Are Women Perceived as Engaging in More Maladaptive Worry Than Men? A Status Interpretation

Studies 1 and 2 addressed people's perceptions of women's and men's overall maladaptive worry. In Study 1, participants rated how they perceive women's and men's worry in general. In Study 2, participants rated the worry of either a woman or a man whom they know well. As expected in both studies, participants perceived women as experiencing more maladaptive worry than men. A second objective was to compare people's perceptions of women's and men's worry to their perceptions of low- and high-status individuals' worry to determine if a status model can account for the perception that women worry more than men. In Study 3, participants were presented a minimal instantiation of status (Conway, Pizzamiglio, & Mount, 1996). As expected, participants perceived low-status individuals as experiencing more maladaptive worry than high-status individuals. Findings are discussed in terms of gender stereotypes and theoretical models of gender.     

A Test of Evolutionary and Sociocultural Explanations of Reactions to Sexual Harassment

Although the field of evolutionary psychology has been perceived to generate predictions that are untestable, one potentially falsifiable prediction of the evolutionary approach is that women should be less upset by unwanted sexual advances from high than from low status men. Three experiments tested this hypothesis within a workplace and an academic setting. Across the first two experiments, women and men were actually more upset by perceived sexual harassment from higher than lower status members of the other sex. Results of Study 3 suggested that women only showed this difference when there was a power relationship involved. These results conflict with the evolutionary prediction and support a sociocultural explanation of reactions to sexual harassment; that is, that they are influenced by power differentials.     

Solo status, stereotype threat, and performance expectancies: Their effects on women’s performance

Women working in male-dominated environments may find themselves to be the only woman present, and that negative stereotypes about women persist in the environment. This experiment tested women’s performance in solo status (SS: being the only woman present) and under stereotype threat (ST: when women are stereotyped as poor performers). White male and female participants (157) learned information, then tested on it in an opposite-gender (SS) or same-gender group (nonsolo). In addition, the information was described as being traditional math material (ST) or a type of math information impervious to gender stereotypes (no threat). Women performed more poorly in SS than nonsolos, and under ST than no threat. Experiencing both factors was more detrimental to women’s performance than experiencing one or the other. Men’s performance was the same across all conditions. Performance expectancies partially mediated the effect of SS, but not ST, on performance.     

Following slower drivers: Lead driver status moderates driver’s anger and behavioural responses and exonerates culpability

Two experiments investigated the effects of lead-driver status on the anger-experienced and aggression-expressed in traffic scenarios in which the lead drivers’ actions were determined by an event obviously beyond, or within, their control. Experiment I contrasted reactions to lead-cars bearing Learner driver markings (Low Status) or similar unmarked cars (Control), while Experiment II contrasted reactions to Ambulances (High Status) or otherwise identical generic work vans (Control). Reported anger, heart-rate and behaviour were measured while drivers drove. When the lead vehicle slowed or changed course because of the actions of another road user, drivers were reliably more angered when slowed by a learner driver than an unmarked sedan. Drivers reported less anger when slowed by an Ambulance, than by a work van, when there was no apparent cause for the lead-vehicle slowing. Driver behaviour also differed according to lead-vehicle status. Drivers allowed greater headway between themselves and a slower ambulance, but drove closer to the work-van, and followed Learner drivers at a dangerously close distance, leaving greater headway behind a similar, unmarked car. Reliable differences in subjective anger ratings and behaviour suggest that anger experienced and expressed depends not just on the actions of the perpetrator but on the perceived status of that perpetrator. Higher status vehicles appear to be forgiven their indiscretions more readily even when there are no extenuating circumstances, whilst lower status drivers are likely to be blamed more readily for circumstances beyond their control.     

An empirical analysis of the characteristics of drivers who are ticketed for traffic offences

This study uses a unique individual-level dataset that merges Israeli census data with official information on traffic tickets issued over a period of seven years in order to explore the socio-demographic characteristics of drivers who receive traffic tickets. The dataset included 409,051 drivers who received a total of 830,763 traffic tickets. The results indicate that about 60% of drivers received at least one ticket during the study period. However, drivers who received tickets were not distributed evenly in society. Of those with the most tickets, 93% were male, and half were in the youngest group of drivers studied. The effect of socioeconomic status appears to differ across different types of offenses. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Effects of perceived social support and family demands on college students' mental well‐being: A cross‐cultural investigation

The effects of perceived social support and family demands on college students' mental well‐being (perceived stress and depression) were assessed in 2 samples of Jordanian and Turkish college students. Statistically significant negative correlations were found between perceived support and mental well‐being. Multiple regression analyses showed that perceived family support was a better predictor of mental well‐being for Jordanian students, while perceived support from friends was a better predictor of mental well‐being for Turkish students. Perceived family demands were stronger predictors of mental well‐being for participants from both ethnic groups. Jordanian and Turkish participants who perceived their families to be too demanding were more likely to report higher depression and stress levels. None of the interactions between social support or family demands and either of the 2 demographic variables were statistically significant. These findings provide a more nuanced view of the relationship between social support and mental health among college students, and point to the relevance of some cultural and situational factors. They also draw further attention to the detrimental effects of unrealistic family demands and pressures on the mental health of college youths.     

Family Environments and Children's Executive Function: The Mediating Role of Children's Affective State and Stress

There is increasing evidence that inadequate family environments (family material environment and family psychosocial environment) are not only social problems but also factors contributing to adverse neurocognitive outcomes. In the present study, the authors investigated the relationship among family environments, children's naturalistic affective state, self-reported stress, and executive functions in a sample of 157 Chinese families. These findings revealed that in inadequate family material environments, reduced children's cognitive flexibility is associated with increased naturalistic negative affectivity and self-reported stress. In addition, naturalistic negative affectivity mediated the association between family expressiveness and children's cognitive flexibility. The authors used a structural equation model to examine the mediation model hypothesis, and the results confirmed the mediating roles of naturalistic negative affectivity and self-reported stress between family environments and the cognitive flexibility of Chinese children. These findings indicate the importance of reducing stress and negative emotional state for improving cognitive functions in children of low socioeconomic status.     

Belief Reasoning and Emotion Understanding in Balanced Bilingual and Language-Dominant Mexican American Young Children

Belief reasoning and emotion understanding were measured among 102 Mexican American bilingual children ranging from 4 to 7 years old. All children were tested in English and Spanish after ensuring minimum comprehension in each language. Belief reasoning was assessed using 2 false and 1 true belief tasks. Emotion understanding was measured using subtests from the Test for Emotion Comprehension. The influence of family background variables of yearly income, parental education level, and number of siblings on combined Spanish and English vocabulary, belief reasoning, and emotion understanding was assessed by regression analyses. Age and emotion understanding predicted belief reasoning. Vocabulary and belief reasoning predicted emotion understanding. When the sample was divided into language-dominant and balanced bilingual groups on the basis of language proficiency difference scores, there were no significant differences on belief reasoning or emotion understanding. Language groups were demographically similar with regard to child age, parental educational level, and family income. Results suggest Mexican American language-dominant and balanced bilinguals develop belief reasoning and emotion understanding similarly.     

All employees are equal,but some are more equal than others: dominance,agreeableness, and status inconsistency among men and women

Status inconsistency is a situation in which there is an objective or subjective mismatch between, for example, a person’s education and his/her income. This mismatch may transform into status enhancement, wherein rewards exceed one’s human capital, or into status detraction, wherein one’s human capital exceeds one’s rewards. Although status inconsistency affects employees’ attitudes and behaviours, little is known about individual differences in this variable. The current study investigates whether the relationships of agreeableness and dominance—with objective and subjective status inconsistency vary by gender. We analysed objective and subjective input and return statuses among a sample of 375 employees. We found that men who expressed a gender-non-congruent trait, namely agreeableness, experienced an objective backlash effect compared with dominant men, whereas women who expressed a gender-non-congruent trait, namely dominance, did not experience a backlash effect compared with agreeable women. In addition, our results show that agreeable employees, both men and women, perceive themselves as status-enhanced when in fact they are not. Finally, we show that objective status inconsistency mediates the relationships of agreeableness and dominance with subjective status inconsistency.     

The perceived value of team players: a longitudinal study of how group identification affects status in work groups

Theory and research on status attainment in work groups primarily focuses on members’ abilities and characteristics that make them appear competent as predictors of their status in the group. We complement the abilities perspective with a social identity perspective by arguing that another important determinant of a member’s status is based on the extent to which the member serves the group’s interests. Specifically, we assert that a member’s identification with the group affects performance on behalf of the group, which in turn affects other members’ assessment of the member’s status. We test this social identity perspective on status attainment by studying the influence of members’ group identification on their performance and status in the group, while controlling for the members’ abilities and status characteristics. In a three-wave longitudinal field study following 33 work groups during a six-month group project, we find that members’ identification enhances their performance on behalf of the group, which in turn increases their status within the group. As such, our study advances insights in the determinants of status attainment in work groups and points to the relevance of the social identity approach for research on the antecedents of status in work groups.