Intimacy and structure: Sex differences in imagery of same-sex relationships

Thirty-three female and 42 male undergraduates wrote stories in response to verbal Thematic Apperception Test cues of characters of the subject's sex in structured and unstructured situations. Significantly more men than women wrote stories with negative and defused imagery to the unstructured situation cue. In addition, men wrote stories with significantly more negative and defused imagery to the unstructured cue than to the structured cue. Women showed no significant difference in the frequency of negative and defused imagery to unstructured and structured cues. A detailed content analysis, however, indicated that for women structure decreases intimate contact and inhibits satisfying relationships of support and reciprocity. Results suggest that males, perceiving same-sex relationships as dangerous, feel threatened by intimacy, and thus need to impose structure onto interpersonal situations in order to defuse the intimacy: by using rules, roles, and the addition of others, boundaries may be established between people. Women, comfortable with same-sex intimacy, perceive structured situations as hindering the development of satisfying relationships.     

Sex differences and androgyny in fantasy content

Fantasy stories were composed by 153 undergraduates (93 females, 60 males) who also responded to the Bem Sex Role Inventory. The fantasy stories were collected by group administration of a Thematic Apperception Test. The stories were content analyzed along 17 imagery categories. Males and females differed significantly in ten of these categories. The results indicate a substantial continuity of sex differences in fantasy content between earlier decades and the mid 1970s. However, women had relatively more imagery of a self-assertive, pleasurable, and careerist nature than had been found in earlier studies. The fantasies of sex-typed persons were more situation-bound and more sexual than those of androgynous persons. Sex-typed persons appear to experience limitations in fantasy production which parallel their limitations in overt behavior.     

Social motives and cognitive power-sex associations: predictors of aggressive sexual behavior

The present study investigated whether implicit social motives and cognitive power-sex associations would predict self-reports of aggressive sexual behavior. Participants wrote stories in response to Thematic Apperception Test pictures, which were scored for power and affiliation-intimacy motives. They also completed a lexical-decision priming task that provided an index of the strength of the cognitive association between the concepts of "power" and "sexuality." For men, high levels of power motivation and strong power-sex associations predicted more frequent aggression. There was also an interaction: Power motivation was unrelated to aggression for men with the weakest power-sex associations. For women, high levels of affiliation-intimacy motivation were associated with more frequent aggression. Strong power-sex associations were also predictive for women but only when affiliation-intimacy motivation was high.     

Is hostility linked with affiliation among males and with achievement among females? A critique of Pollak and Gilligan

This investigation attempted to replicate and to clarify methodologically an investigation by Pollak and Gilligan (1982). Those investigators reported sex differences in violence imagery to Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) pictures depicting affiliation and achievement situations. Pollak and Gilligan concluded that men perceive danger in situations of affiliation whereas women perceive danger in situations of achievement. It was demonstrated in the present study that Pollak and Gilligan incorrectly classified TAT cards into motivational categories, which may have resulted in incorrect inferences. In addition, their findings could not be replicated when using four different systems for classifying TAT cards into motivational categories. Other potential sources of error in their research, including a restrictive scoring scheme for hostility, unusual instructions, and failure to control for sex role in the TAT pictures, did not influence the pattern of results.     

Anger and the Use of Defense Mechanisms in College Students

ABSTRACT It was hypothesized that experimentally induced anger would result in an increased use of defense mechanisms in college students. As predicted from the theory of defense mechanism development, the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) stories of angered students showed a higher level of use of projection and identification, and the use of these defenses was significantly correlated with the presence of aggressive content in the stories. The results were consistent with previous studies in showing that the predominant defenses of late adolescents are projection and identification, and that men use more projection than women.     

Love, Suspense, Sex, and Violence: Men’s and Women’s Film Predilections, Exposure to Sexually Violent Media, and their Relationship to Rape Myth Acceptance

This investigation addressed the relationship between men’s and women’s predilections for film with a love story, suspense, or sex and violence theme and how that predilection related to rape myth acceptance (RMA). Also examined was how men’s and women’s predilections, as they related to RMA, were moderated by exposure to different levels of sexually violent media based on a true story. Finally, the relationship between traditional attitudes and film predilection, as well as the relationship between film predilection and attitudes toward film editing, were investigated. Results indicate that men prefer film with sex and violence significantly more than women do, whereas women prefer love stories significantly more than men do. Those with sex and violence film predilections are more accepting of RMA than those with love story or suspense predilections. Women’s film predilections and their relationship to RMA attitudes are moderated to an extent by exposure to sexually violent media based on a true story, whereas men’s attitudes remain unaffected. Finally, those with sex and violence film predilections are less in favor of film editing than are those with suspense or love story predilections. Theoretical explanations for the findings are discussed and their implications.     

Gender and projective imagination of threat in achievement and affiliation situations

In a study by Pollak and Gilligan (1982) where fantasies of violence were seen as indicative of perception of danger, women responded with more violent imagery to situations of achievement, whereas men responded with more violent imagery to affiliation situations. This indicates gender differences in motivational needs, which corresponds to modern gender development theories (e.g., Chodorow, 1978). In the present studies, the hypotheses that women fear achievement situations whereas men fear situations of affiliation were tested on Swedish samples totaling 44 men and 47 women. In Study 1, the hypothesis that violent imagery correlates with affiliation themes in the stories written by men was partly supported, whereas the hypothesis that violent imagery would be highly correlated with achievement themes in the stories written by women was not confirmed. In Study 2, no support was obtained for the hypotheses. In sum, contrary to previous studies, no substantial support was obtained for the hypothesis that women connect violent imagery with achievement situations, whereas some evidence was found for the hypothesis that men construe danger as arising from affiliation situations. The greater incidence of violence in men’s fantasy reported in previous studies was not supported in either of the two studies. The results are discussed in the context of cross-cultural differences.     

Rorschach Measures of Posttraumatic Stress in Persian Gulf War Veterans

Imaginative stories written in response to either 6 or 10 different Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) pictures by over 1,500 college students in two studies were scored for intimacy motivation (McAdams, 1980), and a subset were scored for fear of intimacy (Pollack & Gilligan, 1982). The intimacy motive is a recurrent preference or readiness for experiences of warm, close, and communicative interaction with others, and it is assessed by coding the quality of the interpersonal interaction exhibited by characters in a TAT story. Fear of intimacy, on the other hand, is assumed to reveal itself through images of violence displayed in affiliative and intimate situations in TAT stories, for example, when one lover kills another. In both studies, women scored significantly higher than men on intimacy motivation, especially with respect to the intimacy themes of Relationship Produces Positive Affect, Relationship Transcends Space-Time Limitations, Surrender of Control in Relationships, and Connection to Outside World. This sex difference in intimacy motivation was most pronounced in stories written to pictures portraying possible heterosexual romance. Contrary to findings obtained by Pollack and Gilligan, however, men did not write more stories with themes of violence in intimate relationships than did women, providing little support for Consistent sex differences in a general fear of intimacy.     

Sex Differences,Sex Roles,and Projection on the TAT: Matching Stimulus to Examinee Gender

We examined the assumption that on the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) examinees identify more with stimulus characters of the same sex as themselves and therefore produce more projective material when tested with these gender matched cards. Repeated measures analyses of variance and t tests showed no increase in projection as a result of matching gender or sex role of subject to card stimulus. Results do not support the clinical utility of the separate male and female sets of TAT cards.     

Effects of Aggressive and Nonaggressive Rock Songs on Projective and Structured Tests

The differences between hostility scores on projective and objective tests as a function of listening to aggressive or nonaggressive rock music were studied. While taking the Thematic Apperception Test (Cards 1, 3BM, 4, 9BM, and 10) and the Buss-Durkee (1957) Hostility Scale, subjects (N = 90) randomly assigned to one of three groups listened to a rock song with (a) nonaggressive music and non-aggressive lyrics, (b) aggressive music and nonaggressive lyrics, or (c) aggressive music and aggressive lyrics. TAT stories were scored for aggressive content according to Hafner and Kaplan's (1960) hostility rating scale. Hostility scores did not differ between groups. The findings are congruent with other investigators' reports that subjects do not pay attention to rock lyrics. Previous findings that music affects the emotional quality of TAT stories and hostility scores on the Buss-Durkee scale were not supported.     

Gender stereotypes, aggression, and computer games: an online survey of women.

Computer games were conceptualized as a potential mode of entry into computer-related employment for women. Computer games contain increasing levels of realism and violence, as well as biased gender portrayals. It has been suggested that aggressive personality characteristics attract people to aggressive video games, and that more women do not play computer games because they are socialized to be non-aggressive. To explore gender identity and aggressive personality in the context of computers, an online survey was conducted on women who played computer games and women who used the computer but did not play computer games. Women who played computer games perceived their online environments as less friendly but experienced less sexual harassment online, were more aggressive themselves, and did not differ in gender identity, degree of sex role stereotyping, or acceptance of sexual violence when compared to women who used the computer but did not play video games. Finally, computer gaming was associated with decreased participation in computer-related employment; however, women with high masculine gender identities were more likely to use computers at work.     

The thematic apperception test: toward a standard measure of the big three motives

The application of the Thematic Apperception Test to the assessment of motives has been heralded as an important milestone in personality psychology. However, although this approach is well established, there is at present no standard battery of cues for measuring the Big Three motives (achievement, affiliation, power). Furthermore, the extent to which scoring subcategories contribute to overall motive scores has been neglected. Our research with students and managers examined the effectiveness of picture cues in eliciting motive imagery and the prevalence of scoring subcategories within each motive scoring system. Results from 2 data sets comprising 547 men and women suggested that there were 3 cues that should be retained for future research and that motive scoring systems could be refined through removal of redundant subcategories. Further research is needed to systematically investigate the effectiveness of a standard battery of cues and the validity of revised motive scoring systems.     

Gender identity: affected by social change?

To determine whether social changes in attitudes toward the role of men and women have influenced gender identity measures, 60 male and female college students were assessed using both a Thematic Apperception Test measure (May's, 1966, Deprivation/Enhancement measure) and a self-report measure (Bem's, 1974, Sex Role Identity [BSRI]), both of which were developed more than 20 years ago. Although some recent research has found the BSRI to no longer differentiate between men and women (Twenge, 1997; Wilcox & Francis, 1997), this study found significant gender differences for both gender identity measures.1     

Defense mechanisms and self-reported violence toward partners and strangers

We examined the relationship between defense mechanisms and self-reported violence toward partners and toward strangers in a sample of college student men. Fifty men completed the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT; Murray, 1943) and the Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS; Straus, 1979), a self-report measure of strategies (including violence) for resolving conflicts with partners and strangers. The TAT responses were coded for defense mechanisms with the Defense Mechanisms Manual (Cramer, 1991b). The relative use of identification was negatively correlated (r = -.49, p <.001), and the relative use of projection was positively correlated (r =.49, p <.001) with the most extreme CTS report of violence toward partners. The relative use of identification was negatively correlated with the most extreme CTS report of violence toward strangers (r = -.34, p <.05). The relative use of denial was positively correlated with the most extreme CTS report of violence toward strangers (r =.32, p <.05).     

Narrating Rape: An Ethnographic Case-Study of Non-Consensual Sexual Debut in Tanzania

ABSTRACT

This article explores the issue of (female) sexual consent in a non-western context by examining narratives of the non-consensual sexual debut in Tanzania within the institutional and cultural tolerance for intimate violence, and the role of the state and media in condoning “proper” gender roles. None of the young women interviewed during a year of ethnographic fieldwork on a college campus were willing to identify this activity as “rape,” though they frequently detailed the ways that aspirations for “respectability” created conditions of vulnerability to ongoing exploitative sexual relationships with older men in positions of authority whom they once trusted. In the socio-sexual premarital landscape of school girls, sex is never given away for free, but may be dispensed with reasonable expectation of return. In an effort to contextualize sexual intimacy and avoid careless use of labels like “prostitution,” feminist public health researchers began to frame sexual encounters in transactional terms. Although not entirely unproblematic, the less stigmatizing terminology reveals more nuanced intimate economies among men and women which include structurally and culturally-derived elements of deprivation, agency, and instrumentality. This article pays careful attention to the narrative of one young women who describes a socio-sexual premarital landscape which almost universally positions male partners as culturally-empowered to proceed with aggressive, even violent, advances toward young women they wish to have sex with, “date,” or marry. Within this context, this article then teases out emerging discourses about structural conditions that reinforce violence.     

A meta-analysis of aggression in the presence of violent cues: Effects of gender differences and aversive provocation

Meta-analytically examines experimental studies that include violent cues in the setting and assesses the effects of aversive provocation on gender differences in aggression. The results show that when violent cues are present, men are more aggressive than women under neutral unprovoked conditions. However, when they are exposed to both violent cues and aversive provocation, men and women are equally aggressive. Differences in individual reactivity to violent cues as well as the type of aggressive response and the sex of the target also affected the magnitude of gender differences in the presence of violent cues. Aggr. Behav. 23:447–456, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Differenzielle Effekte klassischer Prädiktoren von Jugendgewalt

Previous studies were able to identify numerous predictors of aggressive and violent behavior in youth. Although it is to be expected that these predictors may behave differently with varying personal and situation-specific characteristics, no study has yet empirically examined whether predictors of youth violence really exhibit differential effects. The current study will fill this gap in the literature by asking how do some predictors of youth violence differ between slightly and highly criminal individuals? To answer this question a representative sample of German students of the ninth class from 2007 and 2008 was used (N?=?44,610). Using the technique of quantile regression the effects of the predictors sex, origin, risk seeking, number of delinquent friends, alcohol consumption, parental violence, interparental violence and violent victimization on the number of violent incidents were analyzed. The results showed that all predictors significantly influenced the number of violent incidents; however, the effects of all predictors also varied significantly with the intensity of criminal activity of offenders. Whereas all predictors were valid for highly criminal individuals, only some predictors also influenced the amount of violent crime in occasionally violent youth. These results have important implications regarding the identification of new predictors, theory building and practice. Additionally, the present approach of studying differential effects might prove useful to psychology and law in general. The more empirical research is individualized, the better this research can also be applied in practice.     

Assessment of implicit motives with a research version of the TAT: picture profiles, gender differences, and relations to other personality measures

Four hundred twenty-eight participants wrote imaginative stories in response to 6 picture cues of a research version of the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT; Morgan & Murray, 1935). Story protocols were coded for n (need) Power, n Achievement, and n Affiliation using Winter's (1991) integrated scoring system that provided detailed information about the motive profiles of individual picture cues. In general, picture cues differed strongly from each other with regard to how many scorable instances of power, achievement, or affiliation imagery they elicited. The n Affiliation, but not n Power, n Achievement, or activity inhibition--a measure of impulse control--was found to be higher in (a) women than in men and (b) individuals tested in a group than in individuals tested individually. TAT motive measures showed no significant overlap with questionnaire measures of motivational orientation (German Personality Research Form; Stumpf, Angleitner, Wieck, Jackson, & Beloch-Till, 1985) or traits (German NEO-Five-Factor Inventory; Borkenau & Ostendorf, 1993).     

Distress and aggression during dating conflict: A test of the coercion hypothesis

Research with clinically depressed and maritally discordant couples suggests that women's distressed behaviors function to suppress their partners' subsequent aggressive responses. We applied this coercion hypothesis to a nonclinical sample of dating couples (N = 288). We further examined whether these effects were gender‐specific, and whether distressed and aggressive behaviors differ within physically violent versus nonviolent relationships. Women but not men reported engaging in elevated rates of distress in response to partner aggression during past dating conflicts. However, both women and men expected distressed behavior to suppress partner aggression during future conflicts. Expectations about the functional effects of distressed behavior did not differ for participants with physically violent partners versus nonviolent partners. However, participants in violent relationships reported enacting more distressed behaviors and had greater expectations for partner verbal aggression during future conflicts than did participants in nonviolent relationships. Future research may identify the early onset of dysfunctional interaction patterns in couples and concomitant psychological distress.