Gender Inequality Lowers Educational Aspiration for Adolescent Boys and Girls: A Multi-Level and Longitudinal Study in China

Sex Roles - Adolescent students' educational aspiration is a crucial predictor of both concurrent academic achievement and educational attainment later in life. Past studies on educational...     

COVID-19 is Feminine: Grammatical Gender Influences Danger Perceptions and Precautionary Behavioral Intentions by Activating Gender Stereotypes

Gendered languages assign masculine and feminine grammatical gender to all nouns, including nonhuman entities. In French and Spanish, the name of the disease resulting from the virus (COVID-19) is grammatically feminine, whereas the virus that causes the disease (coronavirus) is masculine. In this research, we test whether the grammatical gender mark affects judgments. In a series of experiments with French and Spanish speakers, we show that grammatical gender affects virus-related judgments consistent with gender stereotypes: feminine- (vs. masculine-) marked terms for the virus lead individuals to assign lower stereotypical masculine characteristics to the virus, which in turn reduces their danger perceptions. The effect generalizes to precautionary consumer behavior intentions (avoiding restaurants, movies, public transportation, etc.) as well as to other diseases and is moderated by individual differences in chronic gender stereotyping. These effects occur even though the grammatical gender assignment is semantically arbitrary.     

Trusting strangers: The benefits of reciprocal self-disclosure during online computer-mediated communication and mediating role of interpersonal liking

Reciprocal self-disclosure has reportedly been associated with increased interpersonal trust. However, existing research mainly focuses on online disclosure between acquaintances and overlooks the types of reciprocal disclosure, especially in the initial interactions between strangers communicating online. This study aimed to investigate how three types of reciprocal self-disclosure (turn-taking reciprocity, extended reciprocity and non-reciprocity) contribute to trust and the mechanism of positive interpersonal liking, and whether any effect was instant and stable or increased across two interactions during computer-mediated communication (CMC). Participants were assigned to one of the three reciprocal disclosure conditions and engaged in online interactions. Self-reported and behavioural results demonstrated higher levels of interpersonal trust and liking in the second interaction phase than in the first across all conditions. The turn-taking reciprocity condition showed higher interpersonal trust than did the extended condition, and higher interpersonal liking than did the extended and non-reciprocity conditions; this effect was apparent in both interactions. These findings help us understand the relationship between online self-disclosure and interpersonal trust, suggesting that certain patterns of communication with strangers (e.g., turn-taking reciprocity) may foster more positive social outcomes during CMC over time, while demonstrating the importance of immediacy in synchronous conversations.     

艾森克人格问卷的项目分析

本文共测试643人(男368,女275)。前90条为艾森克原问卷,后9条为补充备用的问题。对全部项目与量表做了信度与效度的分析,最后存留85条,可以作为今后试用的问卷和修订的基础。虽然本文计算程序与艾森克原工作采用的不尽相同,但本文结果的总趋势与原始工作尚为一致,故可以认为艾森克对人格度的分析在我国的文化特点下也有应用价值。     

Sequential vs simultaneous encoding of spatial information: a comparison between the blind and the sighted

The aim of this research is to assess whether the crucial factor in determining the characteristics of blind people's spatial mental images is concerned with the visual impairment per se or the processing style that the dominant perceptual modalities used to acquire spatial information impose, i.e. simultaneous (vision) vs sequential (kinaesthesis). Participants were asked to learn six positions in a large parking area via movement alone (congenitally blind, adventitiously blind, blindfolded sighted) or with vision plus movement (simultaneous sighted, sequential sighted), and then to mentally scan between positions in the path. The crucial manipulation concerned the sequential sighted group. Their visual exploration was made sequential by putting visual obstacles within the pathway in such a way that they could not see simultaneously the positions along the pathway. The results revealed a significant time/distance linear relation in all tested groups. However, the linear component was lower in sequential sighted and blind participants, especially congenital. Sequential sighted and congenitally blind participants showed an almost overlapping performance. Differences between groups became evident when mentally scanning farther distances (more than 5m). This threshold effect could be revealing of processing limitations due to the need of integrating and updating spatial information. Overall, the results suggest that the characteristics of the processing style rather than the visual impairment per se affect blind people's spatial mental images.     

Dissociating influences of key and hand separation on the Stroop color-identification effect

Three experiments examined the influence of distance between response keys (and hands) on the Stroop effect obtained for two-choice tasks in which stimulus colors were identified with keypresses. The Stroop effect was larger when the response locations were close together than when they were far apart, replicating a previous finding. Although this result was obtained only in the initial 30 trials, it was evident in a between-subject design as well as a within-subject design. With more practice, the Stroop effect was of similar size for the close and far separation conditions. Also, when the keys were close together, the Stroop effect was of similar size regardless of whether they were actuated by fingers from one or two hands, providing evidence against anatomical discriminability as a critical factor. Finally, the Stroop effect was numerically larger when the close keys were pressed by sticks held at the far separation than when the far keys were pressed by sticks held at the close separation, implicating distance between the keys rather than the hands as the main factor. The initially larger Stroop effect in RT for close keys could be due to lower spatial discriminability or to an accuracy bias in response thresholds, as suggested by the finding that it was accompanied by a numerically smaller effect in percent error.     

Prenatal Representations of Coparenting Among Unmarried First‐Time African American Mothers

Results of semistructured interviews with 45 pregnant unmarried first‐time African American mothers indicated a wide range of expectancies concerning the coparenting relationship they would develop with others once their baby arrived. Most common coparenting systems projected by respondents involved maternal grandmothers and/or the babies' fathers, though other caregivers were explicitly anticipated in a smaller number of cases. Multiperson coparenting systems were the norm, and only 2 of 45 respondents anticipated that they would be entirely on their own with no coparental system whatsoever. Qualitative analyses of mothers' narratives about postbaby coparenting systems revealed five main constructions: having thought about and anticipating coparenting, positive in outlook; having thought about and anticipating coparenting, but with mild concerns (conflict, unreliability); having thought about coparenting and anticipating limited or no support; having thought about coparenting and anticipating significant conflict and nonsupport; and having not thought much about coparenting, being neither focused on nor worried about this issue. Illustrations of each of these types are provided, and directions for family science and practice are discussed.     

Cognitive ability,academic achievement and academic self‐concept: Extending the internal/external frame of reference model

Background. Marsh's internal/external (I/E) frame of reference model depicts the relationship between achievement and self‐concept in specific academic domains. Few efforts have been made to examine concurrent relationships among cognitive ability, achievement, and academic self‐concept (ASC) within an I/E model framework. Aim. To simultaneously examine the influences of domain‐specific cognitive ability and grades on domain self‐concept in an extended I/E model, including the indirect effect of domain‐specific cognitive ability on domain self‐concept via grades. Sample. Tenth grade respondents (628 male, 452 female) to a national adolescent survey conducted in Taiwan. Method. Respondents completed surveys designed to measure maths and verbal aptitudes. Data on Maths and Chinese class grades and self‐concepts were also collected. Results. Statistically significant and positive path coefficients were found between cognitive ability and self‐concept in the same domain (direct effect) and between these two constructs via grades (indirect effect). The cross‐domain effects of either ability or grades on ASC were negatively significant. Conclusions. Taiwanese 10th graders tend to evaluate their ASCs based on a mix of ability and achievement, with achievement as a mediator exceeding ability as a predictor. In addition, the cross‐domain effects suggest that Taiwanese students are likely to view Maths and verbal abilities and achievements as distinctly different.     

Emotion experience and regulation in China and the United States: How do culture and gender shape emotion responding?

Culture and gender shape emotion experience and regulation, in part because the value placed on emotions and the manner of their expression is thought to vary across these groups. This study tested the hypothesis that culture and gender would interact to predict people's emotion responding (emotion intensity and regulatory strategies). Chinese (n=220; 52% female) and American undergraduates (n=241; 62% female) viewed photos intended to elicit negative emotions after receiving instructions to either "just feel" any emotions that arose (Just Feel), or to "do something" so that they would not experience any emotion while viewing the photos (Regulate). All participants then rated the intensity of their experienced emotions and described any emotion-regulation strategies that they used while viewing the photos. Consistent with predictions, culture and gender interacted with experimental condition to predict intensity: Chinese men reported relatively low levels of emotion, whereas American women reported relatively high levels of emotion. Disengagement strategies (especially distancing) were related to lower emotional intensity and were reported most often by Chinese men. Taken together, findings suggest that emotion-regulation strategies may contribute to differences in emotional experience across Western and East Asian cultures.     

The relation between perceived parental involvement and academic achievement: the roles of Taiwanese students' academic beliefs and filial piety

The excellent academic performance among East-Asian students has drawn international attention from educators and psychologists. However, the process that underlies student academic achievement for this particular group has rarely been documented. The present study examines how the relation between perceived parental involvement and Taiwanese students' academic achievement is mediated by student academic beliefs (i.e., beliefs about effort, academic self-concept, and perceived control). The study further explores whether this mediating effect varies with types of filial piety. Participants were 468 first-year students from colleges and universities in Taiwan. Multiple-group mediating models were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). Results indicated that, for the Taiwanese sample, students' academic beliefs mediated the relation between perceived parental involvement and academic achievement. Furthermore, the mediational effect was significant for the reciprocal filial type, but not for the authoritarian filial type. The importance of the quality of the parent-child relationship and the internalization process related to children's assumptions of their parents' educational values indicate the need for a contextual view when examining predictors of student academic achievement.