bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Impact of Religion on Gender-Role Attitudes
Authors: Morgan Mary Y.
Published: July 2006

Given the apparently growing significance of religion in American life, the general problem addressed in this paper was the relation between religious orientation and gender-related attitudes and behaviors. More specifically, this study examined variation over a range of dimensions of gender-role attitudes held by women in predominantly female and predominantly male college majors using religious devoutness and other variables as predictors. Five dimensions of gender-role attitudes were used: familial roles, extrafamilial roles, male/female stereotypes, social change, and gender-role preference. No significanct difference was found between women in the two types of majors on any dimension of gender-role attitudes, Multiple regression revealed that religious devoutness was the most important variable among all those utilized in consistently predicting all five dimensions of gender-role attitudes.
What is in a Smile?
Authors: Deutsch Francine M. , LeBaron Dorothy , Fryer Maury March
Published: July 2006

Women have been observed to smile more than men in a variety of social contexts. In order to investigate the consequences of this sex difference for the way men and women are perceived, male and female college students rated the characteristics of men and women depicted in verbal descriptions accompanied by photographs in which they either smiled or did not smile. In control conditions these targets were rated without accompanying photographs. The findings showed that the absence of smiles had a greater impact on perceptions of women than on perceptions of men. When not smiling, women were perceived as less happy, less carefree and less relaxed than were men. Moreover, nonsmiling women were rated less happy, less warm, less relaxed and less carefree than the average woman, whereas smiling men were rated more favorably on those traits than the average man. These results suggest that different standards are applied to men and women. If women fail to perform expressive and warm nonverbal behavior, they will be evaluated more harshly than men.
Reactions to Stranger and Acquaintance Rape
Authors: Tetreault Patricia A. , Barnett Mark A.
Published: July 2006

The purpose of the present study was to investigate females' and males' reactions to a woman who presumably had been raped by a stranger or an acquaintance. Eighty undergraduates, 40 women and 40 men, read one of two rape descriptions prior to watching a videotape of the woman who (they were led to believe) had been the victim of the rape. Female and male subjects were found to have markedly different reactions to stranger and acquaintance rape and rape victims.
The Use of Inpatient Mental Health Services by Hispanic Women
Authors: Russo Nancy Felipe , Amaro Hortensia , Winter Michael
Published: July 2006

Concern has been expressed about underrepresentation of Hispanics in mental health facilities, but little has been done to examine Hispanic gender differences in the use of such facilities. This descriptive study provides a broader and more detailed profile of Hispanic women's use of selected inpatient mental health facilities than is currently available. It presents gender differences in number, percent, and rate per 100,000 population for Hispanic and nonHispanic inpatient admissions with respect to age, marital status, and diagnosis. Results suggest that women use these inpatient facilities less than men, and this gender difference is greater for Hispanics. This greater gender difference in admissions among Hispanics was found across age and marital status categories, but not in all diagnoses. Regardless of ethnicity, men had higher admission rates for schizophrenia and alcohol-related disorders, but not for affective disorders. Marital status was related to diagnosis differently for Hispanics and nonHispanics. The gender difference in favor of higher rates for men with schizophrenia was not found for married nonHispanics. The gender difference in favor of higher rates for women with affective disorders was not found for separated/divorced Hispanic women. These findings point to the importance of and need for psychological research that examines the relationship between gender and sex roles and mental health, the inclusion of the resultant knowledge in mental health education and training, and the application of that knowledge to the design of mental health services.
Feminist Therapy with Mainland Puerto Rican Women
Authors: Comas-Diaz Lillian
Published: July 2006

This article discusses the use of feminist therapy with mainland Puerto Rican women. Sociocultural factors such as the experience of cross-cultural translocation, the process of transculturation, and the colonial background of Puerto Rico with its deleterious effects are examined. Special emphasis is given to Puerto Rican sex roles, the paradoxical condition of power and powerlessness, and Puertorriqueñas' complex sense of identity. These issues are illustrated with a clinical population, and as such, may represent an extreme position within the range of reactions to these sociocultural variables. Clinical vignettes present the use of feminist therapy with this client population. Feminism—with its emphasis on empowerment, adaptation and flexibility in role relationships, promotion of competence, and commitment to social change—is particularly relevant for Puerto Rican women. However, in order for feminist therapy to be effective with this population, it must be embedded in a sociocultural context.
Psychological Impact of Migration on Latinas: Implications for Psychotherapeutic Practice
Authors: Espin Oliva M.
Published: July 2006

This paper examines the psychological implications of the migratory process on Latin American women in the United States, addressing issues of gender roles, acculturation, language, loss, and grief that are frequently presented by immigrant Latinas in psychotherapy. The paper interprets these issues as reflective of the stresses created by the migratory process rather than as issues of individual psychopathology, and suggests ways to respond to them through psychotherapy.
Family and Work Predictors of Psychological Well-Being Among Hispanic Women Professionals
Authors: Amaro Hortensia , Russo Nancy Felipe , Johnson Julie
Published: July 2006

This study examines the relative contributions of job- and gender-related variables to the mental health of Hispanic women professionals. Hispanic women professionals, managers and business owners ( n = 303) were surveyed using the mailing list of a Hispanic professional women's organization. Results of multiple regression analyses indicate that income and Hispanic group were consistently related to mental health measures. Spouse support and ethnicity of spouse were associated with measures of stress in balancing roles and psychological distress symptoms. Marital status was related to personal life satisfaction (married women reported more satisfaction), and having young children was negatively associated with personal and professional satisfaction. Experience of discrimination, job stress and peer support were also significantly related to mental health measures. Although preliminary, this study underscores the importance of both job- and gender-related factors in research on the effects of employment on Hispanic women's mental health.
Sex Differences in Occupational Performance Expectations
Authors: Bridges Judith S.
Published: July 2006

This study is an investigation of the effects of occupational sex-dominance on sex differences in occupational performance expectations. Female and male college students indicated their expectations for their own performance— self expectations—and that of either a “typical” male, female, or male and female person— comparison person expectations—for six occupations varying according to perceived sex-dominance. Additionally, the performance expectations were reported under anticipated private or public conditions. Results indicated that in contrast to males, females reported lower expectations for themselves alone and lower expectations for themselves in comparison to another person for male-dominated occupations. However, unlike males, females reported higher expectations for themselves and for themselves in comparison to others for female-dominated fields. Occupational sex dominance appeared to influence females' performance expectations, while males' expectations were similar across fields varying in sex-dominance. Neither the sex of the comparison person nor the anticipated privacy of the expectations were found to be related to the sex differences in performance expectations.
Midlife Childbearing: Strategies for Informed Decisionmaking
Authors: Mansfield Phyllis Kernoff
Published: July 2006

More and more women in the United States are choosing to delay motherhood until their 30s or even 40s. Yet traditional medical advice warns against midlife pregnancy, predicting a variety of adverse reproductive outcomes associated with “advanced maternal age.” Assignment to a high-risk category may result in heightened feelings of concern about pregnancy complications among midlife mothers. Because it is possible that increased emotionality during pregnancy may itself give rise to various childbearing complications, some middle-aged women may become victims of iatrogenic stress during pregnancy. This article first examines critically the medical literature describing the relationship between maternal age and pregnancy outcomes and finds little support for the medical pessimism. Next, the article describes the literature that explores the links between heightened emotionality during pregnancy and various negative outcomes and suggests that, despite serious methodological flaws, there is some evidence that fear-induced stress during pregnancy may place certain middle-aged women at higher risk for complications. Finally, strategies for improved decisionmaking and for enhancing the pregnancy experience of midlife women are proposed.
Gender Role and Political Office: Effects of Perceived Masculinity/Femininity of Candidate and Political Office
Authors: Rosenwasser Shirley Miller , Dean Norma G.
Published: July 2006

Women are less represented in prestigious national political offices than they are in state and local offices. How this underrepresentation may be related to perceived characteristics of office and candidate are explored in the two studies described here. In Study 1, the “masculinity/femininity” of local, state, and national offices was analyzed; all levels of office were rated as more “masculine” than “feminine.” In Study 2, the sex as well as the gender role of a hypothetical presidential candidate was varied. “Masculine” and male candidates were evaluated as being more competent on presidential tasks such as dealing with terrorism; “feminine” and female candidates were rated higher on tasks such as solving problems in our educational system. Men, regardless of gender role, were perceived as being more likely to win a presidential election, and “masculine” tasks were evaluated as being more important than “feminine” presidential tasks. Implications for future female politicians are discussed.
Feminist and Fundamentalist Attitudes Toward Pornography Control
Authors: Cowan Gloria , Chase Cheryl J. , Stahly Geraldine B.
Published: July 2006

The purpose of this study was to investigate differences among feminists and between feminists and fundamentalists on attitudes toward pornography control. Gilligan's (1982) model of moral reasoning was used as a basis for examining the division among feminists. An in-depth interview of 44 women was conducted. The feminists who wanted to control pornography, as well as the fundamentalists, focused primarily on responsibility to the welfare of others. Anticontrol feminists gave a higher priority to individual rights and freedom. Other differences, such as their hierarchy of values and experiences with victims of violence were found. All respondents felt extremely negative toward pornography and most believed that pornography is related to violence against women.
Psychology Reconstructs The Female: 1968–1988
Authors: Crawford Mary , Marecek Jeanne
Published: July 2006

Recent work on the psychology of gender is pluralistic, stemming from varied specialty areas within psychology, grounded in several intellectual frameworks, and reflecting a spectrum of feminist perspectives. This article is a critical appraisal of diverse approaches to the study of women and gender. It first describes prefeminist or “womanless” psychology, then analyzes four co-existing frameworks that have generated recent research. The four frameworks are: Exceptional Women, in which empirical research focuses on the correlates of high achievement for women, and women's history in the discipline is re-evaluated; Women as Problem (or Anomaly), in which research emphasizes explanations for female “deficiencies” (e.g., fear of success); the Psychology of Gender, in which the focus of inquiry shifts from women to gender, conceived as a principle of social organization that structures relations between women and men; and a (currently relatively undeveloped) Transformation framework that reflexively challenges the values, assumptions, and normative practices of the discipline. Examples of research programs within each approach are described, and the strengths and limitations of each approach are critically examined.
Gender and Influence Strategies of First Choice and Last Resort
Authors: White Jacquelyn W. , Roufail Mary
Published: July 2006

The present study attempted to resolve an apparent contradiction in the literature regarding gender differences in use of various influence behaviors by examining both between-gender differences, as reflected in differences in absolute rates of using various influence strategies, and between-strategy differences, as reflected in relative rates of strategy use within each gender. Two samples of subjects reported how frequently they used a number of influence strategies as strategies of first choice and last resort. A third sample of subjects rank-ordered the strategies from most used to least used. Results across all samples revealed significant correlations between women's and men's ordering of strategies from most used to least used, with verbal request and rational strategies reported as used most often, and high pressure strategies, including threats, as used least often. Within this invariant hierarchy, gender differences in frequency of use of various strategies were observed. The discussion suggests that none of the current theories of gender differences in influence behavior can predict explicitly both between-gender and between-strategy differences.
Teaching Psychology of Women: A Survey of Instructors
Authors: Matlin Margaret W.
Published: July 2006

A 38-item questionnaire was sent to 440 instructors of psychology of women courses; 230 surveys were returned. This article examines characteristics of people who teach courses in psychology of women, characteristics of their institutions, characteristics of the course itself, and the instructors' reactions to the course. Among the findings are: (a) instructors in this course vary greatly in the number of years they have taught the course and in their area of graduate training; (b) few instructors had taken a formal course in psychology of women; (c) the course is usually a highly emotional one; and (d) almost all instructors enjoyed teaching the psychology of women course more than their other courses.
The Psychology of Women and Conservatism: Rediscovering Social Change
Authors: Kahn Arnold S. , Yoder Janice D.
Published: July 2006

Although one goal of the psychology of women has been to enhance the status of women through social change, this goal has seldom been realized. Theory and research in the psychology of women have focused on gender differences and the personality of women rather than the society that oppresses women. As a result, this research has tended to blame women for their position in society and helped maintain the status quo, which can inhibit the struggle for equality by the women's movement. This process is demonstrated with reference to research on women and achievement. The causes and consequences of the focus on gender differences are discussed and recommendations made for a psychology of women in the service of women.
Correlates of Relationship Satisfaction in Lesbian Couples
Authors: Eldridge Natalie S. , Gilbert Lucia A.
Published: July 2006

This study broadens the construct of intimate relationships to include the experience of lesbian couples. Various psychological variables were assessed in both partners of 275 lesbian couples who considered themselves to be dual career. Because of the paucity of information on lesbian relationships in the literature, considerable attention is first given to describing this sizable sample. Individual and couple scores on each variable were correlated with relationship satisfaction scores. Among individuals, role conflict and personal autonomy were found to correlate negatively with relationship satisfaction, whereas dyadic attachment, power, intimacy, self-esteem, and life satisfaction were all positively correlated with relationship satisfaction. Although career commitment was not correlated with relationship satisfaction among individuals, differences between partners' levels of career commitment correlated negatively with each partner's relationship satisfaction. The findings counter extant stereotypes regarding lesbian relationships and provide a more accurate basis for developing an heuristic model of intimate relationships among women.
The Impact of Role Stressors and Personal Resources on the Stress Experience of Professional Women
Authors: Amatea Ellen S. , Fong Margaret L.
Published: July 2006

This study explored the contributions of role stressors and personal resources in predicting strain symptoms experienced by 117 professional women employed full-time in academia. Results of multiple regression analyses revealed that, while role stressors alone accounted for only a moderate amount of the variance in reported strain symptoms, 51% of the variance was explained when both stressors and personal resources were combined. Women who experienced higher levels of personal control and social support as well as a greater number of roles occupied reported lower levels of strain symptoms. These results support the use of a transactional model of stress in future multiple role research.
Preface
Authors: Reid Pamela Trotman
Published: July 2006

People never move towards revolution; they are pushed towards it by intolerable injustices in the economic and social order under which they live.
A Restive Legacy: The History of Feminist Work in Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Authors: Morawski Jill G. , Agronick Gail
Published: July 2006

In the last century feminist psychologists have contributed to refining and improving research in experimental psychology. While the accomplishments are cause for celebration during the American Association of Psychology's (APA) Centennial year, especially given the sexism that has accompanied scientific practices, we need to examine more carefully the difficulties—past and present—that attend feminist efforts in the discipline. This brief article explores the strategies that feminist researchers have used to eliminate androcentrism and sexism from experimental and, more recently, cognitive psychology. Such historical reassessment not only reveals the multiple and insightful means by which feminist psychologists have proceeded, but also indicates that feminist work must continue to focus on epistemological and theoretical problems as well as methodological ones.
Women's Studies: A Study of Feminist Identity Development in Women
Authors: Bargad Adena , Hyde Janet Shibley
Published: July 2006

The present study investigated the effects of women's studies courses on women students' feminist identity development as defined by Downing and Roush (1984). In Study 1, the authors operationalized the five stages of the Downing and Roush model. Factor and reliability analyses performed in both Study 1 and Study 2 yielded a 39-item, self-descriptive, closed-ended feminist identity development scale (FIDS). In Study 2, the FIDS was administered at the beginning and end of the semester to 184 students in introductory women's studies courses and 39 controls. MANOVA and qualitative data from an open-ended questionnaire and semistructured interviews revealed that the women's studies students did experience development in terms of the model's stages, while the controls did not. In addition to suggesting a novel approach to evaluating women's studies courses, the results provided preliminary validity for the FIDS and the model on which it was based.
Perceptions of Sexual Harassment: The Influence of Gender and Academic Context
Authors: Fitzgerald Louise F. , Ormerod Alayne J.
Published: July 2006

Two hundred eight faculty members and 314 graduate students located at a West Coast university were presented with 24 brief situations describing five types of sexual harassment in a university setting: gender harassment, seductive behavior, sexual bribery, sexual coercion, and sexual imposition or assault. The participants were randomly assigned to rate the situations under one of four instructional conditions that described combinations of the level of the student and authority of the faculty portrayed in the brief vignettes. Women were more likely than men to view less explicitly coercive situations as harassing; however, neither the target student's level (i.e., graduate or undergraduate) nor the degree of the faculty member's power over her affected the participants' ratings of the situations. The results indicated that, with the exception of the more coercive and intrusive behaviors, considerable uncertainty may still exist about what constitutes sexual harassment within the university setting.
Client Preference for Counselor Gender
Authors: Lee Stamler Virginia , Christiansen Martha D. , Staley Kathleen H. , Macagno-Shang Laura
Published: July 2006

This article presents the results of an investigation of male and female clients' expressed preferences for gender of their counselor. The study addressed two major comparisons: clients with a preference for therapist gender versus those without a preference, and clients with a preference for a male therapist versus those with a preference for a female therapist. LOGIT analyses indicate significant relationships among sex of the client, sex of the intake counselor, whether or not clients express a preference, and whether they express a preference for a male or female counselor. Results also suggest an influence of the sex of the intake counselor. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for counseling and research activities.
Ethical Issues in Feminist Therapy: Selected Topics
Authors: Brown Laura S.
Published: July 2006

This article describes ethical issues that have emerged from the past decade of feminist therapy practice in response to context-specific ethical dilemmas. The model of feminist therapy practice within small communities is used to illustrate the types of problems encountered and strategies for ethical practice used by feminist therapists. Two topics are examined in detail: boundary overlap between therapist and client, and role-related strains inherent in feminist therapy practice. The Feminist Therapy Institute (FTI) Ethical Code is drawn upon as a source of norms for ethical feminist practice, and specific examples are related to statements from the FTI Code regarding self-care and management of overlapping relationships.
Gender Biases in Textbooks for Introductory Psychology and Human Development
Authors: Peterson Sharyl Bender , Kroner Traci
Published: July 2006

Because of spreading concerns about gender stereotypes in textbooks, in 1975 an American Psychological Association Task Force recommended changes in the type of language that should be used to report research findings and in the type of information that should be included in reports of psychological research. These recommendations also applied to the presentation of psychological information in textbooks. Studies in the subsequent 7 years indicated some decrease in the use of sex-stereotyped language and some decrease in gender-biased content. Researchers typically concluded, however, that although some improvements had occurred, gender biases and stereotypes still occurred in texts. The present study reports an extensive content analysis of current textbooks for introductory psychology and human development courses. Representation of the work, theory, and behavior of males continues to significantly exceed the representation of the work, theory, and behavior of females, and females continue to be portrayed in negative and gender-biased ways.
Power and Influence Strategies in Violent and Nonviolent Marriages
Authors: Frieze Irene Hanson , McHugh Maureen C.
Published: July 2006

How important is the use of physical violence in determining the balance of power within marriage? Do women in violent marriages make more use of indirect strategies in attempting to persuade their husbands than do women in nonviolent marriages? Is marital satisfaction related to influence styles? These questions are investigated by looking at decision making in couples and how this is related to the forms of influence strategies used by wives and husbands in violent and nonviolent marriages. Data from in-depth structured interviews with 137 self-identified battered wives and 137 comparison wives, some of whom were also found to have experienced violence from their husbands, are used to answer these questions. Results indicated that women with violent husbands used more influence strategies overall, although these women had less overall power in terms of decision making than did women with nonviolent husbands. The relationship of influence strategies to decision making was different for women with violent husbands than for those whose husbands were not violent. As expected, the use of coercive strategies related negatively to marital happiness, whereas positive strategies were positively predictive. Violence and other negative strategies should be included in future research on influence strategies in close relationships, and a positive–negative dimension should be included as a way of categorizing influence strategies.
The Need for Power in Women Who Were Sexually Abused as Children
Authors: Liem Joan Huser , O'Toole Joan Gateley , James Jacquelyn Boone
Published: July 2006

Ten women who had been sexually abused as children and a matched group of women who had not been sexually abused participated in a preliminary study to explore the hypothesis that feelings of powerlessness and a compensatory need for power continue into adulthood for survivors of childhood sexual abuse. The Picture-Story Exercise (PSE) was used as an indirect assessment technique to determine the level of the need for power (McClelland, 1985; Winter, 1973, 1988). Results indicated that the stories of women with sexual abuse histories revealed a higher need for power and greater fear of power than those of nonabused women. Further content analysis of the PSE revealed that sexual abuse survivors' stories also contained more references to Finkelhor and Browne's (1986) dynamics of powerlessness, traumatic sexualization, betrayal, and stigmatization. These findings suggest important directions for future research as well as areas for therapeutic exploration.
Power Strategies in Interpersonal Relationships
Authors: Sagrestano Lynda M.
Published: July 2006

The present study was designed to examine the effects of both power and gender in the use of influence strategies. Women and men responded to three scenarios in which they interacted with an imagined partner in situations with different levels of interpersonal power: more power than their partner (expert), less power (novice), and the same amount of power (equivalent). Partners were either same sex or other sex. Participants used more direct strategies when they were experts and more indirect strategies when they were novices, and women and men were very similar in the strategies they selected. Overall, power differences had a more profound effect than gender in predicting the choice of influence strategies. What are often construed as gender differences in social influence probably are perceived power differences. As such, gender differences in behavior must be understood within a context of status and power.
The Shift in Power with Age
Authors: Friedman Ariella , Tzukerman Yael , Wienberg Hana , Todd Judith
Published: July 2006

Previous research has described an apparent shift in perceived interpersonal power towards equality between men and women later in life. This study investigated (a) whether the “shift in power with age” would appear in the Israeli kibbutz, (b) the role of the “parental emergency” in the shift, and (c) whether changes in behaviors or attitudes best account for the shift. One hundred twenty younger and older Israeli women and men, half from the city and half from the kibbutz, wrote TAT stories, which were then rated for overall power of the female and male characters, their power strategies, and their motives. A shift in perceived power with age was found in both the city and the kibbutz. Parental status reduced the power of the woman and increased the power of the man only in the city, whereas the reverse was true in the kibbutz. These results counter the “parental emergency” explanation for the shift in power with age. Furthermore, older women used traditionally feminine power strategies, but their behavior was evaluated as more powerful than the same behavior in younger women. Thus, it is not the behaviors but rather people's evaluation of the behaviors that changes across the life span of the individual.
Attitudes Toward Menopause
Authors: Gannon Linda , Ekstrom Bonnie
Published: July 2006

This research examined the influence of sociocultural paradigms of menopause on attitudes toward menopause. Five hundred eighty-one women and men, between the ages of 18 and 85, were assigned to one of three groups distinguished by the context within which they expressed their attitudes toward menopause. The contexts were designed to reflect particular paradigms: one group described their attitudes toward three medical problems, including menopause; a second group described their attitudes toward three life transitions, including menopause; and a third group described their attitudes toward three symbols of aging, including menopause. Positive and negative subscales of the attitude questionnaires for menopause were analyzed for context and age/experience. Results indicated that the medical context elicited significantly more negative and fewer positive attitudes than did the other two contexts, particularly among older participants. In general, women's attitudes were more positive than were men's, and attitudes became increasingly positive with age and/or experience. The discussion includes the potential role of attitudes as mediating the impact of sociocultural paradigms on experience and behavior.
Norwegian and French Women in high Leadership Positions
Authors: Apfelbaum Erika
Published: July 2006

This analysis of 50 French and Norwegian women in high positions of leadership stresses how gendered relations structuring private and professional lives will vary in different cultures according to their socio-historical contexts. The specific contexts of two Western European democracies, France and Norway, reveal a number of differences impacting on the careers and the construction of the personal and social identities of women leaders. Interviews were held with French women who (a) assumed pioneering leadership positions in the 1970s ( n = 10) and (b) who followed in the 1980s ( n = 20) and with Norwegian women leaders ( n = 20). Sixty percent of the total sample had held posts as cabinet or subcabinet ministers. Illustrations from their narratives, collected through semistructured interviews about their personal and professional itineraries, are used to discuss a number of questions from a comparative cultural perspective: the sense of double marginality, extraneity, lack of entitlement and vulnerability; role-model legitimation; feminism and the women's movement; political parity/mixity; gender consciousness and solidarity; and family and female—male interactions.
The Perceived Value of Direct and Indirect Influence Strategies:
Authors: Steil Janice M. , Hillman Jennifer L.
Published: July 2006

In this study, we assessed the generalizability of the Western preference for direct versus indirect influence strategies and its relation to participant sex, perceptions of participant power, and concerns for politeness among a sample of 138 American, 41 Japanese, and 44 Korean female and male college students. Regardless of cultural group or participant sex, direct strategies were reported as first choice strategies, whereas indirect strategies were cited as strategies of last resort. Participant power, not participant sex, was predictive of the students' reported strategy use. Although the American, Japanese, and Korean students were more similar than different on measures of perceived power and frequency of strategy use, concerns for politeness were reflected in the Japanese and Korean students' less confrontational strategy style.
Social Class, Social Change, and Gender
Authors: Stewart Abigail J. , Ostrove Joan M.
Published: July 2006

This article explores the implications of social class background in the lives of women who attended Radcliffe College in the late 1940s and in the early 1960s. Viewing social classes as “cultures” with implications for how individuals understand their worlds, we examined social class background and cohort differences in women's experiences at Radcliffe, their adult life patterns, their constructions of women's roles, and the influence of the women's movement in their lives. Results indicated that women from working-class backgrounds in both cohorts felt alienated at Radcliffe. Cohort differences, across social class, reflected broad social changes in women's roles in terms of the rates of divorce, childbearing, level of education, and career activity. There were few social class-specific social changes, but there were a number of social class differences among the women in the Class of 1964. These differences suggested that women from working-class backgrounds viewed women's marital role with some suspicion, whereas women from middle- and upper-class backgrounds had a more positive view. Perhaps for this reason, working-class women reported that the women's movement confirmed and supported their skeptical view of middle-class gender norms.
Regarding Gender: Essentialism, Constructionism, and Feminist Psychology
Authors: Bohan Janis S.
Published: July 2006

This article attempts to clarify two alternative understandings of gender—the essentialist and the constructionist—and to discuss the implications of each for feminist psychology. Essentialist construals of gender, represented by recent “cultural feminist” positions, are critiqued for the theoretical, empirical, and political concerns they raise. A constructionist position is offered as ameliorative, and lingering questions raised by this analysis are discussed.
The Meaning and Experience of Female Sexuality: A Phenomenological Analysis
Authors: Daniluk Judith C.
Published: July 2006

The influence of medicine, religion, media, and sexual violence in constructing and confining the experience and expression of female sexuality was underscored in this qualitative analysis of the sexual themes experienced in the lives of 10 adult women. Structural and institutional barriers to the development of female sexual health were identified. Areas of central importance to women for experiencing their sexuality included sexual expression, reproduction, body image, and intimate relationships. Both positive and negative themes were identified, emphasizing the importance for women of assuming an active role in the construction of our own sexual paradigms.
Rape Scripts and Rape Acknowledgment
Authors: Kahn Arnold S. , Mathie Virginia Andreoli , Torgler Cyndee
Published: July 2006

Past research has indicated that nearly half of college-aged women who experience forced, nonconsensual sexual intercourse, do not label their experience as rape. We found evidence that these unacknowledged rape victims possess more violent, stranger rape scripts than do acknowledged rape victims, who are more likely to have an acquaintance rape script. The difference in rape scripts between acknowledged and unacknowledged rape victims was not due to different demographics or actual rape experience. However, unacknowledged victims did have a sexual history which involved less force than did acknowledged victims. Apparently, most unacknowledged victims do not define their rape experience as rape because they have a rape script of a violent, stranger, blitz rape which does not match their experience of being raped in a less forceful manner by someone with whom they were acquainted. The extent to which their less forceful sexual histories is related to their more violent rape scripts remains to be investigated.
Gender and the Relationship Between Marital-Role Quality and Psychological Distress: A Study of Women and Men in Dual-Earner Couples
Authors: Barnett Rosalind C. , Brennan Robert T. , Raudenbush Stephen W. , Marshall Nancy L.
Published: July 2006

In this paper, we estimate the association between marital-role quality and psychological distress in a sample of 300 full-time employed women and men in dual-earner couples. We control for such individual-level variables as age, education, occupational prestige, and job-role quality, and for such couple-level variables as length of marriage, parental status, and household income. We then compare the magnitude of this effect for men and for women and for parents and nonparents. Results indicate that in dual-earner couples marital-role quality is significantly negatively associated with psychological distress for women as well as men and that the magnitude of the effect depends little, if at all, on gender or on parental status. These findings challenge the view that marital experiences more significantly influence women's mental health states than men's. The results are discussed in the context of identity theory.
Gender, Job and Family Conditions, and Psychological Symptoms
Authors: Hughes Diane L. , Galinsky Ellen
Published: July 2006

This study examined the hypothesis that gender differences in psychological distress are mediated by job and family role conditions. Previous research has failed to directly test such mediational hypotheses but rather has inferred effects of role conditions from simple role-occupancy variables. The sample consisted of full-time employed married respondents including 161 women with full-time employed spouses, 142 men with nonemployed spouses, and 126 men with full-time employed spouses. Although the sample reported low psychological symptomatology overall, the women in dual-earner families reported more psychological symptomatology than did either group of men. Hierarchical regression equations indicated that work and family conditions fully attenuated this gender differential. Women in dual-earner families also reported less job enrichment, less time at work, and more household labor inequity than did either group of men. They also reported more childcare difficulty than did men with nonemployed spouses. Work-family interference predicted psychological symptomatology and partially accounted for its relationship with some job and family conditions. We discuss processes through which gender affects psychological distress.
Placing Premenstrual Syndrome in Perspective
Authors: McFarlane Jessica Motherwell , Williams Tannis MacBeth
Published: July 2006

In a longitudinal prospective study, mood fluctuations were assessed for evidence of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) as well as other menstrual, day of week, and lunar cyclicity. Volunteer participants from the community (60 women and 10 men) provided daily data for 12 to 18 weeks. Significant mood fluctuation was determined by a new nonparametric method using each individual's own standard deviation as a measure of “marked” change. Cyclicity was the norm; two thirds of both the women and men had one or more menstrual or lunar phases or days of the week that were markedly positive and/or negative, relative to their own range, but few experienced stereotypical cyclicity (PMS, Monday blues, full moon). About half the women whose prospective data met conservative criteria for PMS, met liberal criteria, or met neither criteria said they had PMS, and half in each group said they did not.
Menstrual Joy
Authors: Chrisler Joan C. , Johnston Ingrid K. , Champagne Nicole M. , Preston Kathleen E.
Published: July 2006

Fifty female college students participated in a study of women's health. In a counterbalanced design, half of the participants completed the Menstrual Joy Questionnaire (MJQ) and the Menstrual Attitude Questionnaire (MAQ) in the first testing session. A week later they completed the Menstrual Distress Questionnaire (MDQ) and the Menstrual Attitude Questionnaire. The other participants completed the MDQ and MAQ in the first session and the MJQ and MAQ in the second. A multivariate analysis of variance revealed that those who received the MJQ first reported more positive cyclic changes on the MDQ and more positive attitudes on the MAQ. A follow-up study of 40 college students examined their responses to the MJQ. Participants reported that they were surprised or incredulous; most had not previously considered positive aspects of the menstrual cycle. Thirty percent reported that the MJQ had caused them to look at menstruation in a different way.
Can Meta-Analysis Make Feminist Transformations In Psychology?
Authors: Hyde Janet Shibley
Published: July 2006

Meta-analysis is a statistical method for literature reviewing. Metaanalyses of gender differences in verbal ability, spatial ability, mathematics performance, helping behavior, and sexuality illustrate the ways in which this technique can illuminate research on gender differences. Meta-analysis can make feminist transformations in psychology by: (a) challenging long-standing beliefs in gender differences, (b) demonstrating the extent to which gendered behavior is context-dependent and the product of gender roles, (c) examining the intersection between gender and race/ethnicity, and (d) providing powerful data to counter assertions of difference and female inferiority that proliferate in the popular media.
Reconsidering Research On Divorce, Family Life Cycle, And The Meaning Of Family
Authors: Rice Joy K.
Published: July 2006

This article analyzes functionalist and normative assumptions about marriage, divorce, family, and gender in developmental models of family life cycle. An interdisciplinary review of the literature in family development, family sociology, and family therapy reveals how a deficit comparison model implicitly informs the discourse in the study of single-parent families, women who are alone, and the adjustment of women and children to divorce. A feminist critique of family life cycle as the prevailing conceptual model in family development and therapy is presented, and postmodern definitions that deconstruct the concept of family are discussed. Future perspectives for research on family life and form are considered in terms of new action theory that considers divorce as a mode of resistance and change for women and families.
Reconceptualizing Issues That Affect Women's Sexual Decision-Making And Sexual Functioning
Authors: Wyatt Gail E. , Riederle Monika H.
Published: July 2006

This paper addresses five existing societal myths and their underlying faulty assumptions about women's sexuality. The following myths are examined: (a) women possess adequate sexual knowledge to understand their sexual needs, (b) they know how to communicate about sex, (c) they engage in sex because they want to do so, (d) if they are sexually active, they enjoy sex, and (e) they use their knowledge of sex to protect themselves from sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy. These myths need to be considered when conducting research and developing interventions designed to decrease women's sexual risk-taking. Research that assesses women's levels of factual sexual knowledge, comfort and skills discussing sexual information, and literacy is needed. The importance of examining ethnic, cultural, economic, religious, relationship factors, and psychological issues is discussed in order to encourage research relevant to women's sexual decision-making.
The Relationship Between Feminine Gender Role Stress, Body Image, And Eating Disorders
Authors: Martz Denise M. , Handley Kevin B. , Eisler Richard M.
Published: July 2006

The Feminine Gender Role Stress (FGRS) scale was used in two studies to determine whether eating disorders could be linked to the cognitive tendency among women to appraise specific situations as highly stressful because of rigid adherence to the traditional feminine gender role. Study 1 showed the FGRS scale could distinguish eating disorders from other psychiatric disorders in an inpatient setting and from normal college women. This suggests that women who have eating disorders report higher than usual levels of stress as a result of rigid adherence to the traditional feminine gender role. Study 2 looked at cardiovascular reactivity to a “feminine” (i.e., body image threat) and a control stressor and determined the FGRS scale could predict which women are threatened by feminine stressors. Results from these studies suggest feminine gender role stress may be the missing link between cultural values of femininity and vulnerability for eating disorders.
Measuring Perceptions Of The Working Environment For Women In Corporate Settings
Authors: Stokes Joseph , Riger Stephanie , Sullivan Megan
Published: July 2006

This study developed a scale to measure individual perceptions of dimensions of the work organization that contribute to a supportive or hostile environment for women. Based on analysis of survey data from 398 respondents working in corporate settings, a scale was developed to measure five dimensions: Dual Standards &Opportunities; Sexist Attitudes &Comments; Informal Socializing; Balancing Work &Personal Obligations; and Remediation Policies &Practices. Women perceived their work environments as significantly more hostile on all five dimensions than did men. Scores on the scale were related to intent to stay with the organization: For both men and women, the friendlier they perceived the work environment for women to be, the longer individuals intended to stay at the company.
Mentor Relationships And The Career Development Of Pregnant And Parenting African-American Teenagers
Authors: Klaw Elena L. , Rhodes Jean E.
Published: July 2006

The influence of natural mentor relationships on the career outlook of African-American pregnant and parenting teenagers was examined. More than half of the participants nominated adults they considered to be mentors. A path model indicated that mentor support was associated with increased life optimism, beyond its indirect effects on career activities and beliefs about the opportunity structure. These findings suggest that natural mentors are an important resource in the career development of pregnant and parenting African-American adolescents.