The effects of self-monitoring on the expressive display of masculinity-femininity

Do self-monitoring processes influence (1) the correspondence between assessed personality and expressive masculinity-femininity, and (2) the cross-channel consistency (face, body, voice) of expressive masculinity-femininity? To answer these questions, 36 male and 36 females completed the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) and Snyder's Self-Monitoring Scale, and then were videotaped as teachers. Five groups of naive judges rated these stimulus subjects on expressive masculinity-femininity, basing their respective ratings on: video pictures and voices, just pictures, just faces, just bodies, or just voices. A sixth group of judges rated subjects on physical attractiveness. The results indicated that judged physical attractiveness was significantly correlated with judged masculinity-femininity, with men being judged more masculine and females more feminine the more attractive they were. BSRI femininity correlated strongly with judged masculinity-femininity, and BSRI masculinity, less so. Finally, self-monitoring did prove to moderate the correspondence between personality and expressive behavior, and the cross-channel consistency of masculinity-femininity cues: however, these moderating effects were different for males and females.     

Similarity and attraction in homosexual males: The effects of age and masculinity-femininity

Recent research on homosexual partner preferences has focused on sexual attraction, but little attention has been paid to stable, long-term relationships in this population. The present research is concerned with the roles of similarity and complementarity in relatively durable relationships. One-hundred and eleven homosexual males completed a questionnaire describing themselves, including their masculinity and femininity (Bem, 1974), and characteristics of their ideal partner. Results indicated a desire for a partner who was logical and expressive, similar in age, and similar in masculinity—femininity. No special features of homosexuality nor sex roles seem necessary to explain these results.     

The naive perception of masculinity-femininity on the basis of expressive cues

Groups of naive judges rated 18 videotaped stimulus persons on masculinity, femininity, “dominance, assertiveness,” and “compassion, sensitivity to others.” Stimulus persons were broken down by sex and sex-typing—half were male, half female—and within sexes one third were classified as masculine, feminine, and androgynous on the basis of their scores on the Bem Sex Role Inventory. Two experiments are reported in which groups of judges rate stimulus persons on the basis of such different expressive information as videotaped pictures and recorded voices, videotaped pictures alone, videotaped bodies, videotaped heads, recorded voices, and still photos. The results showed: (1) Judges reliably rated masculinity-femininity from largely expressive cues: (2) judgments of masculinity-femininity were not predominantly determined by judgments of sex role-related traits: (3) the naive judgment of masculinity-femininity significantly corresponded to stimulus subjects' assessed sex roles; (4) stimulus subjects (particulary males) showed a consistent display of masculinity-femininity across expressive channels; and (5) judges used different expressive cues in judging masculinity-femininity in males and females. These results are related to broader questions concerning the relation between expressive behavior and personality.     

The masculinity-femininity of women who study college mathematics

The purpose of this study was to contrast women who enrolled in college mathematics courses at the level of introductory calculus and beyond, with those who did not, on the two-dimensional plane of masculinity-femininity. Data were gathered from 179 female undergraduates. Differences between the two groups were explored with respect to masculine-feminine personality traits, attitudes, and role behaviors. It was found that the math group women differed from the non-math group women on a number of variables, including background and vocational interests. There are data in this study that may be interpreted as providing evidence for the importance of social and psychological factors in women's choice of mathematics courses at the college level.This paper is based on the author's doctoral dissertation at New York University. The author wishes to thank William L. Zlot, who served as dissertation advisor, and Robert G. Malgady who served on the committee. The study was carried out at The College of Staten Island. The author wishes to acknowledge the cooperation of the administration, faculty, and staff of the college. Special thanks are due to Dean Barry Bressler for his support.     

Family interaction patterns and childhood depression

Rehm's (1977) self-control model for depression and Bandura's (1977) concept that children internalize external controls placed upon them are united to predict family interaction patterns that may contribute to the etiology or maintenance of depression in children. Families of depressed, nondepressed, and nonclinic children were compared on rates of, and criteria for, parental and self-reinforcement. Mother-father-child interactions were sequentially coded to reveal that mothers of depressed and nonclinic children both set very high criteria for rewarding their children, compared to mothers of clinic/nondepressed children. However, mothers of depressed children rewarded their depressed children at much lower rates than mothers of either clinic/nondepressed or nonclinic children. These factors, taken together, are discussed in terms of their possible etiological role in childhood depression.     

Stability of masculinity-femininity scores over an eleven-year period

The Gough Femininity Scale was administered to students in an introductory psychology class at an urban community college over an 11-year period. Means for male and female students maintained the same relative difference for the 11 years and were not different from Gough's 1952 standardization sample.     

Contextual effects on number-time interaction

Time perception has long been known to be affected by numerical representations. Recent studies further demonstrate that when participants estimate the duration of Arabic numbers, number magnitude, though task-irrelevant, biases duration judgment to produce underestimation for smaller numbers and overestimation for larger numbers. Such effects were found in the present study to be significantly reduced when a weight unit gram was suffixed to the numbers rendering the mental magnitude differences between different numbers less distinctive. The effects were enhanced when a different unit kilogram was suffixed to the numbers enlarging the perceived magnitude differences between different numbers. The results indicate that effects of number magnitude on duration estimation should not be attributed to the mathematical differences between numbers but to how the numbers are perceived to differ from each other in magnitude in specific contexts when they denote concrete items. The results also provide new evidence for the theoretical proposal of a common generalized magnitude system and indicate that the system must be extended to include other action-oriented magnitudes, such as weight.     

Effects of subliminal stimulation on masculinity-femininity ratings of a male model

The effects of subliminal stimulation on masculinity-femininity ratings of a male model were tested for 100 male undergraduates, randomly divided into four groups and individually shown a slide of a male model. One group received no further stimulation. A second group received a subliminal flash of white light across the image of the model; a third group was presented with the subliminal message "masculine," while a fourth group was presented with the subliminal message "feminine." Subjects were asked to rate the model on a six-point scale of masculinity-femininity. The differences in ratings among groups were not significant, indicating that subliminal stimulation did not influence masculinity-femininity value-norm-anchor judgments. There were no significant differences in the reported perception of additional stimuli or the tendency to be relaxed among the four groups. However, subjects who received the "masculine" message and reported that they were more relaxed did tend to rate the model higher in masculinity.     

Family interaction and the course of adolescent psychopathology: An analysis of adolescent and parent effects

This study focused on evaluating the utility of three family measures for predicting outcome in a sample of disturbed but nonpsychotic adolescents: (a) the affective quality of the adolescents' voice tone when communicating with his/her parents; (b) the predominant affective quality of the parents' voice tones when communicating with the adolescent, and (c) the affective quality of the content of the parents' verbalizations to the adolescent. These measures were derived from 5-minute face to face discussions between parents and their disturbed adolescent. Results indicated that adolescents using positive or neutral voice tones during emotionally laden discussions with their parents tended to show relatively adequate levels of psychosocial adjustment as young adults, while adolescents using exclusively negative voice tones tended to show sufficient adjustment difficulties in early adulthood to warrant diagnoses within the extended schizophrenia spectrum. Although adolescent voice tone was associated with outcome, considering both adolescent and parent affective response led to improved prediction, with consideration of adolescent and parent variables leading to accurate prediction of outcome for 30 of the 33 sample cases.