Gender‐related differences in neonatal imitation

Socio‐emotional behaviour is in part sex‐related in humans, although the contribution of the biological and socio‐cultural factors is not yet known. This study explores sex‐related differences during the earliest communicative exchange, the neonatal imitation in 43 newborn infants (3–96 hours old) using an index finger extension imitative gesture. Results showed that although the experimenter presented comparable stimuli to both sexes, and the total number of movements was similar in boys and girls, girls showed more fine motor movements, a higher number of specific imitative gestures, responded faster during the imitation and showed a higher baseline heart rate during the experiment. Newborn girls, with their faster and more accurate imitative abilities, may create a more responsive and interactive social environment, which in turn may lead to differences in socio‐emotional and cognitive development between girls and boys. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sex differences in reactions to outperforming same‐sex friends

The current studies were designed to examine whether female adolescents have more negative reactions than male adolescents to achieving more than their same‐sex friends. In Study 1, 51 females and 48 males from grades 8 and 10 were administered questions assessing their reactions to performing better than their closest same‐sex friends in four domains. Across domains, females reported more negative reactions than males. Further, compared with males, female participants believed that their same‐sex friends would have more negative reactions if they performed better than their friends. In Study 2, 48 females and 49 males age 18 years were asked how they felt about performing better than and equal to their closest same‐sex friends in the domains of romance and academics in both hypothetical and actual situations. Females reported feeling more positive when they received the same outcomes as opposed to better outcomes than their friends. Males did not differ in the valence of their responses to the two outcomes. The implications for sex differences in achievement and friendship are discussed.     

An application of terror management theory in the design of social and health‐related anti‐smoking appeals

• Marketers and public policy makers continue to be plagued with the problem of creating effective communications, which can increase the probability of complying with risk avoidance behavior related to smoking. Using Terror Management Theory (TMT) as a theoretical basis, we provide a rationale as to why traditional anti‐smoking appeals focusing on negative health consequences are not impactful. We use the implications of the theory to predict and show that an appeal focusing on social exclusion should be more motivating than a health appeal to encourage smokers to quit in the short and long run. Specifically, we conduct an experiment designed to investigate the impact of mortality salience and self‐esteem on whether college‐age smokers will comply with anti‐smoking messages. We observe that social exclusion messages compared to health effect messages are particularly effective in reducing intentions to smoke for college‐age smokers who derive their self‐esteem in part from smoking. Overall, our results show that mortality salience interacts with self‐esteem in terms of influencing the probability of smoking in the short run and that social exclusion appeals have a stronger impact than health‐related appeals both in reducing long run smoking intention and emphasizing the salience of health‐related consequences of smoking.

Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Finding theory‐ and evidence‐based alternatives to fear appeals: Intervention Mapping

Fear arousal—vividly showing people the negative health consequences of life‐endangering behaviors—is popular as a method to raise awareness of risk behaviors and to change them into health‐promoting behaviors. However, most data suggest that, under conditions of low efficacy, the resulting reaction will be defensive. Instead of applying fear appeals, health promoters should identify effective alternatives to fear arousal by carefully developing theory‐ and evidence‐based programs. The Intervention Mapping (IM) protocol helps program planners to optimize chances for effectiveness. IM describes the intervention development process in six steps: (1) assessing the problem and community capacities, (2) specifying program objectives, (3) selecting theory‐based intervention methods and practical applications, (4) designing and organizing the program, (5) planning, adoption, and implementation, and (6) developing an evaluation plan. Authors who used IM indicated that it helped in bringing the development of interventions to a higher level.     

Behavioral and emotional responses to diet‐related support and control among same‐sex couples

Members of 63 lesbian and 72 gay couples reported how frequently their partners engaged in diet‐related social support and control (persuasion and pressure) and how they responded behaviorally and emotionally to such attempts. Although lesbian women received more frequent diet‐related social support than gay men, there were no gender differences in the receipt of diet‐related social control. Results of multilevel models that controlled for body mass index revealed that all participants responded to all types of involvement with guilt and to support and persuasion with appreciation. Responses to pressure differed for lesbian women and gay men and acted as a function of relationship quality. Findings from this study may increase awareness of the importance of same‐sex partners' involvement in eating behaviors.     

The Gender‐Neutral Feminism of Hannah Arendt

Though many have recently attempted either to locate Arendt within feminism or feminism within the great body of Arendt's work, these efforts have proven only modestly successful. Even a cursory examination of Arendt's work should suggest that these efforts would prove frustrating. None of her voluminous writings deal specifically with gender, though some of her work certainly deals with notable women. Her interest is not in gender as such, but in woman as assimilated Jew or woman as social and political revolutionary. In this paper, I argue that Arendt recognized that what frequently passes for a gender question is not essentially a matter of gender at all, but rather an idiosyncratic form of loneliness that typically affects, though is by no means limited to, women. In her work one finds the conceptual tools necessary to understand the “woman problem” rather than an explicit argument or a solution to it.     

Gender‐Role Orientation and Alcohol Treatment Outcome1

This study investigated the function of gender‐role orientation as a predictor of socially focused alcohol treatment outcome. Participants were drawn from a randomized controlled trial involving home detoxification with an add‐on psychological intervention to enhance social support and coping. Participants were classified into 4 gender‐role types (androgynous, masculine, feminine, or undifferentiated). Analysis was conducted relating to differential (between gender‐role groups) treatment effects in relation to the main outcome measures of alcohol consumption, alcohol‐related problems and self‐esteem. The relationship between perceived social support and gender‐role type as a function of treatment outcome was also explored. Levels of psychological masculinity and femininity were more predictive of a socially focused treatment outcome than were sex differences.     

Gender‐of‐author differences in study design of older adult friendship surveys

This research extends literature documenting gender differences in choice of quantitative or qualitative methods by examining whether men and women make different decisions regarding study design within one type of quantitative method—survey research. The population consists of 117 surveys (1960–1999) of older adults about friendship. We find that the use of communal methods, especially by women scholars, increased over time, and researchers who are women are more likely to use “communal” survey methods than researchers who are men. The gender difference in use of communal methods is not necessarily explained by essential differences between men and women or even by gender differences in commitment to feminist research as previous scholars have argued; rather, it is possibly explained by structured differences in access to resources to do agentic research.     

An fMRI study of advertising appeals and their relationship to product attractiveness and buying intentions

This study examines the effects of various visual apparel advertisements on consumers' brain activation during exposure to different types of advertising appeals (i.e., celebrity, non‐celebrity, and rational). The influence on consumer perceptions of products and their subsequent buying intentions are also measured. A repeated measures experimental design was employed, and the total of 27 right‐handed female subjects participated in the study. The results of the quantitative data showed significant differences in perceived product attractiveness for each of the three types of advertising appeals, but not in buying intentions. Regarding the fMRI results, our findings support the notion that celebrity advertising appeals are associated with heightened brain activation of memory‐related/retrieval regions, reflecting how consumers remember the ad and are influenced by the attractiveness of the source. Non‐celebrity advertising appeals were more closely associated with brain activation of regions thought to mediate self‐reflection and also engaging executive functions. For rational advertising appeals, our findings showed significant activation in brain areas associated with logical evaluative decision making reflecting more logical processing value assessments and reward potential. Therefore, retailers/marketers must be particularly mindful to match the appropriate advertising appeal to the specific purpose of the advertisement. This study also provides brain‐based insight into the effectiveness of different types of advertising appeals and whether or not they have the desired impact on the consumer. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the nature and properties of appeals used in direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs

The past decade has seen a steady rise in expenditures for direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising. While total revenues across all media are approaching the $1 billion dollar mark, surprisingly little is known about the effectiveness of these types of advertisements, including the appropriateness of various forms of emotional and informational appeal. A content analysis of direct-to-consumer advertising in 24 popular magazines shows that these advertisements are found in every category of magazine, the advertisements employ a mix of informational and emotional appeals, all types of emotional appeals are used, and to date, the type of appeal (emotional and/or informational) tends not to be based on the type of drug advertised. Implications of this content analysis are considered and directions for research on appeals used in direct-to-consumer advertising are suggested.     

Gender‐Role Orientation,Creative Accomplishments and Cognitive Styles

The present study examined the association of gender‐role orientation to creative accomplishments and cognitive styles. One hundred and twenty‐seven college students completed the Artistic and Scientific Activities Survey (Guastello, 1991), the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (Spence, Helmreich, & Stapp, 1974), and the Bem Sex Role Inventory (Bem, 1974). Three different gender‐role orientations were examined: instrumentality (agenic, stereotypically masculine), expressiveness (communal, stereotypically feminine), and androgynous (high levels of instrumental and expressive characteristics). Results indicated that instrumentality was positively associated with creative accomplishments in the business venture domain and that androgynous, versus nonandrogynous, individuals were more creatively productive in the domains of literature, theater, and video‐photography. Instrumentality was also positively associated with the six hats cognitive style, which is a measure of cognitive flexibility, and the six hats style was marginally significantly associated with androgyny. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed and recommendations for future research are considered.     

The Relationship of Antifat Attitudes to Other Prejudicial and Gender‐Related Attitudes1

Overweight people in society face a number of obstacles. Negative attitudes toward overweight people contribute to this experience. This study examined the relationship of antifat attitudes to other prejudicial attitudes (e.g., racism, sexism, homophobia) and gender‐related attitudes. A total of 179 undergraduate participants completed measures of prejudicial attitudes, including antifat attitudes. Multiple regression analyses revealed that a combination of demographic and attitudinal variables predicted antifat attitudes. Antifat attitudes are stronger for men, Caucasians, and gender‐typed individuals; compared to women, African Americans, and androgynous individuals, respectively. After controlling for demographics, weight‐related variables, and social desirability, gender‐role egalitarianism, racism, and homophobia significantly correlated with antifat attitudes. The implications and limitations of this study are discussed regarding the importance of research in antifat and other prejudical attitudes.     

Age‐related variations and sex differences in gender cleavage during middle childhood

Gender cleavage, the segregation of the sexes, is a powerful phenomenon affecting socialization during childhood, but its developmental trajectory is far from clear. Sociometric responses by 299 boys and girls in Grades 3 to 6 from a group preference record were used to investigate age‐related variations and sex differences in gender cleavage. Moreno's (1953) developmental model of gender cleavage was examined in the light of sociocultural changes, as well as advances in the theory and measurement of gender cleavage. Sex differences were found in same‐gender preference, with older elementary girls showing greater same‐gender preference than boys of the same age. However, this finding, plus the absence of gender differences in cross‐gender evaluations, did not support more recent developmental accounts of gender cleavage. Linear trend analyses contradicted Moreno's basic precept of increasing same‐gender preference between Grades 3 and 6. While same‐gender acceptance and rejection were relatively similar regardless of grade level, cross‐gender acceptance was greater in higher than in lower grades and the reverse was true for rejection. Furthermore, weaker gender cleavage effects in rejection data than in acceptance data suggested that strong same‐gender liking does not infer equally robust cross‐gender dislike. Gender cleavage appears to be relative rather than absolute. A more complex model is proposed incorporating sex differences as well as rejection evaluations     

Counseling Transgendered,Transsexual, and Gender‐Variant Clients

The emergent consciousness and political activism within the transgender community has important implications for the field of counseling. In the current paradigm, the focus has shifted from using surgical and hormonal interventions and thereby enabling transgendered persons to “pass” within the traditional gender binary of society to affirming the unique identities of transgendered persons. To prepare counselors, counselor educators, and counseling supervisors for this important challenge, the authors describe the evolving nature of the transgender community, discuss mental health issues and counseling interventions for use with transgendered clients, and present a case study detailing the progression of counseling with 1 transgendered client.     

Note on guilt appeals in advertising: covariate effects of self-esteem and locus of control.

A 1991 study by Pinto and Priest demonstrated the effectiveness of advertisements employing moderate levels of guilt in inducing guilt responses in subjects. Because individuals' responses to guilt are often influenced by their specific personality characteristics, researchers have pointed to the potential moderating effects of individual difference variables such as level of self-esteem and locus of control on individuals' susceptibility to guilt appeals. A study was conducted to evaluate the possibility that self-esteem and locus of control can act as covariates across three treatment levels of guilt advertising. From a sample of 57 working mothers, advertisements stimulating medium and high levels of guilt elicited significantly greater feelings of guilt in subjects than the control advertisement stimulating low guilt. However, the relationship between susceptibility to guilt appeals and self-esteem and locus of control was not observed to covary.     

How category advertising norms and consumer counter‐conformity influence comparative advertising effectiveness

Surprisingly little research examines whether and how category advertising norms influence the effectiveness of comparative advertising. To address this void, the present research investigates if the persuasiveness of a particular comparative advertisement depends on whether or not it is viewed as a typical tactic that conforms to category advertising norms. Results from experiments 1 and 2 indicate that a comparative advertisement used in violation of category norms results in a persuasion penalty that is evidenced by a reduction in the ad's impact on brand attitudes. This effect of category norms on persuasion is shown to be mediated by evaluations of the comparative advertisement's appropriateness in the product category. A final experiment confirms this persuasion penalty with respect to consumers holding conformity-based motives. However, this penalty is found to be reversed for individuals seeking counter-conformity in the marketplace, who respond more favorably to a comparative advertisement when it violates rather than conforms to category norms.     

Gender‐typing of leadership: Evaluations of real and ideal managers

This research focuses on female underrepresentation in managerial positions. Specifically, two studies examine gender‐typing for managerial roles in Spain using ratings for real and ideal managers. In addition, we analyse the existence of same‐gender bias on evaluations of the behavior of actual leaders. In the first study, 195 Spanish workers evaluate the extent to which gender‐stereotypical traits are important for becoming a successful middle manager in three conditions (female managers, male managers, and managers in general). In the second study, we explore the degree to which the behavior of real Spanish managers is gender‐typed and the existence of same‐gender bias on leadership styles – transformational, transactional and avoidant/passive – and on leadership outcomes – effectiveness, extra effort and satisfaction – from the perspective of subordinates (N = 605). Overall, the results demonstrate that masculine characteristics were rated as more important than feminine characteristics for managerial positions, and they were more often assigned to male managers than to female managers. Unexpectedly, this manager‐male association is stronger among female participants than among male participants. Our findings also demonstrate that women subordinates evaluate their same‐sex supervisors more favorably in transformational leadership, effectiveness, and extra effort. The negative consequences derived from gender‐typing managerial positions are highlighted according to the role congruity theory of prejudice toward female leaders. The positive effects of in‐group female bias on behavior ratings are also noted. The mixed implications of these results for women's advancement to leadership positions are discussed.     

When being a girl matters less: Accessibility of gender‐related self‐knowledge in single‐sex and coeducational classes and its impact on students' physics‐related self‐concept of ability

Background . Establishing or preserving single‐sex schooling has been widely discussed as a way of bringing more girls into the natural sciences. Aims . We test the assumption that the beneficial effects of single‐sex education on girls' self‐concept of ability in masculine subjects such as physics are due to the lower accessibility of gender‐related self‐knowledge in single‐sex classes. Sample . N = 401 eighth‐graders (mean age 14.0 years) from coeducational comprehensive schools. Methods . Random assignment of students to single‐sex vs. coeducational physics classes throughout the eighth grade. At the end of the year, students' physics‐related self‐concept of ability was measured using a questionnaire. In a subsample of N = 134 students, the accessibility of gender‐related self‐knowledge during physics classes was assessed by measuring latencies and endorsement of sex‐typed trait adjectives. Results . Girls from single‐sex physics classes reported a better physics‐related self‐concept of ability than girls from coeducational classes, while boys' self‐concept of ability did not vary according to class composition. For both boys and girls, gender‐related self‐knowledge was less accessible in single‐sex classes than in mixed‐sex classes. To the extent that girls' feminine self‐knowledge was relatively less accessible than their masculine self‐knowledge, their physics‐related self‐concept of ability improved at the end of the school year. Conclusions . By revealing the importance of the differential accessibility of gender‐related self‐knowledge in single‐ and mixed‐sex settings, our study clarifies why single‐sex schooling helps adolescents to gain a better self‐concept of ability in school subjects that are considered inappropriate for their own sex.