The Washington University Sentence Complete Test: are the two halves alternate forms? Are the female and male forms comparable?

Evidence from 85 adult medical outpatients supported psychometric comparability of the 2 halves of the Washington University Sentence Completion Test (SCT) Form 81 and of the female and male forms of the SCT. There was slightly stronger internal consistency for the first versus the second half of the SCT. Each half correlated highly with the ogive total protocol rating and 36-item-sum rating. Intercorrelations of the 2 halves with external measures also suggested essentially equivalent relations. For the 30 identical items across gender, the median correlation between individual item ratings with the item-sum ratings was nearly equal for women and men. When the 6 nonidentical items were considered with the identical items, the median item-total correlation was slightly higher for men (45) than women (41). This difference was accounted for by the slightly larger variability in the mate subsample. Practically speaking, the 2 halves and the female and male forms may be used with minimal concern regarding psychometric comparability in similar medical outpatient settings.     

Norms of subjective frequency of use and imagery for a sample of 1,916 French nouns.

Norms of rated subjective frequency of use and imagery on seven-point scales are reported for 1,916 French nouns. Subjective frequency was defined as the rated frequency of occurrence of words in spoken French, and imagery was defined as the rated case with which a word aroused a mental image. The mean, standard deviation, and percentile rank of the frequency and imagery ratings for each item are presented in the Appendix together with their objective frequency of occurrence in Baudot's (1992) dictionary. Interjudge reliability was assessed by calculating the correlation between the mean ratings of items repeated in the booklet, between the mean ratings obtained from odd-numbered and even-numbered respondents, and by computing the Cronbach alpha statistic for each page of the booklet. These reliability estimates were equal to or greater than .92 for frequency and for imagery, confirming the high level of interjudge consistency. Although the estimates provided by female and male participants were highly correlated (r = .97), the former gave a slightly higher frequency rating to the word sample but a slightly lower imagery rating than the latter did. Moreover, female respondents gave slightly more extreme ratings on the frequency and imagery scales. An analysis of the absolute difference between female and male ratings revealed a discrepancy of one half point or more on 20% of the word sample for frequency and 13% for imagery. On both scales, the mean absolute difference between male and female ratings was larger than that obtained by chance alone. This finding highlights the possibility that some words may not be equally familiar to women and men or may not evoke imagery with the same ease in these groups. Validity estimates for the frequency and imagery ratings were derived from correlations with scale values drawn from other normative studies. These correlation coefficients were equal to or greater than .78 for frequency and .86 for imagery, confirming the high level of consistency between this and other studies. An analysis of the relationship between subjective frequency and imagery ratings indicated that these variables are generally uncorrelated but exceptions occur. In the present study the coefficient of the correlation between subjective frequency and imagery was .24. However, when items with extreme mean frequency were excluded from the calculation, the correlation coefficient dropped to .04 and was no longer significant. Imagery ratings from five independent studies were all positively and significantly correlated with Vikis-Freibergs's (1974) frequency estimates, which were obtained from a free-association task. This finding suggests that word association, as a form of cued recall, may be influenced by several stimulus attributes including prior frequency of association and imagery-evoking value. The pattern of correlation between imagery ratings and text-based frequency estimates is not coherent. It reveals significant correlations only in select cases and no consistent polarity of linear relationship. The main contribution of this research is to provide reliable estimates of subjective frequency and imagery value for a word sample that is larger than those included in previous studies. A close examination of the linear relationship among the various sources of frequency and imagery data underscores the risk of confounding these variables in the selection of lexical stimuli for research.     

Revision of the sentence completion test for ego development

New forms of the Washington University Sentence Completion Test are presented, revised to be closely comparable for men and women. The two pages of each form are usable as alternate 18-item forms. All stems on the new forms have a manual derived for women, for men, or for both. Order of items on the new forms is designed to maximize cooperation and to insure independent answers on the several stems. Data taken from several diverse samples using the previous forms show the median item validity (correlation of item rating with total protocol rating) slightly higher for women (about .50) than for men (about .46). However, the difference is wholly accounted for by difference in the variance of the samples. First-person stems and impersonal ones are about equally valid for women, but impersonal ones appear to be more valid for men. More impersonal stems are included on the new forms.     

Employment Desirability: The Interactive Effects of Gender-Typed Profile,Stimulus Sex,and Gender-Typed Occupation

Using a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design we investigated the interactive effects of gender-typed profile (masculine, feminine), stimulus sex (male, female), and gender-typed occupation (firefighter, secretary) on employment desirability. Forty-five women and 35 men volunteered to participate (M age = 21.14, SD = 4.05). Most participants were white, however, people of various racial and ethnic backgrounds were represented in the sample. Each participant read one of eight scenarios describing (a) a man or a woman, (b) applying for a job as a firefighter or a secretary, and (c) described by male gender-typed or female gender-typed adjectives. Each scenario was followed by five employment desirability rating items. A significant three-way interaction revealed that participants rated male firefighters described by a masculine-typed profile the highest overall. Gender-typed occupation by stimulus sex was also significant; that is, the male firefighter received higher ratings than the female firefighter and the female secretary received higher ratings than the male secretary. There was a significant main effect for gender-typed profile, in that participants rated the masculine-typed profile more favorably than the feminine-typed profile. Overall, male and female participants did not differ significantly in their ratings of hiring desirability.     

PERCEIVING THE MALE VERSUS THE FEMALE FACE

This study of the perceptual processes in rating the good-lookingness of male compared to female faces finds that more refined distinctions and discriminations, more extreme positive and negative ratings, and more consensus occur for female than for male faces. Facial expression (e.g., smiling) affects the rating of female more than male faces, The results uniformly support the view that facial appearance is a more heavily weighted element in the response to women than to men.     

Student Ratings of a Male and Female Professors’ Lecture on Sex Discrimination in the Workforce

Using an experimental design, male (n = 41) and female (n = 46) undergraduate students in the southeastern USA evaluated an identical written lecture by a male and female professor on pay disparities between men and women in the workforce suggesting sex discrimination. Regardless of the students’ sex, the male professor and his lecture was rated more positively and less sexist than the female professor. Moderated multiple regression analysis indicated that more traditional and gender stereotypical attitudes toward women in male students were related to greater sexism ratings of the female professor compared to the male professor whereas; no differences on ratings of sexism between the male and female professor were found for male students with more liberal attitudes.     

Fat,Four-Eyed,and Female: Stereotypes of Obesity,Glasses, and Gender1

In a between-subjects design, 46 male and 101 female Australian university students rated a target person described as male or female, overweight or average weight, and wearing glasses or not, on twelve 7-point rating scales. As predicted, a negative stereotype of the overweight person and a complex one of the person with glasses were found. However, there was no significant effect of sex of target except on the ratings of masculine and feminine and no interaction of sex of target with either the glasses or obesity variables. Nor did sex of subject influence the ratings. The results suggest that, although stereotypes of obesity and glasses do exist, they may be as severe for men as for women.     

Gender differences in the motivational processing of facial beauty

Gender may be involved in the motivational processing of facial beauty. This study applied a behavioral probe, known to activate brain motivational regions, to healthy heterosexual subjects. Matched samples of men and women were administered two tasks: (a) key pressing to change the viewing time of average or beautiful female or male facial images, and (b) rating the attractiveness of these images. Men expended more effort (via the key-press task) to extend the viewing time of the beautiful female faces. Women displayed similarly increased effort for beautiful male and female images, but the magnitude of this effort was substantially lower than that of men for beautiful females. Heterosexual facial attractiveness ratings were comparable in both groups. These findings demonstrate heterosexual specificity of facial motivational targets for men, but not for women. Moreover, heightened drive for the pursuit of heterosexual beauty in the face of regular valuational assessments, displayed by men, suggests a gender-specific incentive sensitization phenomenon.     

Social Concepts and Judgments: A Semantic Differential Analysis of the Concepts Feminist, Man, and Woman

Male and female participants  ( N = 274)  made judgments about the social concepts of feminist , man , and woman on 63 semantic differential items. Factor analysis identified three basic dimensions termed evaluative, potency, and activity as well as two secondary factors called expressiveness and sexuality. Results for the evaluative dimension showed that the concept feminist was rated negatively with male participants rating feminist more negatively than female participants. In terms of potency, feminist was judged higher than man whereas the concept woman was rated low on this dimension. Participants also judged the concept feminist as low in expressiveness and rated woman as the most expressive. Feminist received low ratings on the erotic-sexual dimension (sexuality) by female participants and negative sexuality ratings by men. These results are discussed in terms of social role theory, gender stereotypes, and the changes in women's roles and behavior.     

Stability and change in work values among male and female nurses and engineers

Gender related changes of work values were analyzed in a longitudinal questionnaire study of 173 male and 48 female engineers and 353 female and 31 male nurses at three measurement occasions covering about four and half years from the end of their vocational education. At all occasions, Social relations were rated as more important by women than by men and Altruism was given higher ratings by the nurses than by the engineers. Within both occupations women's mean Altruism ratings were higher than men's mean ratings, and in all groups except male engineers the mean ratings dropped between the three occasions. Women's ratings of Benefits and career and Influence were strengthened in both occupations, thereby eliminating an initial gender difference. The stability of work values is discussed in terms of challenges and norms in working life.     

Lonelier, lazier, and teased: the stigmatizing effect of body size

The authors conducted 2 studies to examine the stigmatization of the female and male body using photographic stimuli of real people. In the first study, 75 female and 55 male undergraduates rated a series of 50 photographs of women ranging in body mass index (BMI) on 3 items: gets teased, lonely, and lazy. Both male and female observers rated bodies on either side of BMI 19-20 kg/m2 higher for the gets teased and lonely items. For the lazy item, there was a clear pattern of greater stigmatization with increasing BMI. In the second study, 40 male and 40 female observers rated a series of photographs of the male body that varied in BMI and waist-to-chest ratio on the same items. Results showed that men and women judged overweight and more tubular men to be lazier, lonelier, and teased. These findings suggest that body size is an important characteristic to consider when examining body stigmatization among men and women. These results also show support for the beautiful-is-good bias.     

Interest and liking: Further sequential effects

This study was designed to investigate subjects’ interest and liking preferences for stimuli varying in type and level of familiarity. Subjects were presented with stimulus material in the form of slides, and were asked to view the slides firstly without instruction, and then twice more in order to rate the material for interest and liking. Half the subjects were asked to rate liking before interest, and half rated interest before liking. Results showed that interest ratings were relatively unaffected by the rating sequence, whereas ratings of liking were affected: when ratings of likingpreceded interest ratings, familiar items were preferred to less familiar items, but when ratings of liking were madeafter interest ratings, ratings of liking for less familiar items were preferred to more familiar items. This study forms part of the work of the Leicester Aesthetics Research Group. The work was supported by a grant from the Research Board, University of Leicester.     

Verbal aggressiveness and state anxiety of volleyball players and coaches

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relation of verbal aggressiveness and state anxiety (somatic, cognitive, and self-confidence) in sports settings based on the ratings by volleyball coaches and their athletes. The sample consisted of volleyball athletes (n=208; 98 men and 110 women) and their coaches (n=20; 16 men and 4 women). Analysis showed that male volleyball players rated somatic anxiety higher and were more affected by the verbal aggressiveness of their coaches than female volleyball players. No mean differences were significant for male and female coaches on somatic or cognitive anxiety, self-confidence, or verbal aggressiveness. Also, correlation between subscale scores for male and female volleyball players and coaches was found. The correlations of verbal aggressiveness with self-confidence and anxiety were positive for these athletes, leading them to better behavior. This relationship needs further examination in sport settings.     

Structure and Validity of Sluggish Cognitive Tempo Using an Expanded Item Pool in Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

We evaluated the latent structure and validity of an expanded pool of Sluggish Cognitive Tempo (SCT) items. An experimental rating scale with 44 candidate SCT items was administered to parents and teachers of 165 children in grades 2–5 (ages 7–11) recruited for a randomized clinical trial of a psychosocial intervention for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Predominantly Inattentive Type. Exploratory factor analyses (EFA) were used to extract items with high loadings (>0.59) on primary factors of SCT and low cross-loadings (0.30 or lower) on other SCT factors and on the Inattention factor of ADHD. Items were required to meet these criteria for both informants. This procedure reduced the pool to 15 items. Generally, items representing slowness and low initiative failed these criteria. SCT factors (termed Daydreaming, Working Memory Problems, and Sleepy/Tired) showed good convergent and discriminant validity in EFA and in a confirmatory model with ADHD factors. Simultaneous regressions of impairment and comorbidity on SCT and ADHD factors found that Daydreams was associated with global impairment, and Sleepy/Tired was associated with organizational problems and depression ratings, across both informants. For teachers, Daydreams also predicted ODD (inversely); Sleepy/Tired also predicted poor academic behavior, low social skills, and problem social behavior; and Working Memory Problems predicted organizational problems and anxiety. When depression, rather than ADHD, was included among the predictors, the only SCT-related associations rendered insignificant were the teacher-reported associations of Daydreams with ODD; Working Memory Problems with anxiety, and Sleepy/Tired with poor social skills. SCT appears to be meaningfully associated with impairment, even when controlling for depression. Common behaviors resembling Working Memory problems may represent a previously undescribed factor of SCT.     

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.     

The double standard of aging and the social situation: Judgments of attractiveness of the middle-aged woman

Two hundred male and 200 female undergraduates judged pictures of middle-aged women and middle-aged men for their immediate emotional appeal. Pictures had been selected to be of middle attractiveness and to represent individuals who appeared to be between 35 and 55 years old. Subjects made judgments under one of the following social conditions: in private, or in small groups which were all male, all female, or half male and half female. Social condition and subjects' sex affected judgments significantly, and there were some significant complex interactions between these two variables and the sex of the stimulus picture. Male and female subjects privately judged middle-aged women to be more attractive than middle-aged men, but the effect was reversed when judgments were made publicly in groups. As predicted, members of all-male groups judged middle-aged women to be considerably less attractive than middle-aged men. Members of all-female groups, and both the men and the women in mixed-sex groups, judged middle-aged women to be only slightly less attractive than middle-aged men.The authors wish to thank Linda Andrews, Dayna Buskirk, Anne Grealy and Lori Monda for their assistance.     

Male facial masculinity influences attributions of personality and reproductive strategy

Facial masculinity may be used as a cue in female mate choice, as it reflects the success of the male genotype in its developmental environment. Women may maximize reproductive success by using a conditional strategy favoring highly masculine facial features for short‐term relationships and feminized facial features in men for long‐term relationships. Three studies examine reactions to masculinized and feminized male facial composites. Properties of the original composite image affect ratings of critical attributes and the magnitude of the differences in ratings between versions undergoing identical processes of geometric manipulation (Study 1). Both men and women attribute personality, behavior, and mating strategies consistent with predictions derived from the good genes and mating trade‐off hypotheses (Study 2). Participants accurately grouped behavioral tendencies related to high mating effort/risky strategies and high parenting effort/risk adverse strategies and associated mating effort more so with masculinized faces and parenting effort more so with feminized faces (Study 3). These results indicate that male facial masculinity serves as a visual cue for inferring personality and reproductive strategy.