The preference to work for a man or a woman: A matter of sex and gender?

A survey of 455 individuals sampled from two populations that varied in age, educational level, and work experience posed a question asked in Gallup polls over six decades: “If you were taking a new job and had your choice of a boss, would you prefer to work for a man or a woman?” Respondents could state that they would prefer a male boss, prefer a female boss, or had no preference. As expected from theory and Gallup results, respondents who had a preference preferred to work for a man more than a woman, although a majority expressed “no preference.” When they expressed a preference, women preferred to work for a female boss over a male boss more than men did, whereas men preferred to work for a male boss over a female boss more than women did. Sex-typed (i.e., masculine or feminine) respondents in gender identity exhibited a greater preference to work for a boss of a particular sex over having no preference than non-sex-typed respondents. Further, feminine respondents preferred to work for a female boss over a male boss more than masculine respondents did, whereas masculine respondents preferred to work for a male boss over a female boss more than feminine respondents did. Overall, these results suggest that the preference to work for a man or a woman is a matter of both sex and gender. Implications for job applicants' vocational decisions and how female leaders fare in the workplace are discussed.     

What is she eating? The effects of meal size on impressions of a female eater

How does what a woman eats affect others' impressions of her? One hundred and thirteen male and female college students, mainly White and middle class, watched a videotape of a female student eating one of four meals that varied in size and gender connotations. Results showed that meal size significantly affected ratings of the woman's social appeal. Thus, eating lightly appears to be socially advantageous for a woman, a phenomenon that may contribute to women's high rates of eating disorders.     

For better or for worse? a nationwide study of the social psychological effects of gender and ability grouping in mathematics

This exploratory investigation employs the National Education Longitudinal Surveybreak(NELS:88) to examine equity in tracking from a new, less-studied angle, with the view that tracking may not be all good or all bad, but that its effects are variable. The present study considers how these variable effects might, in part, be produced through a mechanism of social comparison conceptualized by Marsh et al. as the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE). It compares similar students, except that some are in schools that use tracking and some are in schools that do not use tracking. Unlike previous studies of between-track effects, it asks whether tracking works uniformly for males and females within the same track placement in a particular subject area. Analyses yielded significant differences in students' attitudes toward mathematics, educational aspirations, self-esteem, locus of control, and engagement in school. These systematic effects suggest the mechanisms of the BFLPE. Despite the reflected glory of being in a high ability track, when males, in contrast to females, are grouped with peers of similar high ability in a subject area that defines their competence, they seem to lose their competitive edge. Low ability males are positively affected through the mechanism of comparing with their peers because the competition to do well is relatively less keen than in high tracks.     

The diagnostic and statistical manual: sacred text for a secular community?

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is the most widely used diagnostic system by mental health professionals in North America. It provides a shared language and paradigm by which practitioners view clients. Can it be argued that the DSM represents a sacred text and defines a worldview for an identifiable community of mental health professionals? In what ways is the relationship between this community and document similar to and different from the relationships that explicitly religious communities maintain with their sacred texts?     

Cue set size effects: Sampling activated associates or cross-target interference?

Previous findings indicate that test cues linked to more associates (more knowledge) produce lower levels of recall than cues with fewer associates. One hypothesis attributes this effect to cross-target interference arising during retrieval on the assumption that cues with more associates are more likely to be indirectly connected to studied words other than the target. Another attributes the effect to sampling associates of the cue on the assumption that the probability of sampling the target declines as more associates are activated. Findings from four experiments showed that recall varied with cue set size, and, more importantly, that cue set size affected recall independently of the interference produced by cross-target connections. These results were interpreted as supporting a model that attributes cue set size effects to sampling processes associated with the intersection of the test cue and its associates with the target and its associates.     

The Nazi doctors and the medical community; Honor or censure? The case of Hans Sewering

During the Nazi era, most German physicians abrogated their responsibilities to individual patients, and instead chose to advocate the interests of an evil regime. In so doing, several fundamental bioethical principles were violated. Despite gross violations of individual rights, many physicians went on to have successful careers, and in many cases were honored. This paper will review the case of Hans Sewering, a participant in the Nazi euthanasia program who became the President-elect of the World Medical Association. The appropriate stance for the medical and scientific community toward those who violate human rights and ignore fundamental ethical principles of the healing professions will be considered.     

Taking counselling and psychotherapy outside: Destruction or enrichment of the therapeutic frame?

This paper will explore emerging issues in the practice of counselling and psychotherapy in the outdoors, which the authors encountered when they took their clients outside of the traditional therapy room. The outdoors is defined as natural areas and spaces, such as woods and parks which have been termed ‘nearby nature’ (Kaplan &; Kaplan, 1989 Kaplan, R. Kaplan, S. (1989). The experience of nature a psychological perspective. New York: Cambridge University Press [Google Scholar]) and also more remote areas such as mountains and moors which are more isolated from civilisation, what some have termed wilderness (Mcfarlane, 2007). Particular emphasis will be given to the ‘frame’ of psychotherapy and how aspects of this are affected by moving outdoors, in particular contracting in relation to confidentiality and timing. The relationship in psychotherapy will be explored in relation to issues of mutuality and asymmetry alongside the role of nature in the therapeutic process. Lastly the challenges and therapeutic potential of psychotherapy in nature will be explored.     

Naughty or nice?: equity, gender and behavior

We review the debate over behavior, gender and classroom placement in ability groups for kindergartners. Using vignettes we vary children’s gender in three ways; male, female, or unspecified gender and also describe them as behaving well, average, or misbehaving. Our aim is to probe how much gender and behavior matter with respect to mock reading group placement. The design allows us to see if depicted behavior affects placement when every vignette child is described as possessing the same, average ability. After reading vignettes that vary gender and behavior, but not ability, respondents are directed to assign the portrayed child to a high, medium or low reading group. While depicted behavior strongly affects reading group placement, gender is not a significant predictor.

---

     

The combined effects of plane disorientation and foreshortening on picture naming: one manipulation or two?

Objects disoriented in plane away from the upright and objects rotated in depth producing foreshortening are harder to identify than canonical views. In Experiments 1 and 2, participants named pictures of familiar objects. There was no interaction between plane and depth rotation effects on initial presentation or after practice. Experiment 3 was a dual-task psychological refractory period study. Participants classified a high-low tone with a speeded keypress and then named a canonical, plane-rotated, or foreshortened view of an object. Naming was slower when the picture was presented 50 ms after the tone compared with 800 ms after the tone. Plane rotation effects were reduced (but not eliminated) at the short tone-picture stimulus onset asynchrony, but foreshortening effects were not reduced. The results implicate an early, prebottleneck locus for some processes compensating for plane rotation and a subsequent bottleneck or postbottleneck locus for compensation for foreshortening.     

Which factors influence number updating in working memory? The effects of size distance and suppression

Updating information in working memory is a critical process which makes possible to have available, at every moment, the information most relevant for mind operations. However, the specific mechanisms underlying the updating process have rarely been analysed. This paper examines the importance of two of the mechanisms implicated in a numerical updating task: item comparison and item substitution. The item comparison mechanism was studied by manipulating the size distance between items. The item substitution mechanism was investigated by increasing/decreasing the number of updates within trials. Furthermore, in order to examine the effects of time constraints, presentation rate was manipulated. Over three experiments, the results obtained highlighted that updating performance is mainly influenced by suppression request, even when the presentation rate is self‐paced. However, errors depend on the distance between items. The implications of the results for the understanding of updating are discussed.     

The absence of a gender congruency effect in romance languages: a matter of stimulus onset asynchrony?

Using the picture-word interference paradigm, H. Schriefers and E. Teruel (2000) found that in German the grammatical gender of the distractor word affects the production of phrases composed of article+picture name: Latencies were longer for picture-word pairs of different genders. However, the effect was found only at positive stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs; i.e., when pictures were presented 75 or 150 ms earlier than word distractors). This gender congruency effect is not obtained in Romance languages. The present article examines whether in these languages, as in German, the effect appears at positive SOAs. No effect was observed in Italian and Spanish at positive SOAs. An account is proposed to explain why the gender congruency effect is obtained in Germanic (Dutch and German) but not in Romance languages.     

Retracted: Correction or comparison? The effects of prime awareness on social judgments

In previous research on the effects of accessible information on social judgments, divergent explanations have been offered for contrast effects that occur as a consequence of prime awareness. Some authors favor a comparison explanation, whereas others favor a correction explanation. In two studies, we successfully disentangled comparison and correction contrast by demonstrating that whereas correction for unwanted influences is a general process that leads to contrast on various dimensions on which a target is judged, comparison effects are prime specific and occur mainly on comparison relevant dimensions. In addition, our findings indicate that for correction attempts to occur and succeed, respondents must have the feeling that these primes contaminate their target judgments and should be removed from their “true” reaction to the target. When people are not suspicious of the potential contaminating influences of priming stimuli, prime awareness is more likely to lead to prime‐target comparisons than to correction efforts. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sexuality and attachment: a passionate relationship or a marriage of convenience?

The ubiquitous and persistent bodily urges of sexuality and their vicissitudes are explored in this paper, focusing on the complex relationship between libidinal desire and the attachment system, especially the latter's affect-regulating function. This complicated interrelationship is highlighted with clinical vignettes. Implications for transference and countertransference are explored in the discussion of affect regulation and its possible sexual entwining. Clinical data is presented to highlight the plasticity of sexuality. Sexuality's protean nature allows for a reassessment of the case of Little Hans, with emphasis on the unique interconnections between sexuality and the vital need for an attachment relationship. Stressing such interconnections raises important questions about the traditional concept of psychosexual stages.     

Children's understanding of the earth in a multicultural community: mental models or fragments of knowledge?

Children's understanding of properties of the earth was investigated by interviewing Asian and white British classmates aged 4?8 years (N = 167). Two issues were explored: whether they held mental models of the earth ( Vosniadou & Brewer, 1992 ) or instead had fragmented knowledge ( di Sessa, 1988 ); and the influence of the children's different cultural backgrounds. Children selected from a set of plastic models and answered forced‐choice questions. Using this methodology, there were no significant differences in the overall performance of Asian and white children after language skills were partialled out. Even young children showed an emerging knowledge of some properties of the earth, but the distributions of their combinations of responses provided no evidence that they had mental models. Instead, these distributions closely resembled those that would be expected if children's knowledge in this domain were fragmented. Possible reasons for the differences between these findings and those of previous research are discussed.     

The Implicit Assumptions of Dividing a Cake: Political or Comprehensive?

Rawls's recent modification of his theory of justice claims that political liberalism is free-standing and falls under the category of the political. It works entirely within that domain and does not rely on anything outside it In this article I pursue the metatheoretical goal of obtaining insight into the anthropological assumptions that have remained so far unacknowledged by Rawls and critics alike. My argument is that political liberalism has a dependence on comprehensive liberalism and its conception of a self-serving subjectivity that is far more binding as well as undesirable than it has been so far acknowledged. I proceed with a heuristic approach that introduces us to the possibility that political liberalism presupposes tacitly the Occidental metanarrative of reason harnessing rampant self-interest and subordinating it to a higher-order interest. As the presuppositions of political liberalism emerge, I draw from the debate between Rawls and Habermas in order to illustrate my argument for the existence of a dependence on these presuppositions. I outline some implications of the anthropological basis of political liberalism and conclude by exemplifying them with reference to Rawls's comments on the division of a cake.     

Inhibitory effects of repeating color and shape: inhibition of return or repetition blindness?

There is a current debate regarding whether attention is influenced by stimulus attributes other than location. The present article replicates and extends previous findings that repeating the nonspatial attribute of color leads to a delay in target detection (M. B. Law, J. Pratt, & R. A. Abrams, 1995). Repetition disadvantage effects were found for the stimulus attributes of both color and shape, as well as for location. However, the nonspatial repetition disadvantage disappeared if the stimuli were presented in peripheral locations (Experiments 3a, 3b, and 4) or the cue was presented for 50 ms (Experiment 6). Moreover, the magnitude of the repetition disadvantage tended to decline as the cue-target stimulus-onset asynchrony increased (Experiments 5a, 5b, and 6). These results suggest that a repetition blindness mechanism may underlie the repetition disadvantage effects of nonspatial features, rather than an inhibition of return mechanism.     

The effects of social change within a group on membership preferences: to leave or not to leave?

Two studies examined immediate (Study 1) and long-term (Study 2) behavioral consequences of previously documented asymmetries in cognitive and evaluative reactions to change in majority and minority positions within a group. Study 1 found an overall decrease in preferences for group membership immediately following change, which was preceded by decategorization and devaluation of the group in response to loss, together with lack of categorization and positive evaluation in response to gain of the majority position. Study 2 found a gradual increase in preference to stay with (vs. exit) the group among former minorities with prolonged interactions that confirmed their gained majority position. A gradual increase in preference for group membership was paralleled with gradual increases in perception of both inclusion within and differentiation from the group.