Risk factors of workplace bullying for men and women: The role of the psychosocial and physical work environment

Workplace bullying has been shown to be a severe social stressor at work, resulting in high costs both for the individuals and organizations concerned. The aim of this study is to analyze risk factors in a large, nationally representative sample of Finnish employees (n = 4,392). The study makes three important contributions to the existing literature on workplace bullying: first, it demonstrates the role of the physical work environment alongside the psychosocial work environment – employees with a poor physical work environment are more likely than others to report having been subjected to or having observed bullying. Second, contrary to common assumptions, the results suggest that performance‐based pay is associated with a lower, rather than higher risk of bullying. Third, the findings suggest that there are gender differences in risk factors, thereby constituting a call for more studies on the role of gender when identifying risk factors. Increased knowledge of risk factors is important as it enables us to take more effective measures to decrease the risk of workplace bullying.     

性别对工作→家庭冲突的影响机制:基于社会角色理论的实证分析

采用问卷调查法,对来自上海地区的261名企业管理者进行调查,探讨了性别与组织分割供给、工作中心度及工作→家庭冲突的关系。结果表明:⑴性别对工作→家庭冲突的预测作用显著,男性比女性经历的工作→家庭冲突更多;⑵组织分割供给和工作中心度在性别与工作→家庭冲突之间的中介效应均显著。相比女性而言,男性员工因获得的组织分割供给较少且其自身的工作中心度较高,导致其经历的工作→家庭冲突更多。     

Man,You Might Look Like a Woman—If a Child Is Next to You

Gender categorization seems prone to a pervasive bias: Persons about whom null or ambiguous gender information is available are more often considered male than female. Our study assessed whether such a male-bias is present in non-binary choice tasks and whether it can be altered by social contextual information. Participants were asked to report their perception of an adult figure’s gender in three context conditions: (1) alone, (2) passively besides a child, or (3) actively helping a child (n = 10 pictures each). The response options male, female and I don’t know were provided. As a result, participants attributed male gender to most figures and rarely used the I don’t know option in all conditions, but were more likely to attribute female gender to the same adult figure if it was shown with a child. If such social contextual information was provided in the first rather than the second block of the experiment, subsequent female gender attributions increased for adult figures shown alone. Additionally, female gender attributions for actively helping relative to passive adults were made more often. Thus, we provide strong evidence that gender categorization can be altered by social context even if the subject of gender categorization remains identical.     

Predictors of Hypersexual Behavior Among College Men and Women: Exploring Self‐Conscious Emotions

The authors examined self‐conscious emotions as predictors of hypersexual behavior among 235 college students. Among men, shame‐proneness and externalization predicted higher hypersexual behavior, whereas guilt‐proneness and detachment were associated with lower hypersexual behavior. Detachment predicted higher hypersexual behavior among women.     

‘Should I Circumcise My Daughter?’ Exploring Diversity and Ambivalence in Egyptian Parents' Social Representations of Female Circumcision

Female circumcision is still practiced in different parts of Egypt, impacting women's health and well‐being. Existing studies often portray parents' representations of the practice as positive and homogeneous, with little attention paid to the true diversity of views within a community. This study draws on social representations theory to highlight such nuances, while identifying the psychosocial factors that shape parents' decisions to circumcise or not circumcise their daughters. In‐depth interviews with 11 mothers and five fathers were conducted in rural communities in the Al Qalyoubeya and Benisweif governorates. Thematic analysis revealed the co‐existence of positive, negative and ambivalent representations of female circumcision amongst parents and within the individuals themselves. Although some parents positively represent female circumcision as ensuring the daughter's chastity, safeguarding her femininity and preserving community identity, they feel distress about its potential harms, such as pain, bleeding and terrifying experience on the daughter. Fathers further acknowledge its negative impact on marital sexual relationships. In some cases, parents challenge the ritual and refuse to circumcise their daughters. In light of a theory of change that emphasises the role of community dialogue in renegotiating health‐damaging social practices, along with evidence of diverse views amongst parents, this study argues that sensitively facilitated ‘community conversations’ might provide parents with opportunities to debate their opposing views and allow for the construction of health‐enabling social representations. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mental-rotation performance in middle and high-school age: influence of stimulus material,gender stereotype beliefs,and perceived ability of gendered activities

ABSTRACT

In psychometric mental-rotation tests, males mostly outperform females. The stimulus material and stereotype beliefs could partly be responsible for these differences. This was investigated in an experimental study administering traditional cube figures (C-MRT) and structurally similar pellet figures (P-MRT) to middle- and high-school aged children. 168 participants either solved the C-MRT or the P-MRT and filled out a questionnaire about their perceived ability of stereotypically masculine and feminine activities and about their gender stereotype beliefs. Overall, boys outperformed girls and all children who solved the C-MRT were better than those who solved the P-MRT. Only boys' mental-rotation performance increased with age while girls' perceived ability of stereotypically masculine activities decreased. A regression analysis identified children’s gender, their perceived ability of stereotypically masculine activities and their female gender stereotype beliefs as predictors of mental-rotation performance. Results are discussed with a focus on stereotype threat effects and gender differences in mental-rotation strategies.     

Cortisol,stress, and attentional bias toward threat

Abstract

Attentional bias toward threatening stimuli is a central characteristic of anxiety and acute stress. Recent small-scale studies have provided divergent perspectives on the association between the stress hormone cortisol and attentional bias toward threat cues. In a larger sample size than previous studies, we examined this association by investigating the impact of cortisol on attentional bias in two studies using a psychological stressor (N=35) and a physical stressor (N=65), respectively. Attentional bias and salivary cortisol were measured prior to and following the administration of a stressful task designed to increase cortisol levels. Results across these studies were equivocal relative to the association between baseline cortisol and baseline attentional bias. In addition, the association between acute change in cortisol and change in attentional bias appeared to differ as a function of the presence or absence of psychological stress. There was a trend toward a stronger negative association between acute cortisol change and attentional bias change among women relative to men. These results imply that the association between cortisol and attentional bias may be moderated by additional factors, such as gender or presence of stress.     

Psychophysiological effects of emotional dissonance in a face-to-face service interaction

Abstract

Current research demonstrates that requirements to express emotions which are not genuinely felt in the particular situation (emotional dissonance) are associated with negative long and short-term effects. The aim of the present study was to investigate: (a) the psychophysiological short-term effects of emotional dissonance in a face-to-face service interaction and (b) the moderating role of gender and neuroticism. In total, 32 women and 27 men were instructed to play the role of a service employee, who had to interact with an angry and rude customer. Half of the sample was given information that the organization expected them to be friendly (emotional dissonance), the other half was told they were expected to act naturally and show their genuine feelings (no emotional dissonance). Subjective and behavioral responses revealed that participants in the “friendly” condition modulated their emotional expressions to a greater extent than those in the “naturally” condition. Participants in the “friendly” condition showed stronger systolic and diastolic blood pressure responses. Furthermore, hierarchical regression analyses yielded that gender and neuroticism partly moderated the association between emotional dissonance and participants' psychophysiological response.