AN IDIOGRAPHIC APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF WOMEN'S ACHIEVEMENT STRIVING

Biographical interviews with 80 women ranging in age from the late teens to the 80s (Mean Age = 46.8 years; SD = 7.8 years) elicited information concerning personality characteristics that predispose women toward achievement-striving behavior, taking into account the effects of family, friends, and role models. When asked if they had ever been in a situation where they were about to succeed and feared the success, the majority of women (91 %) replied "no". A large percentage of women (96%) did report that they wonder if their achievements are worth it and asked "success at what cost?" In addition, compared to older women, younger women were more concerned with interpersonal relationships and less concerned with competitive achievement. The reality status of the fear of success construct as well as methodological advances in its measurement are discussed.     

The effect of subject's gender on judgments of similarity and choice of a comparison other

This study examined the implications for social comparison theory of the proposition that women have lower self-confidence than men when there is a socially defined standard of performance. To this end, it was hypothesized that women would judge themselves to be similar to a lower ranked person, whereas men would judge themselves to be similar to a higher ranked person. Furthermore, it was hypothesized that women would choose to see a score lower than their own, whereas men would choose to see a score higher than their own. The results on the measure of similarity indicated that men did judge themselves to be similar to a higher ranked person, whereas women showed no consistent preferences in their judgments of similarity. The results on the choice of a comparison other were not as clear-cut.     

Observer bias in scoring boys' and girls' aggression

In order to examine the possibility that the attribution of more aggression to boys may be in part a function of observer bias, 40 adults were asked in Study 1 to record the degree of aggression in a series of line drawings that showed children interacting. It was found that a significant subset of both males and females recorded more aggression for boys than for girls when they scanned scenes that showed numerous children interacting. When they rated a series of drawings of two children interacting, males rated boys as significantly more aggressive than girls. Study 2 examined 48 adults' responses under one of three instruction conditions. The findings of Study 1 were replicated. Additionally, it was found that some forms of instruction eliminate sex-typed biases while others yield significant biases among both male and female untrained observers. These results are interpreted in light of the literature on schematic processing. Implications pertaining to the socialization of aggression and to research on sex differences in aggression are discussed.     

How much and how fast: rapid processing of spoken language in later adulthood

Speech processing involves rapid decoding and construction of meaning from a transitory acoustic signal. Because older adults have been found to be slower in performing many cognitive tasks, we hypothesized that they may have difficulty in immediate recall for speech of increasing input rate. Two experiments are reported in which both older and younger participants listened to and immediately recalled sentences that were systematically varied in speech rate and number of propositions. Although recall performance of the older adults showed a disproportionate decline when speech rate was increased, older adults, as well as the younger adults, were able to recall sentences of increasing propositional densities. We also found that the tendency to recall a greater proportion of main ideas than details (the levels effect) was enhanced by increased propositional density, and depressed by increased speech rate and increased age. These results are discussed in terms of an age-related change in the rate at which information can be processed in working memory.     

Statistical analysis packages for the microcomputer: New technologies for industry

Major companies in the mainframe statistical software business have started producing powerful versions of their programs for microcomputers. Five of the leading microcomputer statistical packages are reviewed. A statistical software vendor directory is provided. These statistical packages can be used by properly trained personnel to make more reliable business decisions.     

Essential computing skills needed by psychology students seeking careers in business

This article describes some essential computer skills needed by psychology students seeking careers in business. It is suggested that students become familiar with computer software packages in the following areas: statistical analyses, wordprocessing, spreadsheets, data base managers, and graphics. Discussion is provided.Paper presented at the 57th Annual Convention of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, Illinois, May 1–3, 1985.     

Variables differentiating affective interaction in a family therapy and a control group: Father-child welfare and mother-child emergency affect

In this study of 37 pre-therapy and 23 matched control families who never sought family therapy, father-child welfare affect and mother-child emergency affect were significantly higher in the control families. Control families were found generally to express more Welfare and Emergency emotion. Affective expression between parents did not significantly differentiate the groups.This study has been supported by Grant No. MA-4510 of the Medical Research Council of Canada and was presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Psychiatric Association, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, September 1983. The authors wish to express their thanks to Toby Schwartz, Harriet Gold-Kaats, and Terry Tannenbaum-Dascal, who acted as coders and research assistants; Joseph Beltempo, BSc, who helped in the statistical analysis; and James Robbins, PhD, who gave much valuable advice.