quincentennial Celebration of the Reformation in an Age of Secularization and Religious Pluralism

In the last days of October 1517 Martin Luther finished a series of theological theses in which he argued that selling indulgences was theologically wrong; in fact, untenable. Protestants consider Luther's initiative the beginning of the Reformation. But how should we celebrate the memory of these events that took place 500 years ago? What is the lasting value of Luther's message in our time, in an age of secularization and religious pluralism?     

Early stages of initiative and environmental response

Research results on the association between maternal response to infant' initiative and the development of such initiatives is being presented. This study is based on 239 feeding situations belonging to 41 mother–infant pairs videotaped at home at 30-day intervals, from the beginning of spoon-feeding until 1 year of age. The results showed that the basic hypotheses of this study were confirmed. There was a clear association between maternal responses to initiatives of the infant and four variables: Initiatives, Attempted Initiatives, Aversive Behavior, and Conflictivity. A favorable maternal response went along with more initiatives, fewer Attempts, less Aversivity, and less Conflictivity. Conflictivity was understood as reciprocal exchange of antipathetic reactions such as opposition, disgust, and hostility. Therefore, conflicts show struggle and confrontation between both members of the interaction. Aversivity is the infant's sole reaction to disgust, distaste, or opposition. As the infant risks confrontations with the care-giver to sustain her initiatives, we can say that, although highly influentiable by maternal response, Initiative is a contribution of the infant to her own development. Thus, in our view, a developing self shows an emerging capacity to initiate actions of his/her own. This becomes a relational issue as soon as the infant's initiative hits the interactional field, causing an environmental response that ultimately will allow or impede initiative. In case of impediments, the strong reaction of the infant will produce an impact upon the progressive stages of construction of the relationship, and certainly will be influential upon the further development of the infant's self.     

Sex differences in the estimated intelligence of school children

This study investigated sex differences in estimated general and multiple intelligence in school children, their parents, and their teachers. There were three groups of participants: 285 (149 female, 136 male) pupils of a mixed government‐run comprehensive school, between the ages of 13 and 16 years; 93 mothers and 58 fathers of the pupils; and five female and eight male teachers. Children estimated their own and their parents' IQ, whilst the parents estimated their own and their children's IQ; the teachers estimated only the children's intelligence. The aims of this study were firstly to assess whether perceptions of male intellectual superiority were observable in school age children and school teachers, and to make direct comparisons between the children's self‐estimations and those of the parents and the teachers. Secondly, this study aimed to replicate previous literature on adult self‐estimations of overall and multiple intelligences, and to compare these to estimations by children of these adults (their parents). Fewer sex differences were observed than expected. Teachers' estimations did not follow conceptions of male superiority. The patterns of sex differences in mother and teacher estimations of children were similar to each other, as were those of fathers and children. Verbal and numerical abilities were found to be most closely related to estimations of overall IQ in all three groups. Most striking was the lack of correlation between father and daughter estimations of each other. Reasons why this study failed to replicate findings on adult samples are discussed. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Parents' Expressiveness and Young Children's Emotion Decoding With Parents and Unknown Adults

The authors investigated young children's ability to decode the emotions of happiness and anger expressed by their parent and an adult stranger. Parents and adult strangers (encoders) were videotaped while describing events that had elicited happiness or anger. Children viewed brief clips edited from these videotapes and indicated the emotion that their parent or the stranger was expressing. With male encoders, only children's age predicted accuracy. With female encoders, mothers' expressive style and children's age interacted to predict children's decoding accuracy. Compared with older children of less positively expressive mothers, older children of more positively expressive mothers were more accurate overall, because they were better at recognizing happiness. In general, children were no more or less accurate in decoding their parent's emotions than they were in decoding an unknown adult's emotions.     

The Cultural Adaptation of a Community‐Based Child Maltreatment Prevention Initiative

A unique primary prevention effort, Strong Communities for Children (Strong Communities), focuses on changing attitudes and expectations regarding communities' collective responsibilities for the safety of children. Findings from a 6‐year pilot of the initiative in South Carolina have shown promise in reducing child maltreatment, but efforts to adapt the initiative to different cultural contexts have been lacking. No models exist for adapting an initiative that takes a community‐level approach to ensuring children's safety. Thus, this article addresses the gap by providing an overview of the original initiative, how the initiative was adapted to the Israeli context, and lessons learned from the experience. Building on conceptualizations of cultural adaptation by Castro et al. (Prevention Science, 5, 2004, 41) and Resnicow et al. (Ethnicity and Disease, 9, 1999, 11), sources of nonfit (i.e., sociodemographic traits, political conflict, government services, and the presence and role of community organizations) were identified and deep and surface structure modifications were made to the content and delivery. Ultimately, this article describes the adaption and dissemination of a community‐based child maltreatment prevention initiative in Tel Aviv, Israel, and addresses researchers' calls for more publications describing the adaptation of interventions and the procedures that need to be implemented to achieve cultural relevance.     

Watching,waiting, and wondering: Applying psychoanalytic principals to mother-infant intervention

There is general acceptance that the intergenerational repetition of relational patterns is transmitted within the interactions between mother and infant. The highly invested nature of the mother-infant relationship makes it a prime arena for the playing out of unresolved relational conflicts of the mother. This occurs through the mother's responses to her infant in which she projects into the infant certain disavowed but highly invested positive or negative attributes. This leads to the interactional re-creation of a whole relational system reflecting the mother's current and past relationship experiences. When a mother's conflictual past is unresolved and unmitigated by current relationships, her interactions with her infant are more driven by such perceptions than by real appraisal of the infant's actual attributes. The sleeping, eating, and behavioral management problems of infancy are often manifestations of such situations. A deceptively simple set of instructions to the mother, to become a nonintrusive observer of her infant and only interact at the infant's initiative, allows a role for the infant's initiative in changing interactions and thus potentially changing a relational system.     

Students' perceived closeness to professors: The effects of school,professor gender,and student gender

The present study is a replication and expansion of F. J. Crosby and L. M. Reinardy's 1993 study, which found that female college students felt closer to female professors than to male professors. While the original study was conducted at a women's college, the present study includes students at a women's college, a coed college that was previously a women's college, a coed college that was previously a men's college, and a large university. Seventy-four percent of students were Caucasian, 7% Asian, 5.5% African American, 3% Latino/Latina, 0.5% Native American, 5.5% Mixed Race, and 4% Other. Feelings of closeness were examined as a function of institution, professor gender, and student gender. It was again found that students at the women's college felt closer to female professors than to male professors. This affinity for female professors held true for both male and female students at the other three institutions. Additionally, students at the previously women's college felt closer to their professors than did students at either the university or the previously men's college. The importance of female professors in higher education are considered.     

Personality Traits Increasingly Important for Male Fertility: Evidence from Norway

We study the relationship between personality traits and fertility using a survey of Norwegian men and women born from 1927 to 1968 (N = 7017 individuals). We found that personality relates to men's and women's fertility differently; conscientiousness decreases female fertility, openness decreases male fertility and extraversion raises the fertility of both sexes. Neuroticism depresses fertility for men, but only for those born after 1956. The lower male fertility in younger cohorts high in neuroticism cannot be explained by partnership status, income or education. The proportion of childless men (at age 40 years) has increased rapidly for Norwegian male cohorts from 1940 to 1970 (from about 15 to 25 per cent). For women, it has only increased marginally (from 10 to 13 per cent). Our findings suggest that this could be partly explained by the increasing importance of personality characteristics for men's probability of becoming fathers. Men that have certain personality traits may increasingly be avoiding the long‐term commitment of having children, or their female partners are shunning entering this type of commitment with them. Childbearing in contemporary richer countries may be less likely to be influenced by economic necessities and more by individual partner characteristics, such as personality. Copyright © 2013 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Gender-Role Cognition in Three-Year-Old Boys and Girls

Although the multidimensionality of gender roles has been well established, few researchers have investigated male and female roles separately. Because of the substantial differences in the ways male and female roles are portrayed in our culture, boys and girls may think and learn about these roles differently. The male role is more clearly defined, more highly valued, and more salient than the female role; thus, children's cognitions about these two roles may be expected to differ. The present study addressed the question of whether there is sex-typical variation in gender labeling, gender-role knowledge, and schematicity. Participants were 120 families; 15% were from minority ethnic groups, and 17% were single-parent families; 25% of the parents had a high school education or less. Results indicated that at 36 months of age, boys were less able to label gender and less knowledgeable about gender roles than were girls. Boys' knew more about male stereotypes than female stereotypes, whereas girls knew considerably more than boys about the female role and as much as boys about the male role. Boys and girls were found to be similar in gender schematicity. Traditionality of parental attitudes regarding child-rearing and maternal employment were not strongly related to children's gender cognition.