Gender and Leadership: A Frame Analysis of University Home Web Page Images

With calls for (business) leaders to contribute to greater global fairness and social justice (BAWB 2006; Maak and Pless Journal of Business Ethics, 88, 537–550, 2009), this paper considers gender equality on University home web page images as one means of communicating equal access to leadership roles for both men and women. Although there are many paths for leadership development, one important purpose of Universities is to create people who will potentially become leaders in our society (Shapiro 2005). We analyzed the home web pages at 24 leading universities to identify implicit messages about gender roles, building on implicit leadership theory and leadership prototypes. Using an adapted version of Goffman’s frame analysis (1979), our results suggest depiction of gender equality in university home web pages, in contrast to studies of print advertisements (cf., Kang Sex Roles, 37(11/12), 979–996, 1997; Lindner Sex Roles, 51(7/8), 409–421, 2004). Our results also identify specific opportunities to depict greater equity and to continue to expand the potential for both women and men to be seen as being capable and belonging on this leadership path.     

Power and the creation of patronizing environments: the stereotype-based behaviors of the powerful and their effects on female performance in masculine domains

This work tested the following hypothesis: When powerful men stereotype their female subordinates in masculine domains, they behave in patronizing ways that affect the performance of their subordinates. Experiment 1 examined the stereotyping tendencies and patronizing behaviors of the powerful. Findings revealed that powerful men who stereotyped their female subordinates (i.e., those who were weakness focused) gave female subordinates few valued resources but much praise. In Experiment 2, low-power participants received resources (valued or devalued positions) and praise (high or low) from a powerful man. Subordinates who were assigned to a devalued position but received high praise (i.e., the patronizing behavior mirrored from Experiment 1) were angry. However, men performed better in the anger-inspiring situation, whereas women performed worse.     

Priming trait inferences through pictures and moving pictures: the impact of open and closed mindsets

A newly developed paradigm for studying spontaneous trait inferences (STI) was applied in 3 experiments. The authors primed dyadic stimulus behaviors involving a subject (S) and an object (O) person through degraded pictures or movies. An encoding task called for the verification of either a graphical feature or a semantic interpretation, which either fit or did not fit the primed behavior. Next, participants had to identify a trait word that appeared gradually behind a mask and that either matched or did not match the primed behavior. STI effects, defined as shorter identification latencies for matching than nonmatching traits, were stronger for S than for O traits, after graphical rather than semantic encoding decisions and after encoding failures. These findings can be explained by assuming that trait inferences are facilitated by open versus closed mindsets supposed to result from distracting (graphical) encoding tasks or encoding failures (involving nonfitting interpretations).     

Group psychology in the totalitarian system: A psychoanalytic view

The author discusses the ideas of three important psychoanalytic thinkers about group processes in large social groups: Sigmund Freud, Wilfred Bion, and Erich Fromm. Their ideas are developed and applied to analysis of group processes in totalitarian systems, as they were known to the author in Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union. In conclusion, treatment considerations as they apply to patients who grew up in these regimes are developed and illustrated by clinical cases.This paper is dedicated to Dr. Alexander Wolf, who made his groups growth-promoting, free and holding environments.The author wants to thank Valerie Angel, M.S.W., Eva Papiasvili, Ph.D., Susan Kavaler, Ph.D., Maria Luisa Bastos, Ph.D., and Nancy Smith for their support, critical commentary, and helpful suggestions.     

The school psychologist in evaluating educational programs

A discussion of school psychology practice is presented, with emphasis on school programs rather than on individuals. While pressures exist to continue emphasizing the individual as the unit of study, current literature in evaluation theory and community psychology suggest a more viable model for the practice of school psychology. The learning process as it occurs in school programming is discussed, illustrating potential sources of involvement for school psychologists in effecting change in education. It is suggested that school psychologists, operating from a framework of evaluation theory, are well suited to be evaluators of school programs.     

Preference for information about intensity of signaled tailshock

Three experiments are reported which were designed to demonstrate preference for signaled shock and to delineate the roles of the preparatory-response, information-seeking, and signaled-safety hypotheses of this phenomenon. Experiment 1 demonstrated a preference for a signal-tailshock condition over a tailshock-signal condition in a shuttlebox. In Experiment 3, rats were exposed to signaled tailshock of two intensities in both compartments of the shuttlebox, but in one compartment the signals provided information about the intensity of the impending tailshock, whereas in the other compartment the signals did not. The tailshock intensities were .6 and 1.3 mA for one group and .6 and 1.8 mA for a second group. Experiment 2 assured that even the smaller intensity difference was readily discriminable. For Group .6-1.8 a significant preference for the condition in which the signals predicted the intensity of the impending tailshocks was obtained, but no preference for either condition was found for Group .6-1.3. As signaled safety was equated in the two compartments of Experiment 3, the observed preference cannot be accounted for by the signaled-safety hypothesis. Information seeking cannot explain the lack of preference in Group .6-1.3 as the difference between those two intensities was proven discriminable in Experiment 2. Assuming that sufficient differences in shock intensity yield different preparatory responses, the present results are compatible with the preparatory-response hypothesis and suggest that preparatory responding plays a role in producing the preference for signaled shock.     

A Qualitative Study of Feminist Multicultural Trainees’ Social Justice Development

Social justice–oriented development was examined by recruiting practicum trainees from a site selected for its unique emphasis on feminist multiculturalism and social justice. The grounded theory design triangulated multiple data from 20 female participants. Analysis yielded an empirical model of how core experiences contributed to 3 types of growth: (a) doing your own work, (b) honoring your voice and others’ voices, and (c) challenging power to create systemic change. Counseling, supervision, and training implications are provided.     

The Impact of Parent Empowerment in Children’s Mental Health Services on Parenting Stress

Emotional and behavioral (EB) problems in children are associated with increased perceptions of strain in parenting. Among children receiving services, parenting stress has been linked to initiating services for their children, and may strain the relationship between parent and child. In contrast, parental engagement and empowerment in services is an important quality indicator for positive treatment outcomes. However, no known studies have examined the association between parent empowerment in their child’s services and their perceptions of stress related to parenting a child with significant mental health needs. Further, no studies have explored whether empowerment moderates the relationship between the child’s symptoms and parental perceptions of stress. The current study examined the impact of child EB problems and parent empowerment on parenting stress. Among a sample of 525 parents of children receiving school-based services for disruptive behavior disorders, child EB problems significantly predicted parenting stress. Parent empowerment also correlated with lower parenting stress, as hypothesized. Although parent empowerment was not found to moderate the relationship between child symptomatology and parenting stress, the relationship between parent empowerment and parenting stress differed based on child gender and age. Parent empowerment was associated with lower parenting stress more for parents of females and younger children than for parents of males and older children.