Neosexism Among Male Managers: Is It a Matter of Numbers?1

In the last 2 decades, the number of women entering the managerial field has increased. However, this increase has not been equally distributed at all levels. The interest of this study lies in understanding how this sudden surge of women in managerial fields and their unequal distribution across levels are associated with men's reactions toward women. Do men feel threatened by the introduction of women as their coworkers, and if so does this change trigger prejudicial views of women? In all, 123 male managers employed in a Canadian federal agency participated in this study. According to the final path model, as the estimate of the representation of female managers increases, so does male managers' feeling of threat. Feeling threatened along with the estimate of an increase of new female recruits is linked to heightened neosexist views. In turn, neosexism is related to a pro-male bias in the evaluation of women's and men's competence. Additionally, neosexism is negatively associated with men's willingness to support women. Theoretical as well as practical implications of results are discussed.     

Length of union as a moderator of the relationship between personality and dyadic adjustment

Recent researches have examined the contribution of personality traits to the prediction of dyadic adjustment but, for some traits, the emerging picture is somewhat inconsistent. This study sought to contribute to this body of literature by investigating the moderator role of union length in the relationship between the two variables. Two hundred and twenty-six couples completed, along with a demographic questionnaire, the NEO Five-Factor Inventory and the Dyadic Adjustment Scale. Hierarchical regression analyses, in which conjugal status and age were partialled out, showed that, for women, the effect of neuroticism and openness varies linearly with respect to length of relationship. More specifically, as the length of the relationship increases, the effect of women’s neuroticism on their own dyadic adjustment (i.e., global score, dyadic satisfaction, and affectional expression) becomes more negative. In addition, while women’s openness is positively related to their own dyadic adjustment (i.e., global score, dyadic satisfaction and dyadic consensus) for women in recent conjugal relationships, the influence is negative for those in longer relationships. The moderator effect of the duration on women’s openness also applies to the prediction of their partner’s dyadic adjustment.     

The role of body-esteem in predicting disordered eating symptoms: A comparison of French aesthetic athletes and non-athletic females

ObjectivesTo explore the relative contributions of self-esteem, body-esteem components and body mass index to disordered eating in aesthetic female athletes and non-athletic females and specifically to determine if the body-esteem components are risk factors for disordered eating.MethodsOne hundred and fifty two participants, of which 61 rhythmic gymnasts, 42 synchronized swimmers and a non-athletic group of 49 female college students completed the self-esteem scale, the body-esteem scale (satisfaction with general appearance, weight satisfaction and others' evaluations of one's body and appearance), the eating attitudes test, and the body mass index was computed.ResultsResults showed a strong heteroscedasticity for EAT-26 and therefore scores were modeled separately for the three groups. For rhythmic gymnasts, the final regression model only emphasizes the role of body-esteem attribution. For the synchronized swimmers, the final regression model combines two body-esteem dimensions (body-esteem for weight and body-esteem attribution) and their interaction. For the non-athletic group, the final regression model only emphasizes body-esteem for weight. Body mass index and low self-esteem were not predictive of disordered eating and no significant relationship was found between body-esteem for appearance and eating attitudes scores. The use of exploratory graphs such as graphs of conditioning and level plots provided more detailed information on the relationship between body-esteem dimensions and eating attitude scores.ConclusionsResults contributed to the growing literature on disordered eating suggesting that attention must be paid to body-esteem for weight and attribution in the understanding of disordered eating and their interaction. Future research should take into consideration the complexity of these results and use a larger sample of aesthetic athletes to elaborate on the current findings.     

Beyond Heritability: Twin Studies in Behavioral Research

ABSTRACT— The heritability of human behavioral traits is now well established, due in large measure to classical twin studies. We see little need for further studies of the heritability of individual traits in behavioral science, but the twin study is far from having outlived its usefulness. The existence of pervasive familial influences on behavior means that selection bias is always a concern in any study of the causal effects of environmental circumstances. Twin samples continue to provide new opportunities to identify causal effects with appropriate genetic and shared environmental controls. We discuss environmental studies of discordant twin pairs and twin studies of genetic and environmental transactions in this context.     

Health Behaviors and Psychological Distress in Women Initiating BRCA1/2 Genetic Testing: Comparison with Control Population

The study objective was to compare breast cancer screening practices, lifestyle behaviors and psychological distress among 640 women initiating BRCA1/2 testing to those among 9,498 similarly-aged women from the general population. Health behaviors and psychological distress were reported in a self-administered questionnaire at pre-test genetic counseling. Regression analyses indicate that high-risk women were more frequently performing breast cancer screening and, in the case of those previously diagnosed with cancer, were more likely to be non-smokers and physically active than women from general population. However, women initiating BRCA1/2 testing were significantly more distressed than controls. Globally, high-risk women seemed to be well informed about recommendations for women who are at high risk and to have access to screening adapted to their risk level. Given their significant psychological distress, providing minimal psychosocial support to all women undergoing BRCA1/2 testing at pre-test genetic counseling is relevant.     

Physical activity and sedentary lifestyle in children as time-limited functions: Usefulness of the principal component analysis method

This study was designed to examine the hourly variation in and the interplay between physical activity and sedentary behavior (SB) in order to highlight key time periods for physical activity interventions for children. Data for physical activity and SB obtained with ActiGraph in 56 boys and 47 girls aged from 8 to 11 years. These data were divided into sixty minute-time samples for moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and SB, and analyzed using a principal component analysis (PCA) and correlation statistics. The PCA provides 10 factors which account for 80.4% of the inertia. Only two of these factors did not display competition between MVPA and SB. Contrary to some reports, a coefficient of correlation of -.68 (p < 10(-4)) was found between daily time spent at MVPA and SB. Some salient traits of children's behaviors were shown through PCA. The results suggested that efficacy of interventions targeting the morning hours (07:00 AM-11:59 AM) and the afternoon period (02:00 PM-05:59 PM) warrants attention.