Gender and Mathematical Problem Solving

The relationship between gender and mathematical problem-solving among high ability students depends on the attributes of the problem solving questions. This was evident in the present study of 12-year-olds. The children were from predominately White families. Eighty-three males and 76 females were tested in both the fall and the spring on the Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitudes Scales and on the Canadian Test of Basic Skills (CTBS). In the Spring, students were also tested on the GAUSS. Both the CTBS and the GAUSS measure mathematical problem solving. Among high ability students, there were gender differences on the problem-solving scale of the CTBS but not on the GAUSS, even though the GAUSS was independently rated as the more abstract and difficult of the two tests. The present study describes the implications of this for the question of the origin of gender differences in mathematics, and also looked at the relationship between attitudes toward mathematics and mathematical problem-solving performance.     

Gender and Ethnic Differences in Obesity-Related Behaviors and Attitudes In a College Sample

This study looked at gender and Black/White differences for a number of variables related to attitudes toward obesity in a sample of 650 college students. The overall stereotypes of overweight persons were both negative and unrelated to subjects' own degree of obesity, although individuals reported that their personal views were less negative than those of others.
Women indicated greater concern with obesity than men in several ways, and the societal stereotype of an overweight woman was seen as more negative than that of an overweight man. Men were more concerned about a date's weight than women, and White women's weight (unlike that of other subgroups) was negatively related to their likelihood and frequency of dating. Although Blacks, particularly Black females, were heavier than Whites, they were more satisfied with their body shape. Black males were less likely than White males to have refused to date someone because of her weight, and Blacks personally considered overweight women to be more attractive, sexier, less ugly, and less sloppy than did Whites. The findings suggest that both gender and ethnicity should be considered when discussing people's attitudes towards obesity and the consequences of such attitudes.     

Assessing dissimulation and denial on the MMPI in a sample of maximum security, male inmates

Comparisons were made between three groups of maximum security inmates thought to possess varying degrees of motivation to either exaggerate or suppress psychiatric symptomatology in their Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) self-report. A group of individuals requesting single-cell placement (the group hypothesized to be motivated to exaggerate symptomatology) were found to score significantly higher on Scale F, the F-K Index, and a number of special MMPI scales (i.e., D-O, Hy-O, Pd-O, Pa-O, Ma-O, Dissimulation Scale, total number of Obvious Items, O:S Ratio) and significantly lower on scales K, Hy-S, Ma-S, and the total number of Subtle items relative to inmates undergoing parole evaluations (denial condition) or entering group therapy (neutral condition). Differences between the parole and group therapy conditions were relatively small, with only D-O, Hy-O, and the Dissimulation Scale producing statistically significant results. These findings tend to support use of the MMPI in assessing a respondent's test-taking attitude, particularly in cases where the subject is attempting to exaggerate psychiatric symptomatology.     

Differentiation of girls at risk of early pregnancy from the general population of adolescents

The purpose of this study was to examine two psychological characteristics (locus of control and purpose in life) that have been associated with early pregnancy. The characteristics were examined first in samples drawn from a general population of adolescents and then in samples of ever-pregnant and never-pregnant adolescents. Ever-pregnant girls differed neither from the general population of adolescents nor from the matched sample of never-pregnant girls on the two psychological dimensions. Alternatives for conceptualizing risk are proposed.