Sex Bias in Counseling: A Reply and Critique

The social importance of the gender-bias issue in counseling implores that our beliefs about the issue be predicated on evidence rather than on ideological considerations.     

Sex Bias in Research Design

Feminist criticisms of selected aspects of research methods in psychology are presented. Data relevant to sex bias in topic selection, subject selection and single-sex designs, operationalization of variables, testing for sex differences, and interpretation of results are reviewed. Suggestions for achieving more "sex fair" research methods are discussed in terms of a more meticulous application of scientific method and an awareness of the sometimes subtle ways in which a sexist culture influences the research process.     

Motivational Counseling: Implications for Counseling Male Juvenile Sex Offenders

Juvenile sex offenders (JSOs) often appear unmotivated to change, which thus necessitates a therapeutic approach that matches “resistant” client characteristics. In this article, the authors review common traits of JSOs, introduce motivational counseling as an effective treatment modality, and offer a case illustration.     

A Framework for Sex Role Counseling

The androgyny model of masculinity and femininity serves as the basis for a framework for sex role counseling applicable to both sexes. A conceptualization of individual differences in sex role-related characteristics suggests criteria for personal sex role adjustment other than universal conformity to traditional sex role requirements. It is suggested that consistency among an individual's feminine and masculine self-attributions, sex role ideals, environmental demands with their accompanying rewards and costs, and the behavioral repertoire available for dealing with current situations is needed for a comfortable sense of self as a woman or man. Examples of sex role problems, counseling goals, and interventions are described within this framework. Sex role counseling thus requires a clear comprehension of the impact of sex roles on a personal level.     

Cognitive Bias in the Assessment Phase of the Counseling Process

Assessment is described from the perspective of counselor inferential judgment. Types of cognitive bias and ways to avoid inferential error are discussed.     

Sex Bias in Clinical Judgment: Later Empirical Returns

This paper updates an earlier review of research on sex bias in psychological evaluation and psychotherapy. The experimental analogue continues to dominate the literature and to return a resoundingly negative verdict. This evidence, however, is often discounted on the grounds of the analogue's transparency and clinical impoverishment. Naturalistic data have likewise failed to support claims of widespread sex bias, but have nonetheless whetted suspicions that gender and sex role attributes affect circumscribed clinical decisions. These correlational field studies are often dismissed, however, on the basis of their inadequate control for potential confounds. This empirical deadlock is discussed within the context of the sexual politics of research and of methodological preference in particular. The interpretive gerrymandering that has plagued this literature is linked to an unwillingness to be open about the sex role heritage of research strategies themselves and the deep personal and political investments at stake.     

Another Look at Sex Bias in Students' Evaluations of Professors

Forty male and forty female students evaluated the identical teaching methods of three female and three male award-winning professors in two traditionally masculine, two traditionally feminine and two relatively non-sex-linked areas. Different ratings were assigned as a function of the sex of the professor and the teaching field. Students attributed the success of male professors to instrumental qualities and that of females to affective qualities.     

Bias in the Counseling Process: How to Recognize and Avoid It

Counselors' vulnerability to inferential bias during the counseling process may result in misdiagnosis and improper interventions. This article provides readers with information regarding inferential bias. The inferential biases discussed include (a) availability and representativeness heuristics; (b) fundamental attribution error; (c) anchoring, prior knowledge, and labeling; (d) confirmatory hypothesis testing; and (e) reconstructive memory. Each bias is described and illustrated through fictitious case vignettes, and suggestions concerning what precautions counselors may do to avoid each type of bias are presented.     

Male Sex Bias against Men and Women in Various Professions

Abstract

It is suggested that the popularity of the Rokeach Value Survey is undeserved and that the apparent independence of each value being measured is a consequence of the fact that the survey measures each value quite badly. For each of the 18 terminal values on the Rokeach Value Survey, various interpretations were suggested to 71 subjects, who indicated which interpretations represented their thoughts when they were completing the survey. There were a variety of interpretations. When a factor analysis of the correlations among all the interpretations of each value was carried out, all but one value had more than one significant factor (dimension of meaning), and two major factors accounted for 41% of the variance of all the interpretations. These results indicate that the Rokeach Value Survey is not a good measure of the relative desirability of different values, and they support the view that people's evaluations of the world may be based on more fundamental values.     

Sex and Race Bias in Employment Decisions: Black Women Considered

The purpose of this investigation was to explore sex and race discrimination in employment at the managerial level, with special focus on Black women.     

Counseling Adult Sex Offenders: Unique Challenges and Treatment Paradigms

Current definitions and research literature related to characteristics of adults who sexually victimize children are reviewed. Treatment issues that may confront counselors engaged in treating adults who sexually victimize children are examined, and implications for practitioners are discussed.     

The Effect of Clear Evaluation Criteria on Sex Bias in Judgments of Performance

Previous research indicates that the work of women is often devalued rela- tive to that of men. Two experiments tested the hypothesis that such sex bias appears when judges follow ambiguous guidelines or criteria in making evalua- tions, but not when they tollow clear evaluation guidelines. In each experiment, male and female undergraduates evaluated a performance that was attributed to either a man or woman (an intellectual test performance in Experiment I; an artistic craft object in Experiment 11). Subjects followed either clear, explicit evaluation criteria or vague, ambiguous criteria. As predicted, female subjects Lyaluated the "female's" performance less favorably than the "male's" only when. criteria were vague. In contast, male subjects showed little evidence of sex bias, regardless of the criteria they followed. Discussion centers upon: (1) possible cognitive processes underlying the observed effects of clear criteria; and (2) potential practical applications designed to alleviate sex bias in naturalistic settings.     

Domestic Violence Between Same‐Sex Partners: Implications for Counseling

Over the past 2 decades, awareness and concern about the incidence and severity of domestic violence have increased. Although information about domestic violence has grown, much of the literature does not address domestic violence between same‐sex partners. This article discusses the dynamics of domestic violence between partners of the same sex. The social and cultural issues in the gay and lesbian communities play a large part in perpetuating the myths of domestic violence, which keeps the abuse hidden. This article is based on an extensive review of the literature and a clinical consensus among experts in the field.     

Empathy‐Promoting Counseling Strategies for Juvenile Sex Offenders: A Developmental Approach

Bridging research into practice, the authors propose a clinical model for use in the development of empathy in juvenile sex offenders. Case illustrations are provided.     

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due: A Case of No Sex Bias in Attribution1

This study examines the effects of informational cues on the attribution of success in a masculine task. Israeli managers (subjects) first evaluated the performance of a fictitious male/female manager and then attributed a cause to his/her success in attaining the managerial position. As predicted, performance evaluation affected the attribution and manager sex did not. An unexpected association between leadership style and attribution was found. Implications of these findings for female managers and for further research are considered.