JournalTOCs

Sex Roles
Journal Prestige (SJR): 0.789

Citation Impact (citeScore): 2
Number of Followers: 18

Hybrid journal (It can contain Open Access articles)
ISSN (Print) 1573-2762 - ISSN (Online) 0360-0025
Published by Springer-Verlag

[2652 journals]

Correction to: Objectification and System Justification Impact Rape
Avoidance Behaviors
- Abstract: The correlation table (Table 1) erroneously listed the N as 160; n for correlations (using pairwise deletion) ranged between 279 and 293 and is now included in the table.
  PubDate: 2019-04-01
  DOI: 10.1007/s11199-018-0996-3
A Model of Threatening Academic Environments Predicts Women STEM Majors’
Self-Esteem and Engagement in STEM
- Abstract: The present study tested a model of threatening academic environments among a vulnerable population: women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Women in STEM are underrepresented and more likely to perceive their STEM educational environments as threatening than do men. U.S. Women majoring in STEM fields (n = 579) completed a questionnaire measuring each construct of a model of threatening academic environments proposed by Inzlicht et al. (2009). Supporting the model, greater gender stigma consciousness predicted greater gender-based rejection sensitivity. Gender rejection sensitivity predicted more negative perceptions of campus climate. More negative climate predicted more experiences of stereotype threat, which in turn predicted lower perceived control. Lower perceived control predicted greater disengagement from STEM domains, which predicted lower self-esteem. Differences also emerged between women in male- compared to female-dominated STEM subfields and between racial minority and majority women. This model describes how experiences of threatening environments may contribute to the underrepresentation of women in STEM. The model provides an overview for researchers, educators, and practitioners to better understand the relations among hostile STEM climates, experiences of identity threat, and academic disengagement. Interventions addressing environmental and individual factors in the model may improve retention and women’s experiences in STEM.
  PubDate: 2019-04-01
  DOI: 10.1007/s11199-018-0942-4
Gender Nonconformity Is Perceived Differently for Cisgender and
Transgender Targets
- Abstract: The present research examined the role gender non-conformity plays in attitudes toward transgender people. Study 1 with 232 U.S college students focused on attitudes toward female targets; Study 2 with 217 U.S. college students focused on male targets; and Study 3 with 462 mTurk workers directly compared attitudes toward female and male targets. In all three studies, participants read a vignette depicting either a transgender or cisgender target who presents as either gender conforming or gender nonconforming. In all three studies, we found that gender nonconforming targets and transgender targets were perceived as more threatening to the distinction between men and women, and in two of the studies, we found that gender conforming transgender targets were more threatening than conforming cisgender targets. We also found that anti-transgender prejudice, traditional gender role beliefs (Studies 1 and 2), and biological gender essentialism (Study 3) moderated these effects. Transgender targets who conform to the traditional binary gender role associated with their gender expression are perceived as transgressing distinct binary gender boundaries, which may be threatening because “passing” transgender individuals are harder to detect as transgressors and because their “passing” challenges the belief that gender is biologically essential and immutable. Furthermore, as anti-transgender prejudice, traditional gender role beliefs, and gender essentialist beliefs increase, liking decreased and threat increased for transgender and gender nonconforming targets. Working to alter gender essentialist beliefs may be a route to reducing anti-transgender prejudice.
  PubDate: 2019-04-01
  DOI: 10.1007/s11199-018-0947-z
Fewer, Younger, but Increasingly Powerful: How Portrayals of Women, Age,
and Power Have Changed from 2002 to 2016 in the 50 Top-Grossing U.S. Films
- Abstract: A content analysis by Lauzen and Dozier (2005) of the 88 top-grossing U.S. films of 2002 found ample evidence for inequality of gender and age representation: Men made up 72% of all characters; women past the age of 40 became less and less visible, whereas men remained visible throughout their 50s; and significant gender differences in terms of leadership and occupational power were found, with women holding fewer positions of occupational power and rarely shown in leadership roles. The current study sought to establish whether these gender and age representations continue to exist in films made almost 15 years later. Our analysis of the 50 top-grossing U.S. movies of 2016 found that women are still underrepresented in film (32.8% of all characters) but that this proportion improved significantly since 2002. Women in their 30s and men in their 40s are most overrepresented when compared to the U.S. population, and women over 60 are severely underrepresented. However, there was no gender difference in the proportion of major characters playing leadership roles, demonstrating social aggression, or possessing goals, all of which are noteworthy differences from the films of 2002. Female characters also made marginal strides in holding occupational power and in their displays of physical aggression. Additionally, we found that women achieved their goals at significantly higher rates than men did. Overall, although a disconnect still persists regarding the ratio of men to women in film, the presence and portrayal of both women and older characters has improved since 2002.
  PubDate: 2019-04-01
  DOI: 10.1007/s11199-018-0945-1
Objectification, Masculinity, and Muscularity: A Test of Objectification
Theory with Heterosexual Men
- Abstract: Objectification theory is increasingly used to explain the body image-related experiences of men because research indicates that men are at heightened risk for body image concerns because of sociocultural messages regarding appearance of the male body. Although researchers have explored body image concerns among men, it is important to understand various sociocultural correlates relating to their body image disturbances. Therefore, we introduced gender role conflict in the present study to better explain their drive for muscularity. Based on data from 473 heterosexual men in the United States, the proposed model demonstrated excellent data fit, although several of the paths were non-significant, suggesting mixed support for the utility of objectification theory in the context of men’s body image. Specifically, sexual objectification experiences did not uniquely predict self-objectification and body surveillance—key internalizing variables in the objectification theory framework—and these variables had multiple non-significant relationships with additional hypothesized variables. However, gender role conflict was significantly related to objectification theory variables, suggesting the importance of attending to this variable when understanding heterosexual men’s body image disturbances. A more parsimonious model—with non-significant paths removed—was also explored and demonstrated excellent data fit. Limitations, future areas of research, and practice implications are discussed.
  PubDate: 2019-04-01
  DOI: 10.1007/s11199-018-0940-6
Risk Factor or Protective Feature' The Roles of Grandiose and
Hypersensitive Narcissism in Explaining the Relationship between
Self-Objectification and Body Image Concerns
- Abstract: People who self-objectify perceive their bodies as objects which exist for the pleasure of others. Personality traits are important factors that might moderate the pathway between self-objectification and body image concerns. In the present paper, we explore if narcissism moderates this relationship, and we do so by exploring the facets of grandiose narcissism (associated with an inflated sense of self-importance) and hypersensitive narcissism (a more defensive and insecure narcissism). A convenience sample of 277 young Australian women (Mage = 21.34 years, SD = 3.25, range = 18–30) completed an online battery comprising measures of self-objectification, subclinical grandiose and hypersensitive narcissism, and measures designed to capture concerns related to body image. We found that hypersensitive narcissism, but not grandiose narcissism, predicted higher levels of self-objectification. Grandiose narcissism scores predicted lower levels of body shame and less weight discrepancy, indicating more positive body image, and also moderated the relationship between self-objectification and body shame (i.e., women who report lower levels of narcissism are more vulnerable to body shame associated with self-objectification). In contrast, hypersensitive narcissism scores predicted higher levels of both body shame and discrepancies in actual-ideal weight. These findings suggest that grandiose narcissism may have a protective relationship regarding body image in this population, whereas hypersensitive narcissism may be a risk factor.
  PubDate: 2019-04-01
  DOI: 10.1007/s11199-018-0948-y
Looking for a Family Man' Norms for Men Are Toppling in Heterosexual
Relationships
- Abstract: Gender norms indicate that men should be agentic and work-oriented rather than communal and family-oriented. Yet, this traditional expectation conflicts with findings that communion is highly valued in romantic partners. Moreover, because more women in industrialized countries are pursuing careers, they may increasingly seek family-oriented partners to share the second shift of family tasks. Investigating the attractiveness of communal, family-oriented men, we show that 87 female college students in Belgium evaluate more family-oriented men as generally more attractive (Study 1) and that especially college women in Belgium with high work ambitions seek communion and family orientation in ideal partners (Study 2, n = 224). Lastly, women in 198 Belgian heterosexual dual-earning couples are more satisfied with their lives and experience less work and family conflict the more their partner indicates that he is oriented toward his close family (Study 3). Together, our findings outline the contextualized nature of norms and add to knowledge on norm change, showing how gender equality may be fed through romantic relationships. Moreover, our findings suggest the importance of exploring men’s family orientations in couples therapy, and they call for counselors, as well as policymakers and Human Resources practitioners, to guide men in times of norm change to enable men to be family-oriented and to offer family-friendly work policies.
  PubDate: 2019-04-01
  DOI: 10.1007/s11199-018-0946-0
Navigating the Pathway to Leader Emergence in Self-Managed Work Groups
Over Time: Should I Self-Promote and Try to Emerge Initially as a
Leader'
- Abstract: Despite literature revealing the negative effects of self-promotion on important outcomes for women in interviews, there is limited attention on whether this relationship exists in a peer-to-peer context (e.g., self-managed work groups). Whereas men’s self-promotion is vital to attain interview success, work has shown that self-promoting men are not viewed favorably in a peer-to-peer setting. Moreover, most self-promotion research has focused on a single time point. It is thus a puzzle as to whether and when one should use self-promotion to emerge as a leader in a self-managed work group over time. My study addresses this gap. A longitudinal study spanning a thirteen-week period and involving 165 participants distributed across 44 self-managed work groups was performed. The results showed that, for women, there was a negative effect of self-promotion on leader emergence, and its effects subsequently accumulated. For men, self-promotion was critical to their leader emergence. The findings also indicated that emerging as a leader at the onset of a project serves as a springboard for subsequent leader emergence. Contrary to existing work, gender salience in work groups does not reduce over time. The present findings imply that managers need to be aware of possible biases in leader emergence ratings resulting from self-promotion if such ratings are utilized in their promotion decisions. Despite progressive improvements made with respect to gender-related issues over the years, societal expectations of gender norms in work groups appear to persist.
  PubDate: 2019-04-01
  DOI: 10.1007/s11199-018-0939-z
Gendered Morality and Backlash Effects in Online Discussions: An
Experimental Study on How Users Respond to Hate Speech Comments Against
Women and Sexual Minorities
- Abstract: Hate speech in online users’ comments is often targeted toward underprivileged social groups such as immigrants, sexual minorities, and women. Besides the general severity of such offenses, social media users’ personal characteristics influence the evaluation of hate comments. We focus on the flagging of hate comments aimed toward women and sexual minorities (i.e., the intention to report such comments as inappropriate to a moderator or platform provider of an online discussion forum). We investigate the influence of user’s morality on the intention to flag of such comments. Relying on social role and backlash theory, we scrutinize in how far gender plays a role in flagging intention and in how far people perceive hate comments by women as an act of double deviance. Therefore, we conducted a 2 × 2 online experiment with 457 participants (51% female) recruited through political interest groups and a German news magazine site on Facebook. Results indicate that moral judgments are to some extent gendered as women are more concerned about fairness and avoiding harm to others than men are. Deviant and agentic online behavior by women is judged more strictly than such behavior by men. Results implicate that moderators of online discussions and platform providers should be sensitive to how gender stereotypes influence online discussions.
  PubDate: 2019-04-01
  DOI: 10.1007/s11199-018-0941-5
Push-Ups Versus Clean-Up: Preschool Teachers’ Gendered Beliefs,
Expectations for Behavior, and Disciplinary Practices
- Abstract: Using data from observations in three U.S. preschools (nine classrooms total) and interviews with nine preschool teachers observed, the present qualitative study examines moments of gender socialization through disciplinary interactions in preschool classrooms. I ask: How do teachers’ expectations for children’s behaviors and use of disciplinary practices contribute to gender inequality in preschool' And, how do preschool teachers transmit and “do gender” through disciplinary practices and interactions' Using a grounded theory approach to data analysis, I find that in preschool, teachers discipline boys and girls differently and create gendered stories about why these differences exist. Teachers tell these gendered stories to account for, and justify, their gendered beliefs, expectations, and differential treatment of children during disciplinary interactions. Preschool teachers’ gendered beliefs are also associated with gendered disciplinary responses to children’s misbehavior in preschool classrooms. My data suggest that teachers’ gendered beliefs and expectations for behavior are related to how boys and girls are disciplined differently for engaging in the same behaviors. I argue that teachers’ gendered beliefs and gendered disciplinary interactions with children in preschool classrooms contribute to the embodiment and enforcement of gender and gender inequality in early childhood. My findings suggest that in preschool, gender differences continue to be constructed and reified as natural in young children.
  PubDate: 2019-04-01
  DOI: 10.1007/s11199-018-0944-2
Emotional Support Makes the Difference: Work-Family Conflict and
Employment Related Guilt Among Employed Mothers
- Abstract: In the present study we aimed to investigate the role of social support, particularly emotional support, on work-family conflict (WFC) and employment-related guilt among employed mothers. Achieving an optimal work-family balance is difficult, especially for employed mothers with young children. Previous research has found support to be a key factor in helping to alleviate conflict. However, determining which types of support are most beneficial is an important issue to be investigated. Using path analysis, we examined the effect of three sources of social support—emotional spousal support, emotional supervisory support, and instrumental spousal support—on WFC and employment-related guilt. Voluntary domestic support, paid domestic support, and number of children were control variables. Data were collected from 201 employed Turkish mothers who have at least one child below the age of 10. Participants were between 25 and 47 years-old (M = 33.6, SD = 4.4). Spousal and supervisory emotional support were significant predictors of WFC for employed mothers. Moreover, supervisory support was a significant predictor of employment-related guilt. Implications of the results are discussed with reference to cultural context, and recommendations are provided for professionals in the field.
  PubDate: 2019-03-22
  DOI: 10.1007/s11199-019-01035-x
Committed to STEM' Examining Factors that Predict Occupational
Commitment among Asian and White Female Students Completing STEM U.S.
Postsecondary Programs
- Abstract: Although it is well known that women have relatively high rates of attrition from STEM occupations in the United States, there is limited empirical research on the views and experiences of female STEM degree-earners that may underlie their commitment to their chosen fields. Utilizing survey data from 229 women completing STEM degrees at two U.S. universities, the present study examines how perceptions of occupational affordances and interactions with others in the field predict their occupational STEM commitment. Additionally, the study employs an intersectional lens to consider whether the patterns of association are different for Asian women and White women. Multivariate regression analyses reveal that although communal goal affordances do not significantly predict women’s occupational STEM commitment, agentic goal affordances are a strong predictor of such commitment. Regarding experiences with others in the field, results reveal that classmate interactions are not associated with STEM commitment, whereas positive faculty interactions do significantly predict such commitment. However, further analyses reveal racial differences in these patterns because agentic goal affordances are much weaker predictors of occupational STEM commitment for Asian women than for White women, and results indicate that faculty interactions are significant predictors of STEM commitment only for White women. Thus, our results strongly suggest that the theoretical models of motivation and support that underlie much of the discussion around women in STEM do not similarly apply to women from all racial backgrounds and that more research is needed that considers how both gender and race simultaneously shape STEM engagement and persistence.
  PubDate: 2019-03-22
  DOI: 10.1007/s11199-019-01038-8
The Femme Fatale Effect: Attractiveness is a Liability for
Businesswomen’s Perceived Truthfulness, Trust, and Deservingness of
Termination
- Abstract: In what we label the “femme fatale” effect, we proposed and found support for the notion that attractive businesswomen are judged as being less truthful than less attractive women for reasons rooted in sexual insecurity. In Study 1 (n = 198; U.S. participants), attractiveness predicted less perceived truthfulness for female, but not male, leaders delivering negative organizational news. Next, we revealed limitations of the lack-of-fit explanation; this effect persisted when the attractive woman was in a feminine role in Study 2 (n = 155; U.S. participants), in a feminine industry in Study 3 (n = 286; U.S. participants), and delivering positive rather than negative news in Study 4 (n = 148; U.S. participants). In Study 5 (n = 209; U.S. participants), the effect was eliminated when participants were primed to feel sexually secure, but maintained among those primed to feel generally secure, and truthfulness predicted trust in the target’s leadership. In Study 6 (n = 206; U.S. participants), we again eliminated the femme fatale effect by priming sexual security and extended our findings by demonstrating that perceptions of truthfulness predicted perceived deservingness of termination.
  PubDate: 2019-03-22
  DOI: 10.1007/s11199-019-01031-1
Gender Bias in Asylum Adjudications: Evidence for Leniency toward Token
Women
- Abstract: Gender is one of the most frequently studied variables in the literature on judicial decision-making. We add to this literature by hypothesizing that the impact of applicant gender is conditional on the gender balance in a judge’s caseload. We expect that female applicants receive more favorable decisions from judges whose caseload skews strongly male. Analyzing over 40,000 rulings by the Austrian Asylum Court between 2008 and 2013, we find support for direct gender effects for applicants and judges (yet no significant interaction between the two). We also show that gender balance in the caseload is a strong moderator of applicant gender. Judges with predominantly male caseloads are strongly biased toward female applicants, whereas judges facing a gender-balanced set of applicants display hardly any gender bias at all. These findings tackle essential questions of democratic rule of law and human rights. They indicate that applicants’ fundamental rights to a fair and equal trial may have been compromised. We discuss institutional remedies to reduce the potential for gender bias in Austrian asylum adjudication.
  PubDate: 2019-03-21
  DOI: 10.1007/s11199-019-01030-2
Estimating the Prevalence of Gender-Biased Language in
Undergraduates’ Everyday Speech
- Abstract: Research has shown that language can be gender-biased; however, little research has investigated the prevalence of this bias in everyday speech. Using recordings sampled from undergraduates’ daily conversations, we investigated two forms of gender bias: paternalism through use of the infantilizing label girl to refer to women and androcentrism through a tendency to use more masculine (e.g., man, guy) than feminine (e.g., girl, woman) labels in everyday speech. U.S. participants (n = 175) wore the Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR), a device that recorded sound samples from their environments for 30 s every 12.5 min, for up to 4 days. Verbatim transcripts were then analyzed for instances of commonly used labels for females and males (e.g., girl, woman, boy, man). Results indicated that the label girl surpassed all other labels for women, as well as boy labels for men. We also found evidence of a masculine-label bias: Participants used masculine labels more frequently than feminine labels overall. These findings indicate the need for future research to investigate the potential consequences of infantilizing and androcentric language as well as the need for teachers, professors, clinicians, and practitioners of all types to be mindful of how their speech may include, exclude, or infantilize people based on gender.
  PubDate: 2019-03-21
  DOI: 10.1007/s11199-019-01033-z
The Desire for Power and Perceptions of Heterosexual Romantic
Relationships: The Moderating Roles of Perceived Power and Gender
- Abstract: The purpose of the present studies was to examine whether the associations that the desire for power had with perceptions of the romantic relationship (e.g., relationship satisfaction, commitment) were moderated by perceived power and gender. Study 1 examined these associations in a sample of 376 U.S. heterosexual participants. Results showed that the desire for power had negative indirect associations with commitment through relationship satisfaction, investment, and quality of alternatives. Further, the association that the desire for power had with relationship satisfaction was moderated by perceived power and gender such that this association was especially strong for women who perceived themselves as having low levels of power. In addition, there was a significant negative association between the desire for power and commitment for men but not women. Study 2 examined both members of 74 U.S. heterosexual romantic couples. Results of dyadic analyses revealed that the desire for power reported by women was especially important for the perceptions of the romantic relationship for both members of the couple. For example, women who desired more power in their relationships reported less commitment and had male partners who were less committed to the relationship as well. Discussion focuses on the implications of these results for understanding the connections between power and perceptions of romantic relationships.
  PubDate: 2019-03-19
  DOI: 10.1007/s11199-019-01037-9
The Impact of Gendered Stereotypes on Perceptions of Violence:
A Commentary
- Abstract: The present commentary explores the impact of gender role stereotypes on perceptions of both intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual violence. Two papers published in this issue of Sex Roles explored the influence of gender stereotypes on both IPV (Bates et al. 2019) and rape myths (Klement et al. 2019). An overarching theme of these papers is how gender stereotypes may influence incorrect beliefs in how we view and approach interventions to these two types of violence. Reflecting on this convergence, we have come together as authors to consider how influential and damaging these stereotypes can be to victims of both partner violence and sexual violence. Our paper considers the nature of these stereotypes, who is harmed by them considering both gender and sexuality, and also the impact they have in societal and service responses to violence, as well as policy and practice development.
  PubDate: 2019-03-13
  DOI: 10.1007/s11199-019-01029-9
Characteristics of Preschool Gender Enforcers and Peers Who Associate with
Them
- Abstract: Children who try to exclude others due to their gender can be considered as “gender enforcers.” Using multiple methods (observations, interviews) and informants (children, teachers, teacher aides), we investigated the prevalence of gender enforcement, the characteristics of gender enforcers, and potential associations of exposure to gender enforcers. Participants were 98 (Mage = 49.47 months, SD = 11.40; 52% boys) preschoolers from a southwestern city in the United States. Results showed that both girls and boys engage in gender-enforcing behavior. Further, findings suggest that aggression and biased gender-related beliefs are associated with gender-enforcing behavior. Children who spent more time (over months) with enforcers were observed to play more with same-gender peers and to show more biased gender cognitions than were children who spent less time with enforcers. The study extends our understanding of how gender norms are enforced in early childhood, and it provides insights that may help to identify young gender enforcers. These findings have potential to inform future research and practice related to gender-based aggression in childhood.
  PubDate: 2019-03-08
  DOI: 10.1007/s11199-019-01026-y
Situating Oneself in the Intersectional Hierarchy: Racially Diverse,
Low-Income Women Discuss Having Little Agency in Vasectomy Decisions
- Abstract: Few studies are qualitative explorations of intimate partners’ conversations among racially/ethnically diverse adults about contraception, in particular, sterilization. Sterilization is an interesting case study given its permanency and the fact that it is a possible procedure for both men and women. More research is needed because sterilization decisions can reveal complex social relationships built on gender, class, race, and power that resonate throughout many parts of societies. The present paper draws on ideas of power/agency as they intersect with gender, race, and class in an analysis of 40 semi-structured interviews of a racially/ethnically diverse group of low-income U.S. women with male partners as they recall their sterilization discussions with their intimate partners before they themselves were voluntarily sterilized. The results offer insight into how class and racial and gender norms influence reproductive behaviors. Whereas a majority of these women displayed agency in female sterilization decisions, they had little control over male partners’ vasectomy decisions, which they attributed to their place in a racial/ethnic and gender hierarchy by utilizing ambiguous, unidimensional definitions of “machismo.” These results give insights into the conceptual complexity of contraceptive power and control as well as understandings of how gendered and racialized norms at individual and structural levels influence reproductive behaviors and perpetuate harmful gender stereotypes of both men and women.
  PubDate: 2019-03-05
  DOI: 10.1007/s11199-019-01027-x
Picture Perfect: The Relationship between Selfie Behaviors,
Self-Objectification, and Depressive Symptoms
- Abstract: Social media use has been linked to depression, although there is evidence that how one uses social media matters. Self-objectification may influence social media-related behaviors, such as taking many pictures before posting and using photo editing. These may be related to negative outcomes, perhaps because they contribute to feeling disingenuous online. These relationships were explored in the context of selfie posting on Instagram among a sample of young U.S. women who completed self-report measures. Mediation analyses were used to determine whether self-objectification, operationalized as body surveillance, predicted depressive symptoms serially mediated by either (a) taking multiple pictures before posting or (b) photo-manipulation as well as through feeling disingenuous online. In the first model, body surveillance predicted taking multiple selfies before posting which, in turn, related to feelings of depression. Taking multiple selfies before posting was not related to feelings of deception. In the second model, there was a significant four-variable indirect effect wherein self-objectification predicted depression through photo manipulation and feelings of disingenuousness online. The present study shows that there are specific behaviors that women, especially those who self-objectify, engage in before actively using social media that can relate to negative consequences. Understanding how self-objectification impacts social media behaviors can help women became more aware of their engagement in potentially problematic behaviors and work toward self-acceptance.
  PubDate: 2019-03-05
  DOI: 10.1007/s11199-019-01025-z