Is it just me,or was that sexist? The role of sexism type and perpetrator race in identifying sexism

ABSTRACT

Despite sexism occurring frequently, people often do not identify it as such. Using a vignette design, the current project explored whether sexism was identified at a different rate and intensity depending on the specific form of sexism enacted (hostile or benevolently sexist behavior) and race (Black or White) of the man perpetrating sexist behaviors. When a Black man engaged in a benevolently (paternalistic) sexist behavior he was perceived as more sexist than a White man. However, White and Black men were perceived similarly when they engaged in a hostile (overtly negative and derogatory) sexist behavior. Overall, female participants identified sexism more often and viewed it as more sexist than male participants did, especially in the context of benevolent sexism. These findings suggest there are significant effects of perceiver gender and perpetrator race in the perception of sexism. This demonstrates the importance of examining both race- and gender-based discrimination together.     

Contextual questions prevent mood primes from maintaining experimentally induced dysphoria

We investigated the effects of questions designed to increase a wider awareness of the context in which moods occur on mood-maintaining primes in induced dysphoria. These questions were incorporated, with the primes (negative Velten mood induction statements) into a scrambled sentence task. In Study 1, contextual questions produced a significantly greater reduction in despondency compared to control questions. Study 2 replicated this finding and also demonstrated that contextual questions reduced corrugator EMG response to repeated despondency-inducing statements. The results indicate that contextual questions can prevent negative primes from maintaining depressed mood, consistent with Brewin's (1989) suggestion that one mechanism of psychotherapy is reducing the activation of situationally accessible negative representations.     

Mental health past age fifty: A growing specialty in psychotherapy

With the over-50 cohort becoming a major proportion of the population, the special needs and problems of this group call for special skills and knowledge on the part of psychotherapists involved with them. Not only are stage-related developmental considerations a factor, but repressed fears of physical depletion, failure to achieve life goals, and the ultimate reality of death all play a significant part, in therapists as well as patients. These need to be dealt with through exploration and confrontation.