bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Changing Attitudes Toward Women: A Longitudinal Study of College Students
Authors: Etaugh Claire , Spandikow Deborah Bohn
Published: July 2006

Cross sectional data indicate that college students show more liberal attitudes toward women with increasing years of college attendance. This shift may reflect intraindividual change or simply differential dropout of more traditionally oriented students. To study this problem longitudinally, the Attitudes Toward Women Scale was administered to 430 university students who had completed the same questionnaire 2 years earlier. Attitudes toward women generally became more liberal over time for both male and female students, supporting the intraindividual shift hypothesis. For both sexes, attitudes involving women's educational-vocational rights became more liberal than those involving women's marital and maternal responsibilities. Socio-demographic characteristics of subjects who became more traditional were compared with those of subjects who became more liberal.
Sex as a Social Reality: Field and Laboratory Research
Authors: Unger Rhoda Kesler
Published: July 2006

The factors responsible for sex related effects are examined by means of an analysis of methods frequently used to study them. Field observations, field experiments, and laboratory techniques used in the investigation of sex and gender are discussed. It is suggested that the distinction between reactive and nonobtrusive measurement may be particularly useful in predicting when sex related differences may be found. It is also suggested that there is no one universal sexual reality. Sex related effects may be constructed by the social cognitions of the participants in a study as well as by the conceptual assumptions underlying the methods themselves.
Interdependence of Child Care Resources and the Progress of Women in Society
Authors: Nakamura Charles Y. , McCarthy Sara J. , Rothstein-Fisch Carrie , Winges Linda D.
Published: July 2006

The development of child care resources on a wide scale has crucial and direct relevance to the progess of women. Child care needs are increasing as growing numbers of women enter the labor force and choose higher educational goals. Identifiable groups of women in different living arrangements who are in need of child care and the availability of various kinds of child care are discussed. The development of need-based alternative child care resources dial would facilitate the progress of women is considered in terms of social, economic and political issues. Feasible alternatives for incorporating child care into education and industry are presented. The special advantage of these alternatives is that they would associate child care with work and education rather than with welfare. Because the institutions of work and education are central to society they could provide a broad foundation for the future development of child care on a wide scale.
Changing Sex Roles and Worklife Flexibility
Authors: Best Fred
Published: July 2006

It has been hypothesized that the rise of women workers and nontraditional sex roles have fostered pressures for realignments of the amount and scheduling of work time. Data from exploratory survey research on a sample of 791 county employees supports and elaborates the existence of relationships between changing sex roles and preferences for alternative work patterns. Speculations are made about future sex roles and work time arrangements.
Women's Future Travel, Driving, and Transit Use
Authors: Gurin Douglas B.
Published: July 2006

Women's future community travel needs have not yet been analyzed to determine how changes in society will affect or be affected by women's car driving and public transit use. The author infers from limited available data that automobiles will accommodate more of women's travel needs because transit might not satisfy many trip requirements, including those for mental well-being and personal security and for continued homemaking and childrearing responsibilities. Insensitive government restrictions on women's auto use should be discouraged; positive investment and management strategies for automobile and transit systems should be encouraged to help women travelers. Research, employment efforts, and increased public input within the transportation industry are among the recommended long term strategies to improve industry and public awareness and to foster constructive actions on the behalf of women.
Women in Energy Boom Towns
Authors: Moen Elizabeth
Published: July 2006

A certainty for the future of the United States is the increased development of domestic energy sources and, consequently, an increase in the number of energy boom towns. Although the negative social consequences for these small, rapidly growing communities have been amply documented, little is known about how energy development specifically affects women. Data from an exploratory study of women in an energy boom town and a preboom town suggest that women do not benefit equally with men and are even disadvantaged by energy development. Categories of families and employed women are discussed, and the findings are related to the broader topic of women and development.
Black Women and the Future
Authors: Murray Saundra Rice , Harrison Daphne Duval
Published: July 2006

Black women's influence upon and reaction to social and economic change in the dawn of the twenty-first century are examined. Selected trends in labor force participation and family organization are discussed in relation to possible consequences for black women's role in the family and the socialization of black females. The importance of religion in black women's future is discussed, and it is suggested that they will have an increasing role as religious leaders and concomitant opportunities for organizing around women's issues. Finally, black women's renewed interest in Africa is discussed and implications for personal and community enhancement are examined.
Educational Trends for Expanding Women's Occupational Lives
Authors: Wirtenberg Jeana , Strasburg Georgia , Alspektor Rose Ann
Published: July 2006

Institutional changes are described which would facilitate the expansion of women's occupational lives. Part I reviews educational trends in schools, focusing on legislation and other activities to eliminate sex discrimination in federally supported educational institutions. Part II discusses current trends to interface education and work, and proposes a transitional work group model which incorporates feminist values and legitimizes the work place as a place for learning. Part III discusses trends towards participatory democracy and asserts that the training of women to use new technologies in communications and computers will increase their power to shape public policy. The conclusion points to the necessity for compensatory and anticipatory measures to ensure the representation of all groups of women in decision-making environments.
The Black Female Adolescent: A Review of the Educational, Career and Psychological Literature
Authors: Smith Elsie J.
Published: July 2006

This article presents a basic overview of the literature on the educational, career, and psychological development of black female adolescents. Adolescence is defined primarily in terms of individuals' attempts to deal effectively with life developmental tasks. As such, adolescence is viewed as that broad period covering the ages of 12 to 21. Emphasis is placed, however, on the early and mid-stages of adolescent development. Comparisons and contrasts are made regarding the development of black female, black male, white male, and white female adolescents.
Successful Rebellious Professionals: The Black Woman's Professional Identity and Community Commitment
Authors: Gilkes Cheryl Townsend
Published: July 2006

Using interview data from a larger career study of 25 black women who have achieved public recognition as workers for change in the black community, this paper explores the experiences of seven black professional women. The conflicts they confronted as black professionals, resolution of those conflicts, the special conditions of conflict resolution through rebellious professionalism, are explored, as well as the curious routes to success which place them in the position of role models to other human services professionals who are organizationally constrained from rebelling in such ways. The implications of these routes to professional success are explored in an effort to understand contemporary nationalism among black professionals and semi-professionals within the context of conflicts between dominant group organizational expectations and black community membership. The data suggest that particularistic commitments do not necessarily conflict with professional ideals if success is defined in terms of community achievements and positive evaluation by colleagues, rather than material rewards.
Fear of Success in Black Male and Female Graduate Students: A Pilot Study
Authors: Fleming Jacqueline
Published: July 2006

In accordance with Horner's (1969) assumption that the intensity of fear of success arousal increases with the subject's success potential, graduate students from a prestigious university were chosen for a pilot investigation of the motive to avoid success in black men and women. Thirty-five subjects (14 female; 21 male) received a verbal TAT and a 54-item sex role questionnaire designed for purposes of this investigation. Fear of success was scored according to the new, experimentally derived scoring system for this motive. Contrary to expectation, the results did not indicate any evidence of success avoidance in either sex. However, fear of success in females was clearly associated with striving to develop career interests compatible with their strong commitment to home and husband, while among similarly motivated males it was suggested that the pragmatic career orientation observed was the product of compensatory motivational dynamics. It was concluded that these subjects were motivated to avoid what are perceived to be role-inappropriate behaviors while conforming to socially accepted values internalized in earlier years.
Psychology of Women: Analysis of the Faculty and Courses of an Emerging Field
Authors: Russo Nancy Felipe
Published: July 2006

This article provides information on the faculty and course offerings related to the psychology of women in the graduate departments of psychology listed in Graduate Study in Psychology 1979–1980. This highly selective picture is important because it involves the educational programs responsible for producing the majority of psychology's future researchers and practitioners. Questionnaire responses identified 670 persons in 219 programs as having an interest in research and/or clinical activities related to the psychology of women. Also, 212 programs reported having faculty interested in research related to women and 97 programs reported having faculty interested in clinical activities related to women. Course outlines “related to the psychology of women” were requested; 125 were received. Tables are included which present (a) topics appearing most often in headings and topical descriptions of 1979 course outlines; (b) titles of textbooks found to be required in more than one course; and (c) citation of reviews of most frequently required texts. The results suggest that the student wishing to pursue graduate study related to the psychology of women will find a substantial interest in both research and clinical activities related to that field.
Marital-Status and Sex Differences in Problems Reported by Married and Cohabiting Couples
Authors: Cunningham John D. , Braiker Harriet , Kelley Harold H.
Published: July 2006

Fifty married and 50 unmarried, cohabiting couples were asked to describe four problems which occurred in their relationship—problems in which one partner was unhappy about the other's behavior, or in which the two of them disagreed about joint decisions. Despite overall similarity of the kinds of problems reported by married and cohabiting couples, married women were particularly likely to complain that their husbands did not give them sufficient attention. Husbands were especially unlikely to mention that their wives were too independent. After specifying two alternative behaviors for each partner in the problem situation, couples rated their degree of satisfaction with each of the four resulting behavioral combinations. Wives rated themselves as more unhappy when their problem arose than cohabiting partners rated themselves, and husbands were least unhappy. Wives' overall satisfaction was affected by their problem situation most of all, husbands' least of all, and cohabitors' satisfaction to an intermediate degree. Results were discussed with reference to the greater advantage that husbands derive from marriage than wives.
Mathematics the Critical Filter: A Look at Some Residues
Authors: Sherman Julia A.
Published: July 2006

Interviews were conducted regarding attitudes toward sex role and mathematics with three cognitively equated groups of girls who had enrolled in different amounts of theoretical (college-track) math in high school ( n = 87). Girls who took the least math were less ambitious and in some ways, more independent. Girls who took four years of theoretical math had more pleasant earliest memories of math, fewer negative experiences with teachers, but more conflict between sex role and achievement. Results continue to underscore contradictions in the socialization of girls.
Ability Level, Evaluative Feedback, and Sex Differences in Performance Expectancy
Authors: Stake Jayne E.
Published: July 2006

This study represents an effort to clarify the effects of negative and positive information on performance expectancies of males and females. In testing the effects of feedback on 93 women and 97 men undergraduates, ability level, information condition, self-esteem level, and sex of subject were included in a 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design. Before feedback, males stated higher expectancies ( p < .05) and overestimated their performance more ( p < .05) than did females. Sex by feedback interactions ( p < .02) revealed that after feedback consistent with subjects' ability, males continued to set higher goals and to overestimate their performance more, but that after inconsistent feedback this sex difference did not occur.
Sex and Contextual Differences in the Appropriateness of Assertive Behavior
Authors: Linehan Marsha M. , Seifert Rita Furst
Published: July 2006

A series of one-line descriptions of assertive behavior sequences were written so that the situational context was systematically varied. Adult males and females were asked to rate how appropriate each behavioral sequence would be if performed by men and if performed by women (normative appropriateness). The same persons were also asked to estimate how appropriately a typical man and a typical woman would rate them if they engaged in the same behavior (expected appropriateness). Analyses of normative ratings indicated that assertion by women is viewed as slightly more appropriate than that by men, at least when carried out with opposite sex friends and spouses. Both males and females expected higher appropriateness ratings from their own sex. Both normative and expected appropriateness varied as a function of situational context.
Gender Typing and Social Desirability of Personality in Person Evaluation
Authors: Stoppard Janet M. , Kalin Rudolf
Published: July 2006

In order to test the hypothesis that persons with gender-appropriate, as compared with gender-inappropriate, traits are evaluated more favorably, a person perception task was designed. Subjects ( n = 211) rated written descriptions of males and females who were said to possess either masculine or feminine personality characteristics, which, in turn, were either socially desirable or undesirable. Contrary to hypothesis, gender appropriateness had no significant effects on evaluation. Instead, ratings were strongly influenced by the gender typing of characteristics. Whether masculinity or femininity resulted in more positive evaluations was a function of the kind of evaluation made. Masculine stimulus persons received higher evaluations on ratings of “adjustment” and “competence and likelihood of achieving future success.” Feminine persons were rated more positively on measures of “interpersonal functioning.”
Factors Influencing Women's Participation in Consciousness-Raising Groups
Authors: Kravetz Diane , Marecek Jeanne , Finn Stephen E.
Published: July 2006

The results of a nationwide survey point out both commonality and diversity in the experiences of women in consciousness-raising (CR) groups. Women commonly joined CR groups through women's organizations, and their most important reason for entering CR was to examine women's roles and experiences. Most groups encouraged self-disclosure and openness and discouraged domineering and lack of commitment. The backgrounds and personal characteristics of CR participants were diverse. Housewives, women with children, and women with higher levels of symptoms more strongly valued psychological help as a reason for joining CR; in contrast, working women and students, women without children, and women with fewer symptoms more strongly endorsed strengthening their feminism. Women's reasons for joining in turn predicted which CR experiences they valued. Nearly all women were highly satisfied with CR. Satisfaction with CR was not related to members' personal characteristics, but rather to the processes occurring in their groups.
Factors Predicting Girls' and Boys' Enrollment in College Preparatory Mathematics
Authors: Sherman Julia
Published: July 2006

Students ( n = 337) tested in the eighth grade were followed up in the eleventh grade to see what courses in the college preparatory math sequence they had elected. Discriminant analyses for girls and boys were performed on the test scores, predicting those electing one, two, three, or four years of college preparatory math. Scores included math achievement (SRA Math Concepts), vocabulary (Cognitive Abilities Test), spatial visualization (Differential Aptitude Test) and the Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitudes Scales II. For girls, the standardized weights of the discriminant function were highest for vocabulary, Confidence in Learning Mathematics, Attitude toward Success in Math, and Effectance Motivation in Mathematics. For boys, they were highest for Confidence in Learning Mathematics, vocabulary, perceived Attitude of Father toward One as a Learner of Mathematics, and Math Concepts. Consistent with results of a previous study, the Confidence in Learning Mathematics Scale emerged as a powerful discriminator of groups differing in mathematics enrollment behavior. Spatial visualization skill was a more important discriminator for females than for males.
Personal Factors Related to Typicalness of Career and Success in Active Professional Women
Authors: Williams Sue Winkle , McCullers John C.
Published: July 2006

Eighty women from the fields of medicine and law, in careers ranging from very atypical to very traditional for women, were compared on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (Vocabulary and Block Design subtests), Bem Sex-Role Inventory, Atkinson's measure of achievement motivation, and a childhood experiences questionnaire developed in conjunction with the study. Subjects in atypical, relative to those in typical careers were found to score higher on cognitive measures, psychological masculinity, and, in law, achievement motivation. Childhood experiences of women in atypical careers included: more traditionally masculine play patterns, greater unhappiness during adolescence, and less coercion by parents to fit a traditionally feminine stereotype.
College Adjustment Problems and Attitudes Toward Drinking Reported by Feminine, Androgynous, and Masculine College Women
Authors: Kleinke Chris L. , Hinrichs Cynthia A.
Published: July 2006

Two studies compared attitudes toward various issues and adaptations to demands of college life that were reported by feminine, androgynous, and masculine sex-typed females. Study 1 showed that feminine sex-typed females reported lower involvement in academic competition, fewer difficulties with peer pressures, and less exclusion by fraternities and sororities from college social life than did androgynous and masculine females. Androgynous and masculine females gave similar responses, showing high involvement in academic competition, negative reactions to peer pressures, and resentment toward male friends who cancel plans. Study 2 compared attitudes of feminine, androgynous, and masculine female college students toward drinking. Discriminant analysis showed that over 99% of the subjects could be correctly classified according to sex type on the basis of two dimensions: (1) sociable drinking and (2) drinking due to peer pressure and social discomfort. Masculine and androgynous females were significantly more likely than feminine females to endorse questions related to social drinking. Masculine females showed the greatest potential for problem drinking from social pressures and for escape from social discomfort. Results supported Kelly and Worell's (1977) argument that the adaptive values of different sex-role orientations depend on the demands of the environment.
The Use and Development of Sex-typed Language
Authors: Schultz Katherine , Briere John , Sandler Lorna
Published: July 2006

Fifteen males and fifteen females in each of three age groups (children, adolescents, and adults) described a stimulus photograph for up to five minutes. These descriptions were transcribed and scored for the frequency of both language form and content categories. Analyses revealed significant sex differences in both the form and the content of spoken language. No evidence was found for the contention that sex-typed speech develops differently in male and female children. There were, however, significant age differences in speech form and content, independent of sex.
The Relative Rewards and Costs of Childlessness for Older Women
Authors: Houser Betsy Bosak , Berkman Sherry L. , Beckman Linda J.
Published: July 2006

Currently married or widowed women aged 60–75 (N = 719), either childless or with one or more children, were interviewed about advantages and disadvantages of childlessness and about other family-related and social areas. Results indicate that childless older women did not conform to a stereotype of unhappiness and dissatisfaction. Respondents with and without children valued the rewards of their particular lifestyle and perceived costs in the other.
Perceptions of a Housespouse: The Effects of Sex, Economic Productivity, and Subject Background Variables
Authors: Rosenwasser Shirley M. , Gonzales M. Hope , Adams Vikki
Published: July 2006

Two studies were performed investigating college students' attitudes toward male and female housespouses whose primary duties were child-care and major household tasks and whose economic contributions were earnings from writing. Introductory psychology students read a descriptive paragraph and then evaluated the housespouse on semantic differential scales. In addition, the following subject background variables were investigated: sex role typing in Experiment 1; and authoritarianism, parental atypical household duties, and maternal employment history in Experiment 2. Subject impressions were less positive in describing male homemakers, and homemakers of either sex were viewed more positively when more successfully pursuing activities beyond childcare and housekeeping. Androgynous subjects and subjects whose mothers had been employed evaluated housespouses more positively than other subjects. Housespouse age, subject sex, subject authoritarianism, and atypical parental duties were not significantly related to students' perceptions of housespouses.
BSRI Scores: Stability Over Four Years for College Women
Authors: Yanico Barbara J.
Published: July 2006

This study examined the four-year test-retest reliability of Bem Sex-Role Inventory scores for 77 college women who responded to the instrument as freshmen and again as seniors. The BSRI scales were found to have moderate long-term reliability. The BSRI was judged to be as reliable as other paper-and-pencil instruments which attempt to measure similar personality variables and to have adequate reliability for research purposes.
Achievement Motive: Analyzing the Validity of the WOFO
Authors: Adams Jerome , Priest Robert F. , Prince Howard T.
Published: July 2006

Spence and Helmreich developed the Work and Family Orientation (WOFO) Questionnaire as a multidimensional measure of achievement motivation and attitudes toward family and career because they believed that a unitary construct of achievement motivation was not sufficient to account for broad patterns of behavior in varied situations. This article reviews the evidence for the construct validity of the WOFO questionnaire based on data from a large group ( N = 3,727) of men and women with high educational and career aspirations. Evidence presented includes factor analysis of the WOFO subscale dimensions, subscale reliabilities, and an analysis of the effect of gender and masculinity-femininity on achievement motives. The research confirms new insights regarding the relationship between achievement motives and sex roles for women and men.
Employment Decisions Made by Mothers of Infants
Authors: Hock Ellen , Morgan Karen Christman , Hock Michael D.
Published: July 2006

This study was designed to contribute to our understanding of employment-related behavior in women with infants by assessing how individual characteristics and perceptions of infant needs are associated with decisions about employment. Utilizing a longitudinal approach, data were collected on 172 mothers at infant birth and at 3, 8, and 12 months of infant's age. Four study groups were formed, based on mothers' early plans to work and actual work status later in the infant's first year. Groups were compared, and findings about decisions to work or stay home were interpreted in light of maternal demographic and personality attributes, and maternal perceptions of infant needs and characteristics.
Value Orientations in Heterosexual Relationships
Authors: Cochran Susan D. , Peplau Letitia Anne
Published: July 2006

It is often suggested that men and women have divergent orientations toward love relationships. A questionnaire study of 130 university students demonstrated that their values about romantic relationships comprise two distinct, orthogonal dimensions reflecting concerns with intimacy and with independence. However, results challenge the stereotype that whereas women are more concerned with close-knit attachments, men are more eager to maintain personal autonomy. In actuality, no sex differences were found in attachment values, and women gave significantly more importance than did men to equal sharing and maintaining their personal autonomy. Also examined were individual and dyadic correlates of these value dimensions. Results suggest that dimensions of attachment and egalitarian autonomy provide a useful way to conceptualize individual differences in orientations toward love relationships.
Personality Correlates of Age and Life Roles in Adult Women
Authors: Mellinger Jeanne C. , Erdwins Carol J.
Published: July 2006

The association between age/family stage, career role, and personality traits was studied using a multivariate statistical approach. Young adult, midlife, and older women from four role groups—homemaker, married career, single career, and student—were compared on a number of personality measures including achievement motivation, affiliation, autonomy, cultural sex role characteristics, self esteem, and adjustment. While some of the expected group differences did not appear, some significant age and role differences were found. Older women showed less achievement motivation and had a greater need for affiliation than young adult and midlife women. Career women had a more internalized locus of control than homemakers and students. When age and role were considered together, the age-role groups were differentiated on autonomy, femininity, and adjustment. There were no differences between either age or role groups on measures of self-esteem, well-being, socialization, or other personality variables.
Sex Differences in the Development of a Separate Sense of Self During Infancy: Directions for Future Research
Authors: Aries Elizabeth J. , Olver Rose R.
Published: July 2006

Women have been characterized as having more difficulty than men in developing a separate sense of self. This sex difference is held to have its origins in infancy in the differential response of mothers to sons and daughters. While there is clinical evidence for this sex difference, as yet there is no clear support for it in the experimental literature. In this paper we provide a foundation for future experimental research on the origins in mother-infant interaction of sex differences in the development of a separate sense of self. Using Mahler's description of the separation-individuation process as a general framework, we specify behavioral indicators of differential progress in the development of a separate sense of self at each subphase of separation-individuation and define the particular maternal behaviors relevant to that progress. An examination of existing experimental studies that employ these measures suggests that sex differences in the experience of a separate sense of self begin to emerge in early infancy and that mothers engage in different types of contact with sons and daughters in ways that facilitate the achievement of separation more for boys than for girls. The implications of these findings for future research are discussed.
An Idiographic Approach to The Study Of Women's Achievement Striving
Authors: Paludi Michele A. , Fankell-Hauser Jean
Published: July 2006

Biographical interviews with 80 women ranging in age from the late teens to the 80s (Mean Age = 46.8 years; SD = 7.8 years) elicited information concerning personality characteristics that predispose women toward achievement-striving behavior, taking into account the effects of family, friends, and role models. When asked if they had ever been in a situation where they were about to succeed and feared the success, the majority of women (91%) replied “no.” A large percentage of women (96%) did report that they wonder if their achievements are worth it and asked “success at what cost?” In addition, compared to older women, younger women were more concerned with interpersonal relationships and less concerned with competitive achievement. The reality status of the fear of success construct as well as methodological advances in its measurement are discussed.
Tolerance of Rape: A Sexist or Antisocial Attitude?
Authors: Hall Eleanor R. , Howard Judith A. , Boezio Sherrie L.
Published: July 2006

A prison sample and a community control group were used to develop a scale of Rape Attitudes (tolerance of rape) and to validate a modified version of the Gough Socialization Scale. A university student sample and an adolescent sample completed the Rape Attitudes scale and a scale of attitudes toward heterosexual relationships. Males in the adolescent sample also completed the modified Cough Socialization Scale. For both university students and adolescents, and for both males and females, tolerance of rape was associated with sexist attitudes toward heterosexual relationships. For the male adolescents, tolerance of rape and sexist attitudes were associated with antisocial, delinquent personality tendencies. The relationship between tolerance of rape and sexist attitudes was stronger than the relationship between tolerance of rape and an antisocial personality.
Randomized Response Technique: Applications to Research on Rape
Authors: Soeken Karen L. , Damrosch Shirley Petchel
Published: July 2006

Research on rape is handicapped by a paucity of accurate information on frequency of rape. The randomized response technique (RR), designed to produce reliable information in surveys of sensitive issues, is advocated as a means of uncovering true frequencies. RR surveys were conducted on initial and replication samples of undergraduate baccalaureate nursing students (total n = 292) and 76 graduate nursing students. The estimates of prevalence of rape victimization were 15.1% in the initial and 12.1% in the replication samples, with the difference not significant ( z = 1.25, p > .05). The findings are discussed in the context of results from traditional surveys.
A Promising Measure of Sex Bias: The Incidental Memory Task
Authors: Buczek Teresa A.
Published: July 2006

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether differences in counselors' retention of information about a female and a male client in a previous study would also be obtained with a non-counselor sample. Two hundred eighteen undergraduate students participated in the present study. The findings indicated similarity between the undergraduates and counselors on measures of retention and question generation. In findings similar to those of the previous study, participants in this study retained less information under the female client conditions, p < .01, a result that indicates a possible negative valuation of female client concerns. The implication of the findings for counselor training is discussed; in particular, the findings support the utility of free-response measures for assessing sex role stereotyping.
Perceiving The Male Versus The Female Face
Authors: Schulman Gary I. , Hoskins Mary
Published: July 2006

This study of the perceptual processes in rating the good-lookingness of male compared to female faces finds that more refined distinctions and discriminations, more extreme positive and negative ratings, and more consensus occur for female than for male faces. Facial expression (e.g., smiling) affects the rating of female more than male faces, The results uniformly support the view that facial appearance is a more heavily weighted element in the response to women than to men.
From Kate Sanborn to Feminist Psychology: The Social Context of Women's Humor, 1885–1985
Authors: Sheppard Alice
Published: July 2006

While current feminists are calling for a theoretical psychology of women, the present paper suggests that its foundation can be found in the writings of certain nineteenth-century women. Their conclusions, drawn from a different era and assuming contrasting social science paradigms, parallel and anticipate modern discoveries. This paper examines the work of Kate Sanborn (1839–1917), who edited an anthology of women's humor and crusaded for 20 years to alter the stereotype of women's humorlessness. It is suggested that her work adds to our knowledge of feminist history, as well as presaging current theoretical developments in the psychology of women.
Criteria Used to Define and Evaluate Socially competent Behavior Among Women
Authors: Gambrill Eileen D. , Richey Cheryl A.
Published: July 2006

Criteria used to evaluate socially competent behavior of women are described and critiqued. Many definitions of social competence do not employ a process view of social behavior in which individual goals and values as well as specific verbal and nonverbal behaviors are considered. This may result in the imposition of artificial goals on consumers of assertion and social skills training programs and the neglect of individual goals. The relationship between the definition of competence used and the assessment methods relied on is discussed. The advantages of focusing on specific goals are noted and a checklist that consumers can use to review the content of training programs is provided.
Gender-Related Personality Attributes and Reaction to Success/Failure: An Examination of Mediating Variables
Authors: Welch Renate , Gerrard Meg , Huston Aletha
Published: July 2006

The effects of success and failure on task performance, and attributions about performance, were compared for high and low instrumental college women. For the high instrumental group, success facilitated task performance, whereas failure had no debilitating effect; for the low instrumental group, success had no effect on subsequent performance, whereas failure interfered with it. High instrumental women attributed their success primarily to internal factors and their failures to external tactors (the “egotistical” attribution profile), whereas low instrumentar women revealed the opposite profile. The gender-appropriateness of the task had little effect on performance or attribution. Four potential mediators of these differences were investigated: self-esteem, perceived ability, expectancy of success, and attainment value. High-instrumental women's higher perceived ability and performance expectations accounted for their superior task performance, but none of the four mediators accounted for the relationship of instrumentality to attributions.
The Relationships of Cohabiting Lesbian and Heterosexual Couples: A Comparison
Authors: Schneider Margaret S.
Published: July 2006

The relationships of cohabiting lesbian couples and cohabiting heterosexual couples were compared on three dimensions—Durability, Interdependence, and Equality. The lesbian relationships tended to be somewhat less durable and interdependent but more equal. Reasons for these differences are discussed.
Sex Role Satisfaction Among Australian Children: Some Sex, Age, and Cultural Group Comparisons
Authors: Burns Ailsa , Homel Ross
Published: July 2006

Children's satisfaction with being a member of their own sex was explored within two Australian samples. In a national sample of 2,268 children, grades 1–6, trends were similar to those reported in the United States. Girls were less satisfied with their sex role than boys, and older girls were more dissatisfied than younger girls. The most frequent reason girls offered for dissatisfaction with their sex was restriction of sports opportunities. In a smaller sample of 9-11-year-olds (133 boys, 146 girls), chosen to include adequate representation of children of non-Anglo immigrants, it was found that while Anglo-Australian girls were less satisfied with their sex role than boys, non-Anglo girls were just as satisfied as the boys. The non-Anglo girls were no higher in global satisfaction with themselves or with their lives in general than other children. They were, however, less likely to offer self-definitions that included sports abilities and interests. While non-Anglo parents observed a stronger public/private division of labor in certain childcare activities, this difference was not associated with children's satisfaction with their sex role. However, across the entire sample, children's sex-role satisfaction was associated with parents' division of labor on two tasks on which cultural groups did not differ—disciplining and comforting.
Women's Ambitions: A Three-Generational Study
Authors: Whisler Sue C. , Eklund Susan J.
Published: July 2006

The purpose of this study was (a) to describe the nature of women's ambitions across three generations of women within families, (b) to assess the women's perceptions of factors influencing their ambitions, and (c) to determine their estimates of success in attaining their ambitions. In addition, influence of the generations upon each other and relative similarity of ambitions within families versus within generations was evaluated. Subjects were 10 women who were seniors at a large, midwestern state university, their mothers, and their maternal grandmothers. The most prevalent categories of ambitions across all generations were marriage/family, educational, and vocational. Change in women's roles and a trend toward greater economic affluence across generations had the greatest influence on ambition development and attainment. Influences of one generation on another were apparent for adjacent, but not for nonadjacent, generations. In general, women's ambitions were more similar within generations than within families.
Sex Differences Among the Long-Term Mentally Disabled
Authors: Mowbray Carol T. , Chamberlain Philip
Published: July 2006

Although the “chronically mentally ill” have become a subject of national concern and although differences among the young, old, and minorities have been recognized, sex differences have been largely ignored. The authors describe the experientially determined problems of long-term mentally disabled women. Research is presented from a review of 320 hospital records of patients served in seven community and state hospitals throughout Michigan, encompassing client variables and service information. Significant sex differences were found for client age, marital status, living arrangement, diagnosis, functioning level, voluntary/involuntary status, admission information, medications, medical care and destination post-discharge. Many of the results confirm stereotypes of sex differences in institutionalized populations (age, diagnosis, and so forth). Other results, such as more women living independently and no sex differences in violent behaviors, are contrary to popular assumptions. Using case studies, the authors further discuss the important issues suggested by the results, e.g., why women become psychiatric patients, discharge planning, and over-medications. A plea is made for a greater amount and intensity of research on women with long-term mental disabilities.
Gender Bias in Human Anatomy Textbook Illustrations
Authors: Giacomini M. , Rozée-Koker P. , Pepitone-Arreola-Rockwell F.
Published: July 2006

The hypothesis that female and male bodies are equally represented in human anatomy text illustrations was tested to determine whether medical students are shown both females and males as possessing equally important and normal bodies in medical school instructional material. All anatomy texts currently in use in a major western medical school (N = 8) were surveyed. In text sections dealing with standard (non-gender-specific) anatomy, male subjects were shown in 64% of the illustrations in which gender was discernable, females were shown in 11%, and gender-neutral or equal representations were shown in 25%. Females and males were found to be represented approximately equally in chapters on urogenital (gender-specific) anatomy (45% female, 48% male, 7% neutral or equal representation). The implications of these findings for the perpetuation of sexist attitudes in the medical profession are discussed.
Sex Differences in Moral Judgments? A Test of Gilligan's Theory
Authors: Friedman William J. , Robinson Amy B. , Friedman Britt L.
Published: July 2006

This study was designed to test Gilligan's (1982) claim that men and women differ in moral judgments. One hundred and one college students read four traditional moral dilemmas and rated the importance of 12 considerations for deciding how the protagonist should respond. Six of the statements were derived from the description by Kohlberg et al. (1978) of post-conventional moral reasoning, and six were derived from Gilligan's description of women's style of moral reasoning. Subjects also rated themselves on a measure of sex-typed personality attributes. There were no reliable sex differences on either of the types of moral reasoning, and confidence intervals allowed the rejection of all but negligible differences in the directions predicted by Gilligan's model. Furthermore, men and women showed highly similar rank orders of the items for each dilemma. The personality measures also failed to predict individual differences in moral judgments.
Sexist Discrimination as Distancing Behavior: I. A Laboratory Demonstration
Authors: Lott Bernice
Published: July 2006

Attitudes toward and beliefs about women have been studied but investigations of behavior directed toward women in simple interpersonal situations have been relatively infrequent, in this study, ten previously unacquainted pairs of men, ten pairs of women, and twenty mixed-gender pairs were observed during a 10-minute task in which each pair constructed a domino structure for a contest. Under these laboratory conditions in which sexual arousal and nurturance cues were minimal it was predicted that men would behave differently toward women partners than toward men partners by manifesting avoidance or distancing behavior more frequently, but that women's responses to other—gender and same—gender partners would not be reliably different. Dependent measures were obtained by self—report and by ratings of observers who watched the dyadic interaction behind a one-way vision screen. As predicted, women in mixed-gender pairs did not differ significantly from those in same-gender pairs on any measure, but men were found to distance themselves from a woman partner (as compared to a man) by turning their faces or bodies away and making negative comments, by not following advice, and by placing dominoes closer to themselves.
Language Style and Gender Stereotypes in Person Perception
Authors: Quina Kathryn , Wingard Joseph A. , Bates Henry G.
Published: July 2006

Twelve sentence pairs representing Lakoff's “women's language” and corresponding “masculine” styles were developed in order to examine gender stereotyping as a function of linguistic pattern usage. College students (77 women and 74 men) read the sentences as transcribed from an interview with a hypothetical male, female, or sex-unknown client, and evaluated the speaker on 31 bipolar adjective scales. Ratings on the masculinity-femininity dimension confirmed Lakoff's “feminine” speech style as a gender stereotype. Factor analysis and subsequent multivariate analyses of variance on factor scores revealed that participants rated the nonfeminine linguistic style significantly higher in competence, but lower in social warmth, than the feminine style. Author gender did not contribute significantly to speaker evaluations. Implications of this importance of style over gender in person perception are discussed.
Gender Roles and Women's Achievement-Related Decisions
Authors: Eccles Jacquelynne S.
Published: July 2006

Occupational sex segregation continues to exist and the occupational career paths of women and men continue to differ. This article proposes a model to explain these persistent, gender-role linked trends, summarizes evidence to support the proposed mediating psychological mechanisms, and discusses the social experiences that shape gender differences on these mediators. In addition, the article reviews the economic and psychological costs often associated with the traditional female choices and proposes interventions aimed at achieving a more gender—fair social system that does not devalue traditionally female domains. The proposed model links occupational choices to expectations for success and subjective task value, which, in turn, are linked to gender-role socialization, self schemas, and anticipated role and task demands. The importance of subjective task value is stressed, as is the need to study women's achievement-related choices from the women's perspective.
A Reexamination of Sex Differences in Interpersonal Verbs
Authors: Wier Monna , Phillips James L. , Stanners Robert F.
Published: July 2006

A study by Thompson, Hatchett, and Phillips (1981) found that males and females differed in their judgment of interpersonal verbs (IPVs). Females were said to give more extreme affect ratings and less extreme control ratings to IPVs than did males. The present study re-examined these findings utilizing multidimensional scaling techniques. Similarity/dissimilarity ratings of 105 combinations of 15 paired IPVs were made by 43 female and 39 male students. Analysis via COSPA yielded two dimensions of meaning underlying IPVs which were similar to those used by Thompson et al.: Affect and Control. Analyses of the data using three different approaches failed, however, to bear out Thompson et al.'s findings of sex differences in the judgment of IPVs.