Gender differences in anger and fear as a function of situational context

Gender differences in the reported intensity of anger and fear toward hypothetical males and females were explored in three age groups (6–12 year olds, 14–16 year olds, and adults over 30) located in two different geographic areas. The samples were primarily Caucasian and included a wide range of socioeconomic groups. Subjects reported on the intensity of feelings elicited by characters in an emotion story task in which three aspects of situational context were varied: the gender of the story characters eliciting the feeling (all situations), the stereotypic gender-typed or cross-gender behavior of the eliciting character (four situations), and the affective quality of the situations (four situations). Across all three age groups, situations that were frightening, anger-provoking, or that depicted stereotypic male-negative behavior elicited the most consistent subject gender and character gender differences in reported fear and anger. Relative to males, females of all ages reported more fear in frightening, anger-producing, and male-negative stereotypic situations. Males were reported to be more frightening and anger-producing than were females in those same situations. The data also suggested that with development, females reported less intense fear of females, while males reported less intense fear of males.This research was supported by a Gender Roles grant from the Rockefeller Foundation. We appreciate their support. We would also like to thank the public school systems of Milton, Norwood, and Watertown, Massachusetts, and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Finally, we would like to thank Lance Davidow, John Houlihan, and Theodore Cross for statistical consultation and/or computer programming, as well as all the parents, children, and adolescents who participated in the study.     

Political Contacts: Analyzing the Role of Similarity in Theories of Prejudice

Over the last 50 years, many theories of prejudice reduction in social psychology have embraced the premise that intergroup contact allows people to recognize similarities between themselves, and that this perceived similarity overwhelms the social distance associated with intergroup antipathy. Given the mixed empirical evidence, however, we suggest that the positive effects of perceived similarity have been overemphasized. Although similarity may be sufficient for improved intergroup relations, the relationship between similarity and intergroup relations is far more complex than the literature usually suggests. Moreover, studying difference in intergroup contexts may yield new ways to resolve intergroup conflict and address group inequalities.     

A Survey of Genetic Counselors' Use of Informed Consent Documents for Prenatal Genetic Counseling Sessions

Thirty six members of the Prenatal Diagnosis Special Interest Group of the National Society of Genetic Counselors were interviewed about their use of informed consent documents for the genetic counseling component of their prenatal genetic counseling sessions and their perceptions of the utility and feasibility of such documents. Major findings include (1) None of the genetic counselors currently used a consent document describing the genetic counseling component of the session itself; (2) Only three participants stated that they had ever used an informed consent document for this component of the session; (3) They disagreed about the importance and usefulness of such a document; (4) There was variability in their reported likelihood of using a document if one were available; (5) There was a fair amount of agreement about the types of information to include on an informed consent document for genetic counseling; over half of the sample endorsed 8 of 10 topics; and (6) Participants identified 10 obstacles to using such a document. Recommendations for genetic counseling practice, policy, and research are given.     

Meta-analysis of the relationship between risk perception and health behavior: the example of vaccination.

BACKGROUND: Risk perceptions are central to many health behavior theories. However, the relationship between risk perceptions and behavior, muddied by instances of inappropriate assessment and analysis, often looks weak. METHOD: A meta-analysis of eligible studies assessing the bivariate association between adult vaccination and perceived likelihood, susceptibility, or severity was conducted. RESULTS: Thirty-four studies met inclusion criteria (N = 15,988). Risk likelihood (pooled r = .26), susceptibility (pooled r = .24), and severity (pooled r = .16) significantly predicted vaccination behavior. The risk perception-behavior relationship was larger for studies that were prospective, had higher quality risk measures, or had unskewed risk or behavior measures. CONCLUSIONS: The consistent relationships between risk perceptions and behavior, larger than suggested by prior meta-analyses, suggest that risk perceptions are rightly placed as core concepts in theories of health behavior.     

Emotions and preventive health behavior: worry, regret, and influenza vaccination.

The role of worry, regret, and perceived risk in preventive health decisions was explored in a longitudinal questionnaire study on influenza vaccination among 428 university employees. The study yielded 3 main findings. First, ratings of anticipated worry and regret were stronger predictors of vaccination than perceived risk and mediated the effect of risk on vaccination. Second, the anticipated level of emotions differed systematically from experienced emotions, such that vaccinated individuals anticipated more regret and less worry than they actually experienced. Third, anticipated and experienced emotions had implications for subsequent vaccination decisions. Those who did not vaccinate in the 1st year but had high levels of worry and regret were likely to be vaccinated the following year.     

Ethnicity and Gender Stereotypes of Emotion

In three studies we investigated gender stereotypes of emotions among four ethnic groups in the U.S., using persons from these groups as informants about their own groups. European Americans’ reports of stereotypes were compared to those of African Americans (Study 1), Hispanic Americans (Study 2), and Asian Americans (Study 3). The examination of group differences was interpreted based on variations across ethnicities in norms concerning emotional expression and gender roles. Overall, gender stereotypes of emotion were evident among all ethnic groups studied, but European Americans’ gender stereotypes were the most gender differentiated. For example, European American stereotypes held that men express more pride than women do, but African Americans’ stereotypes of pride for men and women did not differ. Similarly, whereas among European Americans, women were stereotyped to express much more love than men do, the gender difference was smaller among Hispanic Americans and Asian Americans. These different norms may pose challenges for inter-cultural interactions, and they point to the importance of considering both gender and ethnicity simultaneously in the study of emotions.     

Training paraprofessionals to use behavioral strategies when educating learners with autism spectrum disorders across environments

Although the use of paraprofessionals in the education of young children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is a common practice, research on effective training procedures is scarce. The following study used a multiple‐baseline design across settings replicated by five paraprofessionals to evaluate their use of behavioral strategies with young children with, or at risk for, autism spectrum disorder. A training package consisting of a workshop and performance feedback by their supervising special education teacher served as the intervention. Results revealed that even though the paraprofessionals demonstrated skills in the use of behavioral strategies at the workshop, there was either no transfer or generalization to the preschool or home environments where they worked, or their use of skills decreased over time. When performance feedback was provided to all participants, their correct use of strategies increased. The training model evaluated in this study provides an example of one that could be employed in a typical public school classroom or early intervention program. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Retroactive semantic priming in a lexical decision task

The present study reports two experiments that required subjects to name target items preceded by a masked prime. Additionally, and subsequent to the naming task, subjects were required to indicate whether or not the prime was a word, along with a confidence rating of their lexical decision. Experiment 1 demonstrates that the processing of masked primes is facilitated by related targets when such targets are presented either 100 or 200 msec after the onset of the prime. Experiment 2 extends the finding of “retroactive” priming to a 1000=msec separation in prime-target presentation (SOA). The extent of retroactive priming is not dependent on SOA between prime and target, nor is it affected by the prime-mask SOA, which varied from 10 to 180 msec. Priming of targets was also independent of prime-target and prime-mask SOA, providing that primes had been classified as words. For word primes classified as non-words there was no semantic priming on target naming reaction time. Implications of these findings with respect to the nature of retroactive priming and the current controversy concerning subliminal priming effects were discussed.