Gender and gender-role identity influences upon self- and other-reports of communicative competence

This study examines the influence of gender-role identity on interpersonal perceptions of communicative competence in a natural setting over an extended period of time. After working in small task-oriented groups for 15 weeks, 146 students (74 females, 72 males) completed a questionnaire containing measures of gender-role identity (Bem Sex Role Inventory) and communicative competence [J. M. Wieman, Explication and test of a model of communicative competence. Human Communication Research, 1977, 3, 195–213]. A three-way ANOVA (masculinity, femininity, gender) was used for analysis. Predictions based on prior models were only partially supported. Findings suggest that gender-role identity functions in more complex ways than prior models suggest. For all dimensions of communicative competence, gender-role identity resulted in different patterns for males and females. Furthermore, comparisons of self- vs other-perceptions indicate the possibility that one model may hold for self-perceptions and another for other-perceptions.The authors gratefully acknowledge the helpful comments contributed by Kenneth R. Wilson and Kristina Troost.     

Dimensions of Masculinity: Relations to Date Rape Supportive Attitudes and Sexual Aggression in Dating Situations

Sexual assault in general and date rape in particular are major issues for practitioners, educators, and researchers in counseling. This study sought to extend and refine existing research on the links between masculine gender roles and date rape by exploring 3 masculinity-related constructs that, until recently, have received relatively little attention in the context of rape research: masculinity ideology, attitudes toward feminism, and homophobia. In general, combinations of masculinity-related constructs were found to predict self-reported acceptance or perpetration of sexually coercive behaviors. Specifically, multiple regression analyses revealed that attitudes toward feminism and various, specific dimensions of masculinity ideology (vs. a global assessment, as in previous research) predicted unique variance in several types of date rape-supportive attitudes and beliefs: the Facade/Counterdependence dimension of masculinity ideology also predicted unique variance in self-reported history of sexual coercion. Implications for prevention, education, and future research are discussed.     

The lived experience of disability

In this paper I reflect upon my personal experience of chronic progressive multiple sclerosis in order to provide a phenomenological account of the human experience of disability. In particular, I argue that the phenomenological notion of lived body provides important insights into the profound disruptions of space and time that are an integral element of changed physical capacities such as loss of mobility. In addition, phenomenology discloses the emotional dimension of physical disorder. The lived body disruption engendered by loss of mobility includes a change in the character of surrounding space, an alteration in one's taken-for-granted awareness of (and interaction with) objects, the disruption of corporeal identity, a disturbance in one's relations with others, and a change in the character of temporal experience. The loss of upright posture is of particular significance since it not only concretely diminishes autonomy but affects the way one is treated by others. Such a change in posture is, therefore, particularly disruptive in the social world of everyday life. An understanding of the lived body disruption engendered by disability has important applications for the clinical context in devising effective therapies, as well as for the social arena in determining how best to resolve the various challenges posed by chronic disabling disorders.I should like to thank Frances Chaput Waksler for her helpful comments on my work.     

Dimensions of perfectionism and goal commitment: A further comparison of two perfectionism measures

Research on perfectionism has suggested that a strong association exists between the setting and striving for excessively high standards. However, the motivational aspects of perfectionism have yet to be empirically identified. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the usefulness and psychometric properties of a new goal commitment scale by assessing commitment to perfection in seven content areas. In addition to identifying individual differences in perfectionism goal commitment, the current research also investigated the association between commitment to perfectionism and trait indices of perfectionism. A sample of 261 students rated degree of commitment to perfectionistic goals and completed two multidimensional perfectionism scales that assess the personal and social aspects of perfectionism. Analyses confirmed the presence of individual differences in perfectionism goal commitment. Correlational tests revealed that the trait perfectionism dimensions were correlated with the goal commitment measure, but the findings varied as a function of the specific perfectionism goal. Overall, the current data are consistent with the view that the perfectionism construct has a salient motivational component. Our findings suggest that the assessment of goal commitment is a useful means of examining specific facets of the perfectionism construct.     

The concurrent validity of child Rorschach interpretations

Rorschach records were obtained by 10 examiners from 59 preschool children. These records were reliably scored and interpreted. Interpretation consisted of preparing a list of Rorschach concepts for each child. An additional number of Rorschach concepts of equal frequency in this sample were added to each child's list of concepts. Half of the concepts on each child's list were checked for agreement by school personnel. The children were described with consistency across judges and over time by the same judges. The school personnel were able to differentiate concepts that described each child from nonrelevant concepts. The Rorschach concepts provided data that was validated by teacher perception of these children. This methodology for Rorschach validation makes use of interpretive concepts derived directly from data rather than from reports.     

Ruminations on teaching projective assessment: an ideology, specific usages, teaching practices

Summary: This paper was written in reaction to current dissatisfaction with projective techniques. A credo for use of projective techniques emphasizes accountability, phenomeno-logical equality, and an eventual "giving-away" of assessment procedures through education. The primary legitimate usage is nonpsychometric; an interview focused on growth in various contexts. Secondary usages include examples of procedural or methodological effects to provide specific information. Training practices germane to the credo and legitimate usages are presented.     

Social approval and helping

An experiment was conducted to examine the role played by social approval as an incentive for helping behavior. After filling out the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, 95 female undergraduates were asked to make donations to a research fund under either public or private conditions. The following predictions, derived from social learning theory, were supported: (a) more money is donated under public conditions than under private conditions (p < .01), (b) more money is donated by individuals high in need for approval than those low in need for approval (p < .05), and (c) the effect of need for approval on donating is greater under public conditions than under private conditions (p < .05).