GENDER STEREOTYPES AND WOMEN'S REPORTS OF LIKING AND ABILITY IN TRADITIONALLY MASCULINE AND FEMININE OCCUPATIONS

Gender stereotypes were examined for their causal influence on women's reported liking for and perceived ability to succeed in traditionally masculine and feminine occupations. One hundred twenty-one women were assigned to either a gender-stereotype activation or filler task and then completed measures of liking for, and perceived ability to succeed in, traditionally masculine and feminine occupations. Strongly gender-identified women showed significantly greater liking for feminine occupations in the stereotype-activation condition than in the control condition. However, more weakly identified women did not show the same effect. In contrast, women weak in gender identification reported an increase in perceived ability for feminine occupations when stereotypes were activated than in the control condition. Activating gender stereotypes did not shift reported liking or perceived ability in traditionally masculine occupations. These results demonstrate the theoretical and practical importance of gender stereotypes on women's career-related attitudes.     

Measuring client-centred attitudes

The development of a Counsellor Attitude Scale is reported. Other attempts to measure client-centred attitudes are reviewed, with particular attention to reliability and validity. In the past much of the research on counsellor attitudes has been based on Porter's Test of Counsellor Attitudes. The Counsellor Attitude Scale provides another instrument for measuring client-centredness. The final version is a modification by the authors of a scale developed by Stewart in the late 1950s. With its ease of administration and scoring, the new scale may prove valuable in counsellor selection and counselling research. Since its items are based on theoretical and practical issues in client-centred counselling, the scale is also useful for counsellor training. Data on reliability and validity are reviewed, and sample items from the Counsellor Attitude Scale are provided.     

Food, mood, and attitude: reducing risk for eating disorders in college women.

Food, Mood, and Attitude (FMA) is a CD-ROM prevention program developed to decrease risk for eating disorders in college women. Female 1st-year students (N = 240) were randomly assigned to the intervention (FMA) or control group. Equal numbers of students at risk and of low risk for developing an eating disorder were assigned to each condition. Participants in the FMA condition improved on all measures relative to controls. Significant 3-way interactions (Time x Condition x Risk Status) were found on measures of internalization of sociocultural attitudes about thinness, shape concerns, and weight concerns, indicating that at-risk participants in the intervention group improved to a greater extent than did low-risk participants. At follow-up, significantly fewer women in the FMA group reported overeating and excessive exercise relative to controls.     

Teaching Sizeism: Integrating Size into Multicultural Education and Clinical Training

Abstract

Multicultural education, training, and practice have traditionally focused primarily on race/ethnicity with gradual inclusion of gender, sexual orientation, social class, and age. Issues of size, which intersects with racism, sexism, and classism, have been notably absent from diversity discussions. Psychologists have typically framed size issues around obesity and adopted a medicalized, individualized perspective that belies data that show traditional approaches to weight management, such as dieting and exercise, are largely ineffective and non-maintainable. Here, we offer a rationale for including body size as an issue relevant to a multicultural curriculum. Strategies for training psychologists and therapists are delineated.     

Psychosocial and health consequences of adolescent depression in Black and White young adult women.

Depression in adolescent girls may result in negative consequences in young adulthood. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) was administered to 1,727 Black and White girls ages 16 to 18 years who participated in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Growth and Health Study. Three years later, women in the depressed groups were more likely to be current smokers, had attained a lower level of education, and reported lower self-worth relative to the nondepressed group. Body dissatisfaction, eating concerns, and loneliness were greater in the depressed groups. Relative to Black women, White women who were moderately depressed during adolescence reported more health care services utilization in young adulthood. Prevention efforts for depressed adolescents should be broadly focused to improve young adult outcomes.