Men who target women: specificity of target, generality of aggressive behavior

Two studies examined the effects of individual differences identified by the Confluence Model of aggression against women [Malamuth Linz, Hevey et al., 1995] and the General Aggression Model [GAM: Anderson and Carnagey, 2004] as predictors of male-on-female aggression. Study 1, a correlational study, found that hostile masculinity predicts self-reported sexual aggression independently of nonsexual aggression against women, and is itself predicted by proneness to general hostility, masculine gender role stress, and violent attitudes toward women. Furthermore, hostility toward women independently predicted sexual and nonsexual aggression against women, above the effects of general attitudes toward violence and general levels of hostility and aggression. Study 2, an experimental study, found that under high provocation, high hostility toward women predicted increases in male nonsexual aggression against women and slight decreases in male aggression against men. This effect remained significant even after controlling for general attitudes toward violence and for general levels of hostility and aggression, indicating that males who are highly hostile toward women specifically target women and that their aggression toward women generalizes beyond sexual aggression. The findings are discussed in terms of a model that integrates the Confluence Model with GAM.     

Creating your own hostile environment: a laboratory examination of trait aggressiveness and the violence escalation cycle

A dyadic interactive aggression paradigm tested hypotheses from the General Aggression Model about how trait aggressiveness can create behaviorally hostile social environments. Pairs of college student participants competed in a modified reaction time task in which they repeatedly delivered and received each other's punishments. The trait aggressiveness of both participants influenced the punishment intensities (aggression level) set by each member of the dyad on later trials. Furthermore, there was a pattern of escalation from early to later trials. These trait aggressiveness effects (both self and partner) on later aggressive behavior were largely mediated by partner aggression levels during early trials. Results also suggested two aggressive motives--hostile and instrumental--resulted from high partner aggression during early trials and these motives partially mediated the effects of trait aggressiveness and of early trial aggression on later aggressive behavior.     

Solving the credit assignment problem: explicit and implicit learning of action sequences with probabilistic outcomes

In most problem-solving activities, feedback is received at the end of an action sequence. This creates a credit-assignment problem where the learner must associate the feedback with earlier actions, and the interdependencies of actions require the learner to remember past choices of actions. In two studies, we investigated the nature of explicit and implicit learning processes in the credit-assignment problem using a probabilistic sequential choice task with and without a secondary memory task. We found that when explicit learning was dominant, learning was faster to select the better option in their first choices than in the last choices. When implicit reinforcement learning was dominant, learning was faster to select the better option in their last choices than in their first choices. Consistent with the probability-learning and sequence-learning literature, the results show that credit assignment involves two processes: an explicit memory encoding process that requires memory rehearsal and an implicit reinforcement-learning process that propagates credits backwards to previous choices.     

Being distinctive versus being conspicuous: The effects of numeric status and sex-stereotyped tasks on individual performance in groups

Being in the numeric minority (e.g., being a solo woman in a group of men) influences how well a person performs within a work group. But being the solo member is only one way in which people can be atypical in a group; a person can also represent a social or demographic category that has not typically been associated with the task that the group is working on. Using a design with four categories of group composition (minority, balanced, majority, homogeneous) and two categories of tasks (sex-typical, sex-atypical) we found that the sex composition of the group interacted with the sex typicality of the task to influence both positive deferrals by group members and individual performance in groups. But, rather than consistently reducing performance as prior research has suggested, being numerically atypical enhanced individual performance when the task was typical for that person’s sex. Further, positive deferrals mediated between the interaction of numeric composition and task typicality in influencing individual performance suggesting that both majority group members and the solo member affect one another’s performance in groups. We conclude by discussing why understanding the interplay between these two sources of stereotyping, numeric composition and task typicality, is important for understanding the social nature of individual performance in groups.     

The construct validity of three entry level personality inventories used in the UK: a cautionary case study

We report an error in “The Construct Validity of Three Entry Level Personality Inventories Used in the UK: A Cautionary Case Study” by Neil Anderson and Deniz S. Ones (European Journal of Personality, 2003, Vol. 17, S39–S66). We also alert the reader to a potential data shift of one data row in the dataset reported on in Anderson and Ones (2003) and provide an alternate table. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A novel assessment of behaviors associated with body dissatisfaction and disordered eating

The purpose of the present study was to compare response rates to questions assessing behaviors associated with body dissatisfaction and disordered eating on a standard self-report questionnaire that was nominally anonymous to an unmatched count questionnaire that allowed for true response anonymity. Five hundred sixty-seven undergraduate students were asked about disordered eating and body image-related behaviors using one of two response formats; either a conventional true-false questionnaire or an unmatched count questionnaire that did not require participants to directly respond to any sensitive questions. Both men and women had significantly different rates of endorsement between the two methods of assessment on the majority of the questions, suggesting that degree of anonymity and format of response may affect endorsements of these potentially sensitive topics. These results contribute to the existing literature highlighting the necessity of understanding self-report bias in determining accurate rates of sensitive behaviors.     

Divine Foreknowledge and Freedom of the Will: Contemporary Work Revisits Calvinism

Books reviewed: Linda Trinkaus Zagzebski, ‘Recent Work on Divine Foreknowledge and Free Will’ in Robert Kane (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Free Will Millard J. Erickson, What Does God Know and When Does He Know It?     

Gender,Age, and Rape-Supportive Rules

Social rules regarding sexual behavior indicate when sex may be desired, expected, or obligatory. Some of these rules legitimize a man's initiation of sex with a woman regardless of the woman's desires or intentions; such situations could potentially lead to rape. Middle school, high school, and university students completed a Rules About Sex Questionnaire on which they indicated the situations in which a man could assume a woman wants to have sex. The results indicated that girls and women endorsed fewer rules than did boys and men. University students endorsed the fewest rules, and middle school students endorsed the most rules. Endorsement of rules was associated with boys' and men's self-reported sexually coercive behavior and with beliefs about who should initiate sex. The findings may be useful in the design of sexual assault prevention programs for adolescents.