Substance use among Iranian psychiatric inpatients.

This study evaluated substance use among a sample of 205 psychiatric inpatients (70 women and 135 men) chosen randomly. The subjects (who had schizophrenia or mood disorders) were evaluated on a confidential questionnaire by interview. Their mean age was 35 yr. (SD= 10.4, range 16 to 69). Of these participants, 76% of the 135 men and 34% of the 70 women admitted use of substances: cigarettes (74% of men, 31.4% of women), opiates (31.9% of men, 4.3% of women), alcohol (23.7% of men, 4.3% of women), hashish (8.9% of men, no women), marijuana (3.7% of men, no women), and cocaine or LSD by none. Only 27% of the women and 63% of the men reported still using substances regularly; some reported using more than one substance. Of the current users, 61.8% of the schizophrenics, 20% of unipolar depressed, and 37.5% of bipolar patients reported current use. The reasons for substance use in order of frequencies of mention were release of tension, seeking pleasure, and need (to avoid withdrawal symptoms) by men and habit, seeking pleasure, and need by women.     

Perspectives on achieving via interpersonal competition between college men and college women

The beliefs of college students about (a) choices they would make when presented with opportunities to achieve by competing with persons of the other gender and (b) the consequences of such achievement choices were assessed. Drawn from a population of predominantly upper middle-class students, with a minority enrollment of 14.7%, 83 men and 84 women were presented with vignettes which depicted (a) either a challenge for a first violin in an orchestra or a Ping-Pong match at a party and (b) events related to the opportunity to become class valedictorian. Multivariate analytic techniques were employed, and overall the results indicated that men seemed less willing than women to compete against the other gender, and women seemed to view the consequences about such competition as more positive than men. In the violin and Ping-Pong vignettes, men indicated that they, more than women, would be criticized for playing to win and that, if a woman played to win, her male opponent would feel more ridiculed than respected. In the valedictorian vignette, women indicated that men who decided to compete would feel more pleasure than guilt, whereas women who decided to compete would feel more guilt than pleasure. The results are discussed in terms of conceptualizing achievement choices as more situational than static or gender linked.The authors wish to thank David A. Cole, University of Notre Dame, for statistical advice, Chau T. Wong, University of Notre Dame, for assistance in data analysis, Kathleen L. Davis, University of Tennessee, and Michael J. Patton, University of Missouri, for reading and commenting on early versions of this paper and undergraduates from the University of Notre Dame for working on this project.     

Sex differences in the jealousy‐evoking effect of rival characteristics

Four studies examined sex differences in the jealousy‐evoking nature of rival characteristics. Study 1, among 130 undergraduates, made an inventory of all relevant rival characteristics that were spontaneously mentioned when asked about a rival to whom one's partner might feel attracted. On the basis of these findings, in Study 2, among 240 undergraduates, a questionnaire was constructed, containing 56 rival characteristics. A factor analysis distinguished five dimensions of rival characteristics, i.e. Social Dominance, Physical Attractiveness, Seductive Behaviors, Physical Dominance, and Social Status. In line with the predictions, men reported more jealousy when a rival was high in Social Dominance, Physical Dominance, and Social Status, whereas women reported more jealousy when a rival was high in Physical Attractiveness. Study 3 largely replicated these findings in a community sample of 144 heterosexuals. Study 4 showed that gay men (n = 80) reported more jealousy than lesbian women (n = 73) when the rival was high in Physical Dominance, and more jealousy than heterosexual men when the rival was high in Social Dominance. Lesbian women reported more jealousy than heterosexual women when the rival was high in Physical Attractiveness. In Studies 2–4, favorable rival characteristics evoked more jealousy among those high in Social Comparison Orientation, particularly among women. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Did Venus have long legs? Beauty standards from various historical periods reflected in works of art

Research on perception of attractiveness of leg-to-body ratio (LBR) described here has shown that people prefer relatively long-legged silhouettes (particularly while assessing women). The LBR of attractive women over historical periods (analyses of attractive silhouettes from paintings, sculptures, etc) has been more changeable than that of men. The findings reported here might represent evidence against the cross-cultural universality of the attractiveness of long legs.     

Effects of Exposure to Physique Slides on the Emotional Responses of Men and Women

The purpose of this study was to examine high and low body dissatisfied (BD) men's and women's in-task emotional responses to the acute exposure of sex-specific physique slides of the aesthetic ideal (i.e., ideal slides) and themselves (i.e., self-slides). Participants were 35 male and 30 female university students who reported their immediate in-task emotional responses (i.e., pleasure and arousal) to viewing the self- and ideal slides. It was found that the (a) high BD women reported the least amount of pleasure while viewing the self- and ideal slides; (b) women reported less pleasure while viewing the self-slides than did the men; (c) The high BD group reported less pleasure while viewing the self- vs. the ideal slides than did the low BD group, and (d) the high BD men reported the most arousal of any of the groups while viewing the self- and ideal slides. The differing emotional responses of the men and women and the high and low BD groups to viewing the self- vs. ideal slides are discussed, and future research directions are suggested.     

The 90's: gender differences in AIDS-related sexual concerns and behaviors,condom use and subjective condom experiences

To evaluate gender differences in the subjective experience and use of condoms, 193 heterosexual patrons at 13 bars in New York City were interviewed on site in 1991. Most respondents were single, middle class, and White; their ages ranged from 18 to 51 years. The data analysis was restricted to the 155 men and women who had at least 1 new partner in the 3 years preceding the survey. Respondents worried most about acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) when engaging in sex with a new partner. 86% indicated concern about AIDS had affected their sexual behavior, most often by increasing their condom use and decreasing casual sex. 91% of women and 79% of men said that condoms give them greater peace of mind. Women worried more than men about AIDS when they had a new sexual partner and were more likely to limit their number of partners, work harder on an existing sexual relationship, give up casual sex, or give up sex with new partners. Men's subjective condom experiences were related to their penile functioning (erection and ejaculation) and the threat of loss of sexual pleasure. Multiple regression equations revealed that, among men, condom use with new partners was associated with worrying about AIDS and younger age; among women, peace of mind was a positive predictor. With casual partners, more partners led to increased condom use among women and worrying about AIDS was a predictor for men; peace of mind was predictive for both genders. 53% of men compared to 21% of women expected to meet a new sexual partner at the bar where they were interviewed, and 36% of men and 19% of women were carrying condoms with them.     

A Tale of Two Standards: An Examination of Young Adults�� Endorsement of Gendered and Ageist Sexual Double Standards

Current North American sexual standards allow women to be sexual within committed relationships but may still restrict women??s sexuality to a greater extent than men??s. We investigated whether these gender double standards interact with an age double standard that describes the elderly as less sexual than the young, to create particularly limiting sexual standards for older women. 305 Canadian undergraduates completed a 2 (target age) × 2 (target gender) × 2 (participant gender) within-subjects study measuring perceptions of younger (own age) and older (over 65 years old) men??s and women??s interest in traditional sex (e.g., cuddling, intercourse with main partner) and experimental sex (e.g., extra-relationship sex, viewing erotic materials). ANCOVAs controlling for ageist and sexist beliefs revealed the ageist double standard; the elderly were perceived to be less interested in sex overall than the young. There was also a sexual double standard; women were perceived to be more interested in traditional sex than men, and men more interested in experimental sex than women. For traditional sex, women perceived younger targets as more interested than the older targets, and women targets as more interested than men. For experimental sex, a three-way interaction showed the interplay between the sexual and ageist double standards. Elderly female targets were perceived as least interested, and young male targets as most interested. Results reinforce that the current sexual standards distinguish between sex for intimacy and sex for other reasons (e.g., pleasure) and that the standards are particularly restrictive for older women.     

Gender differences in rival characteristics that evoke jealousy in response to emotional versus sexual infidelity

Previous research has shown that in men jealousy is evoked more by a rival's status‐related characteristics than in women, whereas in women jealousy is evoked more by a rival's physical attractiveness than in men. The present study examined whether the occurrence of this gender difference depends upon the type of infidelity one's partner engages in, i.e., emotional or sexual infidelity, and whether these types of jealousy evoke different emotional responses. An experiment was conducted using hypothetical jealousy situations with a 2 (participant gender: male vs. female) × 2 (rival physical attractiveness: high vs. low) × 2 (rival dominance: high vs. low) × 2 (type of infidelity: sexual vs. emotional) mixed‐factor design. Jealousy evoked by emotional infidelity was primarily characterized by feelings of threat, and jealousy after sexual infidelity was primarily characterized by feelings of betrayal and anger. Following emotional infidelity, in men, a rival's dominance, and in women, a rival's physical attractiveness, evoked feelings of threat but not feelings of anger‐betrayal. In contrast, after sexual infidelity, in men, but not in women, a rival's physical attractiveness evoked feelings of betrayal‐anger but not anxiety or suspicion.     

Completing Coyne's Cycle: Dysphorics' Ability to Detect Deception

We tested the prediction, derived from Coyne's (1976b) interpersonal model of depression, that dysphoric individuals would be more sensitive than nondysphoric individuals to false reassurances and phoniness. In Part 1 of a two-part study, dysphoric and nondysphoric individuals watched videotapes of discussants talking about paintings they liked and disliked with an art student who had created some of the paintings herself. As predicted, the dysphorics were more accurate than the nondysphorics at discerning when the discussants really did like the paintings only when the discussions were about disliked paintings that were the art student's own work. The Part 2 stimuli were audiotaped lies and truths conveyed by men and women to attractive same-sex and opposite-sex targets. The dysphorics tended to be more accurate than the nondysphorics at identifying the truths and lies told to opposite-sex targets, and they were significantly more accurate at identifying the opposite-sex communications than the same-sex ones.     

Perceived proposer personality characteristics and gender differences in acceptance of casual sex offers

In a highly influential paper, Clark and Hatfield (1989) demonstrated that, whereas men were quite likely to accept a casual sexual offer from a confederate research assistant, women never did so. The current research provides a more in-depth explanation of gender differences in acceptance of casual sex offers via 4 (quasi-) experiments. First, using a person-perception paradigm, I assessed people's impressions of women and men who proposed a casual sexual encounter in the same manner that confederates in Clark and Hatfield did. Women and men agreed that female proposers were more intelligent, successful, and sexually skilled than men who made the same proposals. Second, I demonstrated that the large gender differences from the original Clark and Hatfield study could be eliminated by asking participants to imagine proposals from (attractive and unattractive) famous individuals, friends, and same-gender individuals. Next, I assessed factors associated with likelihood of agreeing to the casual sex proposal. The extent to which women and men believed that the proposer would be sexually skilled predicted how likely they would be to engage in casual sex with this individual. Finally, I examined these factors in the context of actual encounters from the participants' previous experiences, and the results were replicated in this context. Overall findings suggest that the large gender differences Clark and Hatfield observed in acceptance of the casual sex offer may have more to do with perceived personality characteristics of the female versus male proposers than with gender differences among Clark and Hatfield's participants and that sexual pleasure figures largely in women's and men's decision making about casual sex.     

Evidence from a homosexual sample for a sex‐specific rival‐oriented mechanism: Jealousy as a function of a rival's physical attractiveness and dominance

Among heterosexual women in particular, a rival's physical attractiveness evokes jealousy, whereas among heterosexual men in particular, a rival's dominance evokes feelings of jealousy. The present study conducted with gay men and lesbian women examined whether these sex‐differentiated responses reflect an evolved sex‐specific rival‐oriented mechanism according to which males and females pay attention to different rival characteristics or an evolved general partner‐oriented mechanism, according to which males and females pay attention to those characteristics that their actual and potential partners find important. In an experiment, using a 2 (Participant Sex) × 2 (Rival Physical Attractiveness) × 2 (Rival Dominance) mixed factor design, homosexual participants were presented with a scenario in which their partners were flirting with an individual of the same sex. Lesbian women, but not gay men, reported more jealousy when they were exposed to a physically attractive rival as compared with a physically unattractive rival. Gay males, but not lesbian women, reported more jealousy when they were exposed to a rival high in dominance as compared with a rival low in dominance, especially when exposed to a physically unattractive rival. In addition, among women high in dominance, a dominant rival evoked relatively less jealousy, and among women high in social comparison orientation, an unattractive rival evoked relatively more jealousy. It is concluded that males and females posses an evolved sex‐specific rival‐oriented mechanism through which they respond more or less automatically to those rival characteristics that have been important in sexual selection in our evolutionary past.     

Differences Between Condom Users and Condom Nonusers in Their Multidimensional Condom Attitudes

In two studies, we examined multidimensional condom attitudes of college students separately for (a) condom users vs. condom nonusers, (b) women vs. men, and (c) partnered individuals vs. single individuals (Study 1). Almost all single people (97%) expected to use condoms during each incident of sexual intercourse during the next 2 months. Across both studies, condom users were distinguished from nonusers by the attitude that condom use would interfere with sexual pleasure, and by skepticism that they would be able to use condoms in the face of obstacles (i.e., the action-maintenance dimension of condom attitudes). These effects held for expected future condom use, as well as current condom use. One gender difference also emerged across both studies: Men were more concerned about condoms interfering with sexual pleasure than were women. Implications for condom-use promotion are discussed.     

A Study of Men and Women from Different Sides of Earth to Determine If Men Are from Mars and Women Are from Venus in Their Beliefs About Love and Romantic Relationships

This study contributes to the literature on gender differences (and similarities) in relationship beliefs by comparing men and women on several relationship beliefs, by comparing men and women from two different cultures (North America and China), and also by examining gender differences in more than 1 subculture within the American sample. In the American sample (n = 693; 73.3% White, 11.7% Black, 8.5% Hispanic/Latino; 80% of middle or higher social class), men, as compared to women, were more willing to marry without love, scored higher on the idealization component of a romanticism scale, were more ludic and agapic but less erotic and pragmatic in their love styles, and were less likely to view emotional satisfaction as important to the maintenance of marriage. Although men were also more agapic than women in the Chinese sample (n = 735; Asian ethnicity), the other gender differences found in the Chinese sample were different from those found in the North American sample: Chinese men were more romantic (particularly in the belief that love can overcome any obstacle) and storgic than Chinese women, but less likely to believe in destiny or fate concerning love. Chinese men were also more likely than Chinese women to view physical pleasure as important for maintaining marriage. Overall, culture explained more variance than did gender in love beliefs. In general, the Chinese had both a more idealistic and a more practical approach to love than did the Americans. Gender differences and similarities did not vary across subcultures within the American culture, although main effects for race/ethnicity and social class were found for a few relationship beliefs.     

Social representations associated with men and women drivers among French adolescents and adults. Effects of the perceiver’s age,sex, and socioeconomic status

The aim of this study was to investigate the specific contents of the social representations (SR) associated with men and women drivers and examine the effects of the social insertions of individuals (i.e., age, sex and socio-economic status) on the content and structure of these SR. A preliminary study with 414 French participants identified thematic content associated with men and women drivers using the verbal association method. Based on these themes, 833 French participants, equally distributed by age group (from 12 to 50 years-old and over), sex and socioeconomic status (SES), were asked to answer a questionnaire on men (N = 422) or women (N = 411) drivers. The results show that each of these SR is organized around three factors: incompetence, prudence and lack of self-control for women drivers; carelessness, skills and self-control for men drivers. In-group favoritism bias can be noted in both groups as male participants, more than female ones, rated men drivers as having self-control and women drivers as lacking self-control, whereas female participants, more than male ones, perceived men drivers as careless and women drivers as prudent. Despite this phenomenon, more male respondents than female ones in all age groups seemed to believe that women are not competent at driving, whereas both sexes seem to agree that men have good driving skills. Among most age groups, three characteristics associated with men drivers (confidence, speed and pleasure of driving) and four characteristics associated with female drivers (caution, civil, compliance with rules and vigilance) emerged as central in the SR. The SR associated with men drivers appeared to be stable and shared across age groups, whereas the SR associated with women drivers appeared more mixed, heterogeneous and unstable with age. Female participants with higher SES consider women drivers as more incompetent, less prudent and more lacking self-control than female participants with lower SES.     

Women Who Objectify Other Women: The Vicious Circle of Objectification?

This study was designed to test the extent to which women who self-objectify also objectify other women. One hundred thirty-two university students and their friends (64 women and 68 men) completed three questionnaires: (1) Noll and Fredrickson’s (1998) Self-Objectification Questionnaire, (2) a modified version of that questionnaire that measured individuals’ objectification of others, and (3) Slade, Dewey, Newton, and Brodie’s (1990) Body Cathexis scale. Women were more likely than men to self-objectify. Self-objectification was negatively related to body satisfaction for women but not for men. Both women and men objectified women more than they objectified men, although women’s objectification of other women was not significantly different than their objectification of men. Men objectified women more than women did, and women objectified men more than men did. Women were more likely to objectify other women than to objectify themselves. Higher self-objectification among both women and men was related to increased objectification of other women and men, but the relationships were stronger for women. Results indicate that women also objectify women, although not to the degree exhibited by men.     

The Differentially Discriminating Properties of Alcohol Expectancies for Female and Male Drinkers

Alcohol expectancies are the anticipated outcomes of consuming alcohol. In this study, a variety of alcohol expectancies were found to discriminate between problem- and non-problem-drinking college students. In addition, the author discovered that the expectancy profile that distinguished female problem drinkers from female nonproblem drinkers was relatively distinct from the profile that separated these types of drinkers among men. The alcohol expectancy with the strongest discriminating value among the women was “arousal and power,” whereas for the men it was “physical and social pleasure.” The author discusses the implications of these findings for counseling problem-drinking women and men.     

The Influences of Sex and Gender-Role Identity on Moral Cognition and Prosocial Personality Traits

The relations of sex and gender-role identity to moral thought and prosocial personality traits were examined. Two hundred and nine men and women rated the importance of real-life, care-related, justice-related, and mixed (both care- and justice-related) moral dilemmas. Responses on the real-life and mixed dilemmas also were scored for care and justice orientations. Women and feminine persons viewed moral conflicts as more important than did men and masculine people. On the mixed dilemmas, women scored higher than men on care reasoning, whereas men scored higher than women on justice reasoning. Regardless of sex or gender role, relational real-life dilemmas evoked higher importance and care reasoning scores than did nonrelational ones. Women and persons high in femininity showed more empathic concern for other people. Masculine persons scored lower on personal distress, whereas androgynous persons reported more helpful behaviors than did all others.     

Gender and the relationship between perceived fairness of pay or promotion and job satisfaction.

Brockner and Adsit (1986) found that satisfaction with an exchange relationship was more strongly related to perceptions of equity among men than women. Kahn (1972) reported that men were more likely than women to distribute outcomes to individuals in direct proportion to their input. We evaluated potential gender differences among 12,979 personnel in 30 different organizational systems in (a) correlations between fairness and job satisfaction scores and (b) standardized group differences in the perceived amounts of pay and promotion fairness and expressed levels of facet and global job satisfaction. The fairness-satisfaction relationship was not higher for men, and there were no practical differences in fairness perceptions and job satisfaction between men and women.