Estimating gender differences in the comprehension and preference of moral issues

The claim of a gender bias is considered on measures of moral judgment focusing on concepts of justice. Both meta-analyses and secondary analyses on 56 samples of over 6000 male and female subjects are used to estimate the magnitude of gender effects. Inconsistent with current expectations, the results indicate that overall, and at every age/educational level, females score significantly higher than males. Second, the magnitude of this difference is small, both in comparison with age/education effects and in relation to conventional interpretations of the measures employed. Several possible interpretations of these results are discussed especially with regard to C. Gilligan's (1977, Harvard Educational Review, 47, 481–517) recent criticism of Kohlberg's theory.     

Group-based trust and gender differences in China

Based on the established finding that there are gender differences in the type and use of social capital, we suggest that males and females also differ in the ways they engage in intra- and inter-group interactions. An experiment was conducted to explore how gender affects group-based trust in China. The results demonstrated that male participants were significantly more trusting of unknown partners than were female participants. In addition, we found that male participants' high trust toward unknown partners had a strong relationship with expectation of reciprocity from their partners while female participants' low trust toward unknown partners was associated with a strong fear of exploitation from their partners. These findings were examined in the context of a discussion of gender differences in social capital.     

Cross-cultural and gender differences in childhood amnesia

In two experiments, we examined cross-cultural and gender differences in adults' earliest memories. To do this, we asked male and female adults from three cultural backgrounds (New Zealand European, New Zealand Maori, and Asian) to describe and date their earliest personal memory. Consistent with past research, Asian adults reported significantly later memories than European adults, however this effect was due exclusively to the extremely late memories reported by Asian females. Maori adults, whose traditional culture includes a strong emphasis on the past, reported significantly earlier memories than adults from the other two cultural groups. Across all three cultures, the memories reported by women contained more information than the memories reported by men. These findings support the view that the age and content of our earliest memories are influenced by a wide range of factors including our culture and our gender. These factors must be incorporated into any comprehensive theory of autobiographical memory.     

Age and gender differences in adolescent worry

The purpose of the present study was to explore gender and age differences in adolescent worry. High school students filled out measures of worry, negative problem orientation, intolerance of uncertainty, and general mental health. Girls and boys of different ages were then compared and the relationships between gender, beliefs about worry, intolerance of uncertainty, negative problem orientation and mental health were also examined. Boys reported greater negative problem orientation and intolerance of uncertainty while girls reported more positive beliefs about worry. Findings also revealed certain age trends, indicating that the variables under study may be under the influence of developmental tasks. Regression analysis was performed and positive beliefs about worry emerged as a significant predictor of worry in both sexes. Positive beliefs about worry and negative problem orientation appear to be the key processes in adolescent anxiety and depression.     

Age and gender differences in implicit motives

Research on age differences in implicit motives is rare and has shown contradictory results. We investigated age and gender differences in implicit motives (achievement, power, affiliation and intimacy), measured by the Picture Story Exercise (PSE), in an extensive, heterogeneous dyadic sample of 736 adults aged 20–80 years. Data were analyzed with a multilevel approach. Results indicate lower motive scores in all four measured motives in aged as compared to young adults but higher scores in activity inhibition. Further, women scored higher in affiliation and intimacy motives than men, while men scored higher in achievement and power motives and in activity inhibition than women. Possible underlying affective and neuroendocrinological processes of age dependent change in implicit motives are discussed.     

Trust-suspicion and gender differences in interpersonal functioning

Responses on self-report questionnaires (Study 1) and in a dyadic game (Study 2) were observed to investigate relationships of trust-suspicion (T-S), locus of control (I-E), and situational contingencies to styles of interpersonal functioning. Generalized T-S predicted cooperative/competitive interactional choices among the male college student samples (p ? .01). However, T-S predicted females' interpersonal behaviors only when they were in a reactive, defensive position. T-S did not relate to actual behaviors when females were allowed to select/initiate cooperative or competitive exchanges. Situational rules (p ? .025) and I-E (p ? .01) predicted all subjects' behaviors when in a choice, but not defensive, position.     

Personality and gender differences in global perspective

Men's and women's personalities appear to differ in several respects. Social role theories of development assume gender differences result primarily from perceived gender roles, gender socialization and sociostructural power differentials. As a consequence, social role theorists expect gender differences in personality to be smaller in cultures with more gender egalitarianism. Several large cross‐cultural studies have generated sufficient data for evaluating these global personality predictions. Empirically, evidence suggests gender differences in most aspects of personality—Big Five traits, Dark Triad traits, self‐esteem, subjective well‐being, depression and values—are conspicuously larger in cultures with more egalitarian gender roles, gender socialization and sociopolitical gender equity. Similar patterns are evident when examining objectively measured attributes such as tested cognitive abilities and physical traits such as height and blood pressure. Social role theory appears inadequate for explaining some of the observed cultural variations in men's and women's personalities. Evolutionary theories regarding ecologically‐evoked gender differences are described that may prove more useful in explaining global variation in human personality.     

Gender inequality and gender differences in authoritarianism

Authoritarianism may be endorsed in part as a means of managing and buffering psychological threats (e.g., Duckitt & Fisher, 2003; Henry, 2011). Building on this research, the authors postulated that authoritarianism should be especially prevalent among women in societies with high levels of gender inequality because they especially face more psychological threats associated with stigma compared with men. After establishing that authoritarianism is, in part, a response to rejection, a psychological threat associated with stigma (Study 1), the authors used multilevel modeling to analyze data from 54 societies to find that women endorsed authoritarian values more than men, especially in individualistic societies with high levels of gender inequality (Study 2). Results show that the threats of stigma for women are not uniform across different cultures and that the degree of stigma is related to the degree of endorsement of psychologically protective attitudes such as authoritarianism.     

Culture and gender differences in romantic jealousy

Jealousy is an intense emotion that is experienced in the context of romantic relationships. Previous research reported gender differences in ratings of jealousy over a sexual versus emotional infidelity. This study explored culture and gender differences in jealousy using a mixed methods survey design. One hundred and forty-five undergraduates from the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo participated. The Horizontal and Vertical Individualism and Collectivism Scale, Self-Report Jealousy Scale, and a modified Emotional and Sexual Jealousy Scale were used for analyses. Two hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that gender was a better predictor than culture in jealousy ratings involving an emotional infidelity; but culture was a better predictor for jealousy ratings involving a sexual infidelity. t-Tests also revealed that those who experienced an infidelity in the past reported significantly higher jealousy ratings and that women reported significantly higher jealousy ratings in emotional but not in sexual infidelity than men. The qualitative results revealed four dominant themes related to participant’s causal attributions of jealousy: Infidelity, Expectations of Time and Commitment, Social Media and Self-Esteem. The authors suggest that future research focus on intersexual and intrasexual differences in jealousy, as well the role social media may play in relationship expectations.     

Some dubious premises in research and theory on racial differences. Scientific, social, and ethical issues

The scientific premises for looking for statistical differences between groups designated as races (on somewhat arbitrary grounds) are questionable. The explanation of such differences in strictly biological-evolutionary terms is even more dubious. Studies of temperament, basic personality traits, disorders (such as antisocial personality), and specific genetic markers show that there is much more variation within groups designated as races than between such groups. Investigators and theoreticians interpreting such differences on the basis of limited sampling within the three broad racial groups should be careful to avoid selectivity and misrepresentation of data that serve racist ideology, and should be cautious about presenting their theories to the public through inappropriate media forums.     

Female and male: issues of gender

Our culture's preoccupation with gender differences is reflected in the importance developmental psychologists have placed on gender-related issues. In this article, three areas of research where gender is or has been a primary focus of research are discussed: measurement of intellectual abilities, biology and behavior, and socialization processes. Policy implications of the research are suggested.     

Age and gender differences in morningness-eveningness during adolescence

Morningness-eveningness was assessed in a large sample of adolescents and young adults. Morningness decreased from 12 to 15 years, and then remained on a stable level until about 20 years, when a turn back to morningness occurred. Boys and men were on average more evening-oriented than were girls and women. In detail, significant differences existed at the ages of 16, 18, and 19 years. A quadratic function explained more variance than a linear regression. Composite Scale of Morningness scores are related to puberty scores in boys and girls, and when combining data (i.e., higher pubertal development was related to eveningness).     

Age and gender differences in adolescents' homework experiences

Extant data collected through the Experience Sampling Method were analyzed to describe adolescents' subjective experiences of homework. Analyses explored age and gender differences in the time adolescents spend doing homework, and the situational variations (location and companions) in adolescents' reported concentration, effort, interest, positive affect and stress while doing homework. Regarding age differences, middle school students reported more positive experiences when homework was done with companions and in locations other than home, whereas high school students reported more positive experiences when homework was done alone and at home. Regarding gender differences, girls, regardless of age, reported greater stress than boys when doing homework alone, and lower stress when doing homework with friends. High school girls reported lower interest than middle school boys when doing homework alone. Findings provide an understanding of age and gender differences in adolescents' perceptions of homework, which might help educators and parents structure engaging homework environments.     

Some gender differences in alcohol and polysubstance users

Within the past 20 years, public and professional attention has focused on the legitimacy of research and treatment of substance abuse in women as a "special population." Recent efforts, however, have not as yet closed the gap in knowledge about factors promoting or perpetuating alcohol and other substance use problems in women. Materials that are presented in this article were selected to provide a broad spectrum of information about biological, psychological, and sociocultural aspects of substance abuse as it affects women. Data reported include findings from several studies conducted in our laboratories that have examined these effects. Overall, the discussion summarizes past knowledge, reviews current findings, points to unanswered questions, and concludes with a series of research recommendations that emerge from empirical data.     

Age-related changes and gender differences in time estimation

A study was carried out in which age and gender differences were studied in the performance of an empty interval production task. The duration of these intervals was 10 s, 1 and 5 min. The sample was made up of 140 subjects, half male and half female, in seven different age groups from 8 to 70 years old. The age range permitted us to identify when differences begin to be significant. The results show an age-related increase in the underproduction of the intervals. The differences between age groups attained significance from 51 to 60 years onward. With regard to gender, the main result was a greater underproduction of longer intervals (1 and 5 min) for women. These findings were interpreted in terms of different models of time estimation.     

Cross-generational stability of gender differences in sexuality

A sample of 4767 people (roughly representative of Britain) replied to a sex questionnaire issued within the pages of a National newspaper. Respondents were divided into two broad age-groups (above and below thirty) in order to assess the impact of the women's movement on traditional gender differences basic to the so-called ‘double standard’. Men emerged as markedly more interested in casual encounters and sexual variety than women, and there was no sign at all that this difference has diminished among the modern generation. An analysis of reported sexual difficulties indicated that young people have gained little benefit from all the sex manuals and advice that are available today: the problems persist in exactly the same proportion as with the older generation. Of particular interest was the frequency with which women in both age-groups reported boredom and disinterest in sex as problematic.