The impact of gender role conflict and counseling technique on psychological help seeking in men

We hypothesized that men's gender role conflict would predict attitudes towards psychological help-seeking after viewing counseling that focused on either client feelings or client cognitions. The sample was made up of 164 male undergraduates: 115 White, 13 African-American, 13 Hispanic, 18 Asian, 2 Portuguese, and 3 of unspecified ethnicity. Participants completed the Gender Role Conflict Scale (GRCS), viewed a videotape of a 10-minute counseling session that used interventions that were either emotion-focused or cognition-focused, and completed a measure of their attitudes towards seeking psychological help. Results indicated that men scoring high on gender role conflict who viewed the session that focused on feelings were least likely to indicate a willingness to seek psychological help compared to men in each of the three other conditions. We discuss implications for counseling interventions for men who adopt the traditional male gender role.A version of this paper was presented at the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association, Toronto, Canada. We would like to thank Bob Cournoyer and Piet Lammert for portraying the counselor and client in the study.     

African American men's Gender Role Conflict: The significance of racial identity

This study examined the relationships between racial identity attitudes and gender role conflict in a sample of 95 African American men ages 23–80 years old. Participants completed the 1981 Black Racial Identity Attitude Scale by Parham and Helms and the 1986 Gender Role Conflict Scale by O'Neil, Helms, Gable, David, and Wrightsman. Results indicated that racial identity attitudes were differentially related to patterns of gender role conflict when racial identity is externally defined. However, an internally defined racial identity had no relationship to gender role conflict. Results are discussed in terms of the significance of racial identity for understanding African American men's conflict associated with traditional male gender role standards and expectations.     

Factorial And Construct Validity Of The Body Parts Satisfaction Scale-Revised: An Examination Of Minority And Nonminority Women

In this two–part study, the psychometric properties of the Body Parts Satisfaction Scale, an extensively used body image attitudes measure, were tested. In Study 1–A, the two–factor structure of the Body Parts Satisfaction Scale–Revised (BPSS–R)—Satisfaction With Body and Satisfaction With Face—was established through exploratory procedures with a racially diverse sample of women (66.7% White American, 17.6% African American, 6.3% Mexican American, 5% Asian American, 0.6% Native American, and 3.8% unreported). In Study 1–B, the two–factors were validated through confirmatory procedures with a matched racially diverse sample of women (71.9% White American, 14.0% African American, 5.3% Mexican American, 4.7% Asian American, 1.2% Native American, and 2.9% unreported). Correlational analyses supported the construct and concurrent validity of the factors. To learn more about body image attitudes within racial/ethnic minorities, Study 2 examined the two–factor solution and psychometric properties in an independent sample of Mexican American women. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that the two–factor solution fit the data, and correlations with other psychological and eating disorder measures supported the factor's construct and concurrent validity. Further, the two factors were unrelated to a measure of acculturation and to generational level living in the U.S., which suggests that body satisfaction may be independent of the acculturation process.     

Constructions of provider role identity among African American men: an exploratory study

This exploratory study examined the identity constructions of African American men using a qualitative research methodology. Seven African American men, ranging in age from 20 to 47 years and whose education levels ranged from a 1st-year university student to a PhD, were interviewed for this study. Central to how all of these men defined themselves was the breadwinner or provider role. Participants emphasized education as "insurance" against discrimination and an awareness of educational and occupational opportunities. For these participants, education was a means of ensuring opportunity, which afforded fulfillment of the provider role. This study supports the work of N. Cazenave (1979, 1981), who demonstrated the salience of the provider role among African American men. The implications of the provider role among African American men for research are also discussed. The data also suggested diversity within the African American male experience. As 1 participant described African American men. "We come like flowers, you know. Some in bouquets, and some wild." By providing constructions of identity that diverge from existing negative stereotypes of African American men, this study attempted to deconstruct those stereotypes. Finally, this study provided a voice to an underrepresented group in the research literature.     

GENDER, DISCRIMINATION BELIEFS, GROUP-BASED GUILT, AND RESPONSES TO AFFIRMATIVE ACTION FOR AUSTRALIAN WOMEN

Views of a selection committee's decision to promote a woman over a man on the basis of affirmative action were studied in a random sample of Australians (118 men and 111 women). The relations between perceptions of workplace gender discrimination, feelings of collective responsibility and guilt for discrimination, and judgments of entitlement to and, secondarily, deservingness of affirmative action were examined. AMOS analyses indicated that men's reports of collective guilt predicted attitudes toward women's entitlement. No coherent model was observed for women, which suggested ambivalent attitudes toward affirmative action. Gender differences in discrimination beliefs also suggested that women believe men are unfairly advantaged and that men believe women are responsible for their own disadvantage. Implications for research examining collective emotions and their role in social justice judgments are discussed.     

不同性别比和童年经济状况对未婚男性性态度的影响

基于进化心理学的生命史理论,通过两个实验探讨性别比和童年经济状况同男性性态度间的关系。实验1和实验2分别采用图片和文字材料启动被试的性别比感知,结果发现感知性别比和童年经济状况对未婚男性的"随意性行为"态度表现出显著的交互效应：童年家庭经济状况差的未婚男性在感知到周围女性数量相对充裕的情境下,其性开放态度会较感知到周围男性数量充裕时明显上升;童年家庭富裕的男性的性开放态度在不同感知性别比下保持相对稳定。     

不同性别比和童年经济状况对未婚男性性态度的影响

基于进化心理学的生命史理论,通过两个实验探讨性别比和童年经济状况同男性性态度间的关系。实验1和实验2分别采用图片和文字材料启动被试的性别比感知,结果发现感知性别比和童年经济状况对未婚男性的"随意性行为"态度表现出显著的交互效应：童年家庭经济状况差的未婚男性在感知到周围女性数量相对充裕的情境下,其性开放态度会较感知到周围男性数量充裕时明显上升;童年家庭富裕的男性的性开放态度在不同感知性别比下保持相对稳定。     

Exploring the Complexities of Familism and Acculturation: Central Constructs for People of Mexican Origin

We examined the relationships between three dimensions of familism: importance of family, family support, and family conflict with acculturation, assessed orthogonally (Mexican and American cultural contributions assessed independently), and the relative contribution these factors make to psychological adjustment among 248 (124 women, 124 men) adults of Mexican origin. After controlling for sociodemographic characteristics, positive associations were found between importance of family and the biculturalism of Mexican and American cultural identity; family support and Mexican cultural identity; but no associations between family conflict and level of acculturation. Psychological well-being was positively associated with Mexican cultural identity and family support, whereas psychological distress was associated with greater family conflict and lower family support. The greater relative contribution of Mexican cultural identity to familism and well-being, and the importance of assessing acculturation orthogonally are discussed. This research was supported in part by a Minority Supplement to National Institute of Mental Health Grant MH47193 to the Research Center on the Psychobiology of Ethnicity, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and by a research award from Pitzer College to Norma Rodriguez.     

Differences in African American and White Women’s Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men

The aim of the present study was to examine racial differences in women’s attitudes toward lesbians and gay men and to offer an understanding of these differences. Participants were 224 18–30 year old heterosexual African American (64%) and White (36%) female undergraduates from a large urban university in the southeastern United States. Participants completed measures of social demographics, sexual orientation, and sexual prejudice. Results showed that African American, relative to White, women endorsed more negative attitudes toward lesbians and gay men. Also, unlike White women, African American women reported more negative attitudes toward gay men than lesbians. Implications are discussed regarding differences in cultural contexts that exist between African American and White women.     

Differences in Black and White American College Students�� Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men

Differences in attitudes toward lesbians and gay men (ATLGM) held by Black and White Americans have rarely been studied systematically despite anecdotal evidence suggesting that Black Americans may be less accepting of lesbians and gay men than are White Americans. We tested the hypothesis that Black American??s ATLGM would be less positive than White Americans?? using data collected from 60 Black (36 female, 24 male) and 62 White (25 female, 37 male) students from a public university in the Midwestern United Sates. We found that Black students held generally neutral ATLGM whereas White students?? attitudes were slightly positive. This difference was mediated by racial group differences in right-wing authoritarianism.     

Contributions of a supportive work environment to parents' well-being and orientation to work

Examined the joint and unique contributions of informal social support in the workplace and formal, family-responsive benefits and policies provided by employers to the job-related attitudes and personal well-being of employed parents with a young child. Eighty married men, 169 married women, and 72 single women with a preschool child completed a survey concerning social support from co-workers and supervisor, utilization of family-responsive benefits and policies, readiness to leave the employer for additional benefits, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, role strain, and health symptoms. Among the findings: (a) Fathers and mothers expressed equal levels of job satisfaction and organizational commitment, but mothers reported more role strain and health symptoms; (b) nearly 48% of married women's organizational commitment was accounted for by measures of support in the workplace; (c) informal social support at work was significantly more important to men's well-being than that of women; and (d) formal, family-responsive policies appeared more consequential for the prediction of women's role strain, perhaps because of women's greater responsibility for adjusting work life to meet the demands of family roles.     

Sex differences in the nature,realism, and correlates of body image

The present study examined sex differences in the nature and realism of body-image satisfaction, and the extent to which sex and sex role ideology moderated the relationships of body image to other indices of self-esteem and well-being. Accordingly, scales assessing body cathexis, self-esteem, depression proneness, and sex role ideology, as well as a questionnaire assessing perceptions of weight and dieting activities, were completed by 135 college women and 129 college men. As expected, women indicated significantly greater dissatisfaction with their bodies than did men. Women were likely to perceive themselves as overweight or slightly overweight, regardless of their actual weight, and most wanted to lose weight. Men who were dissatisfied tended to perceive themselves as underweight and wanted to gain rather than to lose weight. For both sexes, less positive attitudes to ward one's body were related to lower levels of self-esteem, although the relationship was significantly stronger for women than for men. The relationship between body attitudes and self-esteem was of approximately equal magnitude among traditional vs feminist women. For both sexes, more negative attitudes towards one's body were related to greater proneness to depression. Implications for further research are discussed.     

Subjective Well-Being in Mexican and Mexican American Women: The Role of Acculturation,Ethnic Identity,Gender Roles,and Perceived Social Support

Latinas experience multiple oppressions and poorer mental health due to their often triple minority status as poor, female, women of color. The present study examined whether identifying with both Mexican culture and the dominant culture (bicultural), having high ethnic identity, identifying with both feminine and masculine behavior (androgynous gender role), and perceiving greater family social support predicted life satisfaction and positive affect in low socioeconomic status, Mexican and Mexican American women (n = 194). Results indicated that greater ethnic identity and greater perceived family social support significantly predicted Mexican and Mexican American women’s life satisfaction. Greater ethnic identity, greater feminine gender identity, greater androgynous gender identity, and greater perceived family social support were significant predictors of positive affect. Furthermore, as expected, social support from family was the most significant predictor for both life satisfaction and positive affect. Implications of the results and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

The effects of gender,ethnicity, and a close relationship theme on perceptions of persons introducing a condom

A vignette methodology was used to examineperceptions of condom introducers on sixcondom-relevant,multi-item scales (Nice, Exciting, Sexually Attractive,Promiscuous, Good Relationship Partner,Unpersonable/Personable) in a university student sample of 133 MexicanAmericans and 110 Whites. Data were analyzed in a 2(gender of participant) ×2 (gender of condomintroducer) ×3 (low acculturated Mexican American,high acculturated Mexican American, White) ×2(presence/absence of close relationship theme) analysisof variance and covariance. Women rated condomintroducers significantly higher than men on the Nicescale, female condom introducers were rated significantly higherthan male condom introducers on the Nice scale, andcondom introducers who expressed a care andresponsibility theme while introducing a condom wererated significantly higher on the Nice scale than those whoexpressed no theme. The female condom introducer wasrated significantly higher than the male condomintroducer on the Exciting scale. Condom introducers whoexpressed a care and responsibility theme were ratedsignificantly higher than those who expressed no themeon the Good Relationship Partner scale. In a two-wayinteraction between gender of participant and gender of condom introducer, men rated the femalecondom introducer significantly higher than women on thePromiscuous scale. In another two-way interactionbetween gender of condom introducer and ethnicity, low acculturated Mexican Americans rated the femalecondom introducer significantly higher than the malecondom introducer on the Promiscuous scale. Lowacculturated Mexican Americans rated the condomintroducer significantly higher than Whites on theSexually Attractive scale. There were no significantmain or interaction effects of the independent variableson the Unpersonable/Personable scale.     

What's Gender Got To Do With It: Perceptions of Sexual Coercion in a University Community

This study examines gender differences in attitudes toward sexual coercion among collegians (n =325: 89.0% Caucasian, 6.8% Afican-American, 3.0% Asian,1.0% Hispanic, and .2% Native American) at a state-supported, midwestern university. Undergraduates (64.0% female and 36.0% male) were queried about the degree of their support for the use of sexual coercion across a range of dating-type encounters which varied by relational familiarity and sexual intensity.Their attitudes toward appearance as a sexual cue and traditional versus non-traditonal gender role orientations were also examined in relationship to these scenerios. The results indicate significant gender differences in attitudes regarding the use of sexual coercion in dating encounters across all situations, and in the interpretation of sexual cues in the context of interpersonal interactions. Gender differences were also found in gender role orientations.However, while the results provide support for the contribution of gender to attitudes toward sexual coercion, they also indicate that sexual semitotics and gender role orientations qualify that relationship; both variables are significant predictors of attitudes toward sexual coercion. The results are discussed in terms of the evidence provided for the role of interpretive schemas in the construction of attitudes toward sexual coercion for both men and women.     

Religiosity, Spirituality, and the Subjective Quality of African American Men's Friendships: An Exploratory Study

The present study fills a crucial gap in literature surrounding the lives of African American men by exploring factors that shape the quality of these men's friendships. Drawing on data from a sample of 171 African American men, the study examines the relative utility of subjective religiosity, subjective spirituality, advice exchange, and affective sharing as predictors of the level of perceived support from male and female friends. Findings reveal age differences in subjective religiosity, subjective spirituality, and in level of advice and affective exchange in men's same-sex as well as cross-sex friendships. Age differences emerged in men's perceptions of the supportiveness of their friendships with women but not with men. Age was not a predictor of perceived supportiveness of same-sex or cross-sex friendships. Subjective religiosity did not predict support in same-sex or cross-sex friendships. Subjective spirituality positively predicted perceived support in men's same-sex friendships but not in cross-sex friendships. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

"Boys don't cry": examination of the links between endorsement of masculine norms, self-stigma, and help-seeking attitudes for men from diverse backgrounds

The role of conformity to dominant U.S. masculine norms as an antecedent to help-seeking attitudes in men has been established using convenience samples made up largely of college-age and European American males. However, the role of conformity to masculine norms on help-seeking attitudes for noncollege-age men or for men from diverse backgrounds is not well understood. To fill this gap in the literature, the present study examined the cross-cultural relevance of a mediational model of the relationships between conformity to dominant U.S. masculine norms and attitudes toward counseling through the mediator of self-stigma of seeking counseling for 4,773 men from both majority and nonmajority populations (race/ethnicity and sexual orientation). Structural equation modeling results showed that the model established using college males from majority groups (European American, heterosexual) may be applicable to a community sample of males from differing racial/ethnic groups and sexual orientations. However, some important differences in the presence and strengths of the relationships between conformity to dominant masculine norms and the other variables in the model were present across different racial/ethnic groups and sexual orientations. These findings suggest the need to pay specific theoretical and clinical attention to how conformity to dominant masculine norms and self-stigma are linked to unfavorable attitudes toward help seeking for these men, in order to encourage underserved men's help-seeking behavior.     

American elementary school children's attitudes about immigrants, immigration, and being an American

The current study examined 5 to 11-year-old European American children's (N = 90) attitudes regarding immigrants, immigration policy, and what it means to be an American. The majority of children in the sample (from a predominantly European American community) held strong American identities and had distinct ideas about what it means to be an American (namely, one must love America, live by its rules, and be White). Children were in favor of legal immigration as a policy, and although they believed in allowing illegal immigrants to stay if employed, many younger children believed they should go to jail. Many children in the sample were aware of Americans' anti-immigration sentiments, largely attributing it to ethnic/cultural discrimination. Finally, children held negative attitudes about immigrants, particularly Mexican immigrants. These negative attitudes were most evident among children who held a strong, prototypical national in-group identity. In contrast, children did not hold differential attitudes about White and Black Americans.     

Sexual Prejudice Among Heterosexual College Men as a Predictor of Condom Attitudes

Heterosexual male college students (N?=?100) (average age?=?19.7; 43% European American; 39% Christian) from the southwestern U.S. completed surveys in order to test a model predicting condom attitudes from religiosity, gender role attitudes, sexual prejudice, and the belief that “AIDS is a gay disease.” In the final model, those who reported more religiosity, more traditional gender role attitudes, and greater anxiety about interacting with gay men also reported feeling their core values and beliefs were threatened by gay men. In turn, men who felt strongly threatened in this way more strongly endorsed the belief that “AIDS is a gay disease,” and stronger endorsement of this belief was associated with more negative attitudes about condoms and condom use.     

The power of being heard: The benefits of ‘perspective-giving’ in the context of intergroup conflict

Although hundreds of dialogue programs geared towards conflict resolution are offered every year, there have been few scientific studies of their effectiveness. Across 2 studies we examined the effect of controlled, dyadic interactions on attitudes towards the ‘other’ in members of groups involved in ideological conflict. Study 1 involved Mexican immigrants and White Americans in Arizona, and Study 2 involved Israelis and Palestinians in the Middle East. Cross-group dyads interacted via video and text in a brief, structured, face-to-face exchange: one person was assigned to write about the difficulties of life in their society (‘perspective-giving’), and the second person was assigned to accurately summarize the statement of the first person (‘perspective-taking’). Positive changes in attitudes towards the outgroup were greater for Mexican immigrants and Palestinians after perspective-giving and for White Americans and Israelis after perspective-taking. For Palestinians, perspective-giving to an Israeli effectively changed attitudes towards Israelis, while a control condition in which they wrote an essay on the same topic without interacting had no effect on attitudes, illustrating the critical role of being heard. Thus, the effects of dialogue for conflict resolution depend on an interaction between dialogue condition and participants' group membership, which may reflect power asymmetries.