APPEARANCE SELF-ATTITUDES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN AMERICAN WOMEN: MEDIA COMPARISONS AND INTERNALIZATION OF BEAUTY IDEALS

African American (AA) women have reported less body image disturbance than European American (EA) women, but questions remain about the nature and extent of this difference. This study examined differences in the body image of 80 AA women and 89 EA women with an improved methodology that controlled for body size, distinguished between satisfaction with and importance of body features, and included nonweight (e.g., hair texture, skin color) as well as weight-related features. Results provide evidence that, in contrast to AA women, EA women (a) were more dissatisfied with both weight and specific appearance features, (b) compared themselves more often to media beauty figures and internalized Western beauty standards more, and (c) showed a significant relation between media comparisons and body dissatisfaction. Internalization of Western beauty ideals was related to body dissatisfaction in both groups of women.     

The consequences of being overweight: A controlled study of gender differences

The consequences of body weight were explored in a sample of 44 women and 40 men who were matched for body size on the basis of judges' ratings and height-weight proportions. Results indicated that the condition of being overweight had a more negative effect on women than on men: Average-weight subjects showed a preference for thin women but not for thin men; the condition of being overweight negatively affected the quantity and quality of women's relationships with men, but had little effect on men's relationships with women; overweight negatively affected the self-attitudes of all subjects, but particularly those of women. Furthermore, average-weight and, particularly, overweight women showed more concern regarding their body size than either average or overweight men. These findings were interpreted in terms of prevailing sex role pressures and expectations.We gratefully acknowledge the help of Alice Carpenter in planning this study and the help of Peggy Nevils during the data-gathering phase of the study.     

Predicting reactions to everyday events from measures of self-esteem

The responses of 47 women and 43 men to everyday social and achievement events were gathered for a three-week time period Subjects' self-ratings of competence and performance following achievement events were positively related to their scores on the Performance-Self-Esteem Scale (PSES) More positive and consistent relationships between subjects' responses and PSES scores were found among subjects scoring low on a social self-esteem measure (SSES) than among subjects scoring high on the SSES Similarly, SSES level was positively related to subjects' responses to social events only among subjects scoring low on the PSES The importance of using sets of specific self-esteem measures for exploring subjects' reactions to everyday events is discussed     

THE LONG-TERM IMPACT OF WOMEN'S STUDIES ON STUDENTS'PERSONAL LIVES AND POLITICAL ACTIVISM

Stake, Roades, Rose, Ellis, and West (1994) reported that women's studies classes led to more feminist activism and greater personal courserelated changes than nonwomen's studies classes. The present study tested the durability of the positive changes observed in women studies students 9 months following the last week of class. Comparisons between students who participated at follow-up (26.3%) and students who did not participate indicated that the follow-up participants were representative of all students who completed the courses. In the follow-up sample, class impact reported in the last week of class was sustained at follow-up. Women's studies students continued to report substantial changes in their interactions with others and willingness to adopt new roles and behaviors. Ratings of positive effects were significantly higher than ratings of negative effects ( p < .0001). Students'responses indicated they were using their women's studies learning as a framework for understanding their experiences and making lifestyle changes.     

Adolescent Girls’ and Boys’ Science Peer Relationships and Perceptions of the Possible Self as Scientist

Girls tend to have less peer support for their science interests than do boys, which may contribute to gender differences in science motivation. The effect of science peer relationships on adolescents visions of their possible personal future lives as scientists was studied in 161 female and 163 male gifted high school students who participated in summer science enrichment programs. Student reports of having positive science peer relationships were associated with more positive expectations of the possible personal self as scientist prior to the programs, and both program-related and nonprogram-related science peer relationships were associated with changes in the possible self at posttesting and at 6 month follow-up. These relations held for both male and female students. At follow-up, girls reported a stronger social niche with fellow program participants and stronger science peer relationships than did boys. Implications of the findings are discussed within the larger gendered societal context for science achievement.     

The effect of race,sex, and career goal differences on sex role attitudes at home and at work

Male and female blacks and whites whose career goals differed as to sex role stereotypy were administered two sex role inventories. One measured attitudes toward women's expanding sex roles in the home/personal environment, while the other measured sex role attitudes in the working environment. The major finding of the present study is that black women had more traditional sex role attitudes in the home environment than white women but the same sex role attitudes about working, whereas both black and white women were more liberal in their sex role attitudes in both environments than black and white men.     

A jackknife test of homogeneity of variance with paired replicates data

A nonparametric test of dispersion with paired replicates data is described which involves jackknifing logarithmic transformations of the ratio of variance estimates for the pre- and post-treatment populations. Results from a Monte Carlo simulation show that the test performs well underH _o and has good power properties. Examples are given of applying the procedure on psychiatric data.A referee called our attention to valuable references which related to our work, and he suggested the inclusion of competing jackknife procedures into our studies.     

On the use of global and specific measures in assessing the self-esteem of males and females

General measures of self-esteem have often been unsuccessful in predicting specific behaviors or self-reports, particularly those of female subjects. To explore this problem, this study examined the relationship between a general measure of self-esteem and specific measures of agentic and communal self-esteem in a sample of 79 female and 97 male undergraduates. Three agentic measures were found to account for a greater proportion of the variance in general self-esteem scores of males (51%) than of females (33%). This difference was accentuated when traditionally sex-typed subjects were compared separately; the percentages for these groups were 45% for masculine males and 14% for feminine females. Differences between male and female subjects regarding the communal measure were small and nonsignificant. Implications for sex typing and the measurement of self-esteem are considered.