Sex Biases in Subject Selection: A Survey of Articles Published in American Medical Journals

This study discusses the results of a survey of 1,800 articles published in American medical journals from 1985--1996. The study finds 9% of these articles reported research that uses only male subjects to examine medical conditions that affect both sexes; the ratio of research on female to male conditions among these articles was greater than 5:1; but 76.5% of the articles reported research that includes both male and female subjects. The study also discusses evidence that sex biases against women (and men) are decreasing. This study also offers some possible psychological, institutional, medical, and economic explanations of the sex biases in medical research published in American journals, and discusses some policy implications of sex biases in medical research. The study concludes by urging others to conduct more empirical research on sex biases in medical research.     

Sex differences in estimating multiple intelligences in self and others: A replication in Russia

This was a crosscultural study that focused on sex differences in self‐ and other‐estimates of multiple intelligences (including 10 that were specified by Gardner, 1999 and three by Sternberg, 1988) as well as in an overall general intelligence estimate. It was one of a programmatic series of studies done in over 30 countries that has demonstrated the female “humility” and male “hubris” effect in self‐estimated and other‐estimated intelligence. Two hundred and thirty Russian university students estimated their own and their parents’ overall intelligence and “multiple intelligences.” Results revealed no sex difference in estimates of overall intelligence for both self and parents, but men rated themselves higher on spatial intelligence. This contradicted many previous findings in the area which have shown that men rate their own overall intelligence and mathematical intelligence significantly higher than do women. Regressions indicated that estimates of verbal, logical, and spatial intelligences were the best predictors of estimates of overall intelligence, which is a consistent finding over many studies. Regressions also showed that participants’ openness to experience and self‐respect were good predictors of intelligence estimates. A comparison with a British sample showed that Russians gave higher mother estimates, and were less likely to believe that IQ tests measure intelligence. Results were discussed in relation to the influence of gender role stereotypes on lay conception of intelligence across cultures.     

Growth motivation as a moderator of behavioral self-handicapping in women

Behavioral self-handicapping is a strategy used to protect attributions about ability. People behaviorally self-handicap by creating an obstacle to their success so failure is attributed to the obstacle instead of to their ability. Although past research has observed behavioral self-handicapping exclusively in men, the current research revealed a moderator of behavioral self-handicapping in women: growth motivation, which reflects the desire to develop one's abilities and learn from failure. Participants (N = 100) completed a test purportedly predictive of successful careers and relationships, and some were given failure feedback about their performance. Participants could behaviorally self-handicap by choosing to complete another test in a performance-impairing environment. Although men self-handicapped more overall, women self-handicapped more after failure when they were low in growth motivation. These results highlight a novel moderator of behavioral self-handicapping in women.     

Same‐ and Other‐Sex Victimization: Are the Risk Factors Similar?

Risk factors for same‐ and other‐sex victimization were examined in a longitudinal data set involving 9‐ to 14‐year‐old students. The findings regarding same‐sex victimization supported the view that bullies select personally and interpersonally vulnerable targets in order to maximize their gains in status while minimizing loss of affection within their same‐sex peer group. Although low self‐esteem was a joint predictor of same‐ and other‐sex victimization, rejection and lack of friends among other‐sex peers failed to predict victimization by other‐sex bullies, and being perceived as popular among other‐sex peers increased the risk. Although the findings suggests that interpersonal risk factors for other‐sex victimization differ from those found for same‐sex victimization, they do not provide strong support for heterosexual interest being the basis for other‐sex target selection, as suggested by some previous literature. As about half of the study participants were involved in the KiVa antibullying program, we had the possibility to examine whether the program effects were similar for same‐ and other‐sex victimization. It turned out that in middle schools the program decreased only same‐sex victimization, whereas in elementary school the decrease was observed regardless of the sex composition of bully–victim dyads. Aggr. Behav. 38:442‐455, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Psychopathic personality traits in relational aggression among young adults

Psychopathy is a robust predictor of overt physical aggression that may also be relevant to relational aggression (RA). This study was conducted to investigate the utility of psychopathic personality traits in the prediction of RA in a sample of 291 college students. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that both primary and secondary psychopathic traits explained additional variance in general/peer and romantic RA beyond physical aggressiveness. Consistent with previous research, no gender differences were found on either form of RA, challenging the popular stereotype of RA as a female behavior. Moreover, psychopathic traits were not differentially predictive of RA by gender or level of physical aggressiveness. Implications of these findings for research and clinical practice are discussed.     

Gender symmetry in intimate aggression: an effect of intimacy or target sex?

Men's greater use of direct aggression is not evident in studies of intimate partner aggression. In previous research, the effects of target sex and relationship intimacy have frequently been confounded. This study sought to examine these effects separately. One hundred and seventy-four participants (59 male and 115 female) read vignette scenarios in which they were provoked by a same-sex best friend, an opposite-sex best friend, and a partner. For each target, participants estimated their likely use of direct physical and verbal aggression as well as noninjurious forms of anger expression. Results showed that men lower their aggression in the context of an intimate partnership and that this is an effect of the target's sex. In contrast, women raise their aggression in the context of an intimate partnership and this is an effect of intimacy with the target. The use of noninjurious angry behavior did not vary between targets for either sex of the participant, which suggests that the effects of target are confined to behaviors which carry an intention to harm. Possible effects of social norms and oxytocin-mediated emotional disinhibition on intimate partner aggression are discussed.     

Violent, nonviolent, and substance-related offending over the life course in a cohort of males and females treated for substance misuse as youths

Most studies on adolescent offending heterogeneity are based on general population samples, and few include individuals with substance misuse or look specifically at substance-related offending. It is also unclear how offender subtypes develop after young adulthood or how offending heterogeneity varies between genders. This study aimed to identify subgroups of offending among adolescents with misuse problems and to examine associations with offending in adulthood. The study included 1,992 females and males that consulted a clinic for adolescents with misuse problems between 1968 and 1971. Latent Class Analyses were conducted to identify subgroups based on violent and nonviolent offending before age 20. Participants were then followed until age 50 and reexamined regarding violent, nonviolent, and substance-related crimes. Associations between subgroups before age 20 and subgroups age 21-50 were examined. Before age 20, three subgroups were identified among the females and six among the males. Males were more specialized in their offending and demonstrated higher levels of offending. Results pointed to both stability and decrease of violent and nonviolent offending, and to the emergence of substance-related offending in adulthood in both genders. The connection between substance-related crimes and general delinquency in adulthood among individuals treated for substance misuse suggests that interventions should also address substance misuse for reducing the overall volume of crime. This study also highlights the importance of including females in research on offending heterogeneity.     

Sex differences of parental phubbing on online hostility among adolescents: A moderated mediation model

To explore the relationship between parental phubbing (PP) and adolescent online hostility and its' psychological mechanism, 689 Chinese adolescents were recruited to complete a paper-and-pencil questionnaire. We took cyber flaming (CF) as an overall category for hostile online communication to investigate the relationship between PP and CF and the mediating role of perspective-taking (PT) in this relationship and examined whether there is a sex difference in this process. After controlling the average daily online time, the results showed that PP predicted adolescent CF positively. The relationship between PP and CF was partially mediated by PT. The effect of PP on PT was moderated by sex, with the result being significant only for boys. Related findings and future directions were discussed.     

She Looks Sad,But He Looks Mad: The Effects of Age,Gender, and Ambiguity on Emotion Perception

This study investigated how target sex, target age, and expressive ambiguity influence emotion perception. Undergraduate participants (N = 192) watched morphed video clips of eight child and eight adult facial expressions shifting from neutral to either sadness or anger. Participants were asked to stop the video clip when they first saw an emotion appear (perceptual sensitivity) and were asked to identify the emotion that they saw (accuracy). Results indicate that female participants identified sad expressions sooner in female targets than in male targets. Participants were also more accurate identifying angry facial expressions by male children than by female children. Findings are discussed in terms of the effects of ambiguity, gender, and age on the perception of emotional expressions.