Children’s notions of the malleability of their academic competencies

This study set out to examine children’s notions of the malleability of their academic competencies and the relations of these notions to the child’s grade-level and gender and the parent’s educational level. In interviews of a total of 103 boys and girls of the third and the sixth grade, children of academically and vocationally educated parents were asked to rate their potential for improving their competencies in mathematics and Finnish. The children were asked to use intrapersonal and normative criteria in their ratings. The ratings were found to form distinct domains of the notions of malleability, as they did not correlate with each other. The children’s ratings of their current competencies, i.e. their academic self-concepts, turned out to be related to their normative ratings of the malleability of their competencies. The findings further suggested that the children’s notions of the malleability of their academic competencies became more pessimistic in the course of their school years.

Aspirations,Attainments, and Satisfaction: Life Cycle Differences Between American Women and Men

Aspirations, along with attainments, play an important role in shaping well-being. Early in adult life women are more likely than men to fulfill their material goods and family life aspirations; their satisfaction in these domains is correspondingly higher; and so too is their overall happiness. Material goods aspirations refer here to desires for a number of big-ticket consumer goods, such as a home, car, travel abroad and vacation home. In later life these gender differences turn around. Men come closer than women to fulfilling their material goods and family life aspirations, are more satisfied with their financial situation and family life, and are the happier of the two genders. An important factor underlying the turnaround in fulfillment of aspirations for material goods and family life is probably the shift over the course of the life cycle in the relative proportion of women and men in marital and non-marital unions.     

Similitudes et différences de perceptions chez des salariés hommes et femmes

This study investigates men and women perceptions in the work, accros the relations between work conditions and job satisfaction. Similarity and difference are questionned about the mean dimensions of the work conditions (factor analysis) as well as the prédictive value of theses dimensions for the job satisfaction (regression analysis). In the same point of view, similarity and difference are analysed about health, importance of life domains and work-family interferences. Men and women seem to organize in the same way work conditions. Three factors are retained (Relations with superiors, Development and autonomy, Work intensity), wich the first two predict job satisfaction, for the men and the women. Nevertheless we note some differences, both about the force of the prediction and about specific item. Results and and futur works are discussed.     

Age and Gender Differences in Adaptation and Subjective Well-being of Older Adults Residing in Monastic Religious Communities

The purpose of this study was to explore age and gender differences in the adaptation and well-being of older adults residing in Catholic monasteries. Participants included 235 members, age 64 and older, from the Order of St. Benedict. 2 (Age) × 2 (Gender) analyses of variance were computed to determine significant differences. Young-old persons reported greater friendship, coping behaviors, and personal growth, however, old-old individuals reported greater engagement in religious coping and greater depression. In addition, women reported greater coping behaviors, life satisfaction, and personal growth, but men reported greater depression. The results have implications on how pastoral care providers and counselors can improve quality of life among older adults living in contemplative religious settings.     

Translation and Standardization of the Sex-Role Egalitarianism Scale (SRES-B) on a German Sample

This study presents a German-language version of the sex-role egalitarianism scale (SRES-B) L. A. King, & D. W. King, 1993]. The SRES measures a person’s attitude toward egalitarianism between women and men. It has been normed on different populations, but there was no German version of the scale. The purpose of the present study was to translate and assess the psychometric properties of the SRES-B on a German population (n=379). As expected, sex, age, and educational level affected the scores of individuals on the scale. The results of factor analyses of the domain scores and correlations of subscales demonstrate a unidimensionality of the construct. The quality of the psychometric properties of items and scale was satisfactory. Implications and future directions for research are discussed.The research was conducted as part of the author’s master thesis, while at the University of Osnabrueck, Germany.     

The gendered nature of career related learning experiences: A social cognitive career theory perspective

The learning experiences questionnaire (LEQ; Schaub & Tokar, 2005) was used to examine learning experiences as they relate to SCCT (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994) across the Holland (1997) RIASEC typology. In particular, differences in men’s and women’s career related learning experiences were examined. A sample of 319 undergraduates at a public Midwestern university completed an online survey. Gender differences were observed in reported levels of some learning experiences; similar to prior findings for self-efficacy and interests, women reported more learning experiences in the Social domain, and men reported more experiences in the Realistic and Investigative domains. Results also supported that more reported learning experiences in a given domain relate to higher self-efficacy and outcome expectations in that domain.     

Organizational career growth and subsequent voice behavior: The role of affective commitment and gender

Although research has established a connection between career growth and turnover intentions, there continues to be a need to study how employee career growth contributes positively to organizations. In the present research, we studied in particular how employees' organizational career growth is related to voice behavior. Employing theories of social exchange, organization-based self-esteem, and psychological attachment, we developed six hypotheses pertinent to this relationship, including the mediating role of affective organizational commitment and the moderating effect of gender. We tested our hypotheses using data from 328 employees in Mainland China over three time periods. As we hypothesized, we found positive relationships between the three dimensions of organizational career growth and subsequent voice behavior. Our results also verified that these relationships are partially mediated by affective organizational commitment and partially moderated by gender.     

Gender and race differences in young adults’ body dissatisfaction

Differences by gender and race (White or Black) in two aspects of college students’ body dissatisfaction—dissatisfaction with specific body parts and physique anxiety—were examined. Four hundred and ninety-one students completed surveys assessing both aspects of body dissatisfaction and eight risk factors for body dissatisfaction from biological, psychological, and sociocultural domains. Mean levels of dissatisfaction with body parts varied by gender, race, and a Gender × Race interaction. Mean levels of physique anxiety varied by gender and race. Both dissatisfaction with body parts and physique anxiety were correlated with risk factors from each domain, and factors from each domain accounted for unique variance in each aspect of body dissatisfaction. Because the prediction of each aspect of body dissatisfaction did not vary by gender, race, or a Gender × Race interaction, findings validate a general multidimensional risk model of body dissatisfaction for young adults.     

Student Ratings of a Male and Female Professors’ Lecture on Sex Discrimination in the Workforce

Using an experimental design, male (n = 41) and female (n = 46) undergraduate students in the southeastern USA evaluated an identical written lecture by a male and female professor on pay disparities between men and women in the workforce suggesting sex discrimination. Regardless of the students’ sex, the male professor and his lecture was rated more positively and less sexist than the female professor. Moderated multiple regression analysis indicated that more traditional and gender stereotypical attitudes toward women in male students were related to greater sexism ratings of the female professor compared to the male professor whereas; no differences on ratings of sexism between the male and female professor were found for male students with more liberal attitudes.