Sex differences in the evaluation and performance of dominant acts.

D. Bakan (see PA, Vol 41:2200) conceptualizes 2 major modes of existence: agency and communion. In the agentic (masculine) mode, the individual is concerned with self-protection, self-assertion, and self-enhancement. Communion involves concern with the larger group of which one is a part. Two studies were conducted to explore these distinctions in the domain of dominance. In the 1st, 57 undergraduates evaluated 100 acts, previously and independently nominated as dominant, on their social desirability. Male raters judged self-enhancing and self-asserting acts (e.g., flattering someone to get one's way) as relatively more desirable than did female raters, who judged group-oriented, communal acts (e.g., introducing a speaker at a meeting) as more desirable. In the 2nd study, 83 Ss examined sex differences in the behaviors that express dominance. Dominant men tended to express their dominance through both communal and agentic acts, whereas dominant women tended to express dominance primarily through group-oriented actions. Results lend support to the agency/communion conceptualization and suggest sex-linked differentiation of dominant behavior. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessing Interpersonal Perceptions Using the Interpersonal Grid.

Three studies were conducted using the interpersonal grid, a method for assessing perceptions of agentic and communal behavior based on the interpersonal circumplex. The 1st examined consistency across perceivers and convergence between perceiver and the perceived person. The 2nd examined whether responses to the interpersonal grid were sensitive to an experimental manipulation of portrayed agency and communion. The 3rd used the interpersonal grid in an event-contingent recording study. The reliability and validity of the measure were supported by findings demonstrating generalizability across perceivers, generalizability across perceptions of events involving the same person, convergence between perceiver and perceived person, and sensitivity to changes in levels of agency and communion. Applications of the interpersonal grid to clinical practice and research are described. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cross-situational generality and the interpersonal circumplex.

Four traits of the interpersonal circumplex, dominance, submissiveness, agreeableness, and quarrelsomeness, were measured using experience sampling. Participants monitored their behavior for 20 days. For each social interaction, they recorded behaviors and information about the situation. Two sets of situations, agentic and communal, were defined on the basis of information about the relationship of the other person with the participant. Results suggested general guidelines for expectations about magnitudes of cross-situational generality. For these broad traits of the interpersonal circumplex, there was modest to low generality across agentic situations in which individuals varied in power and status (supervisor and co-worker). Cross-situational generality was moderately high across communal situations (acquaintances and friends). Behavior toward a romantic partner was distinct from behavior toward close friends and acquaintances. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The use of differentiation and integration processes: Empirical studies of "separate" and "connected" ways of thinking.

Two studies investigated the prediction that differentiation would be used by individuals concerned with separateness, personal agency, and power, whereas integration would be used by individuals concerned with relatedness, interpersonal communion, and intimacy. In Exp 1, women who reexperienced a personal event linked to communal issues used more integration (relative to differentiation) when evaluating target persons than did men who reexperienced a personal event linked to agency. Exp 2 demonstrated that in situations that were congruent with their motives, intimacy-motivated women and men used more integration (relative to differentiation) when evaluating target persons than did power-motivated men and women. Findings suggest that differentiation and integration may serve different and specific functions related to the concerns of individuals in particular social contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of motives in the content and structure of autobiographical memory.

Findings from 4 studies suggest that differentiation and integration are used by individuals high in agency and communion to structure motive-related information in episodic memory. Studies 1 and 2 demonstrated that agentic and communal individuals recalled more emotional experiences related to their motives, and that agentic individuals used more differentiation whereas communal individuals used more integration to structure these memories. Study 3 showed that agentic and communal individuals used more differentiation and integration to structure memories about social separation and connection, respectively. Study 4 demonstrated a similar pattern of recall in an experimentally controlled retrieval task. For a motive-congruent topic, agentic individuals recognized more differentiated information and had fewer differentiation recognition errors, and communal individuals freely recalled more integration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Generativity and social motives in young adults.

Different forms of generativity in the writings of E. H. Erikson (1950/1963) and J. Kotre (1984) were related to agentic and communal motives in a sample of young adults (M?=?28 yrs old). For women, the power motive related to parenting, whereas the achievement motive was associated with forms of generative expression outside of the household. The opposite pattern of achievement and power motive relationships was found for men, although in a weaker form. The affiliation–intimacy motive, on the other hand, related both to women's parenting and societal concerns. Differences in expectations and opportunities for young men and women may account for these gender differences. The results for women support D. P. McAdams's (1988) suggestions that agency and communion are important for understanding generativity. In addition, the results provide evidence that people begin to grapple with generative issues as young adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Implications of agency and communion for patient and spouse adjustment to a first coronary event

The present study examined the effects of agency and communion on psychological adjustment to a 1st coronary event. Patients were interviewed about agency and communion and psychological adjustment in the hospital shortly before discharge (Time 1) and then reinterviewed along with spouses in their homes 3 months after discharge (Time 2). It was hypothesized that the extreme agentic orientation (unmitigated agency) and the extreme communal orientation (unmitigated communion) would be associated with poor adjustment for patients and spouses but that agency would promote self adjustment and communion would promote partner adjustment. In general, results confirmed predictions. It was suggested that the most distressed couples consist of a patient high in unmitigated agency and a spouse high in unmitigated communion. Although patients in such couples did not evidence the most distress, spouses did.     

Exposure to Benevolent Sexism and Complementary Gender Stereotypes: Consequences for Specific and Diffuse Forms of System Justification.

Many have suggested that complementary gender stereotypes of men as agentic (but not communal) and women as communal (but not agentic) serve to increase system justification, but direct experimental support has been lacking. The authors exposed people to specific types of gender-related beliefs and subsequently asked them to complete measures of gender-specific or diffuse system justification. In Studies 1 and 2, activating (a) communal or complementary (communal + agentic) gender stereotypes or (b) benevolent or complementary (benevolent + hostile) sexist items increased support for the status quo among women. In Study 3, activating stereotypes of men as agentic also increased system justification among men and women, but only when women's characteristics were associated with higher status. Results suggest that complementary stereotypes psychologically offset the one-sided advantage of any single group and contribute to an image of society in which everyone benefits through a balanced dispersion of benefits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Agency, communion, and well-being: Extending Helgeson's (1994) model.

V. S. Helgeson (1994) offered a promising model to explain sex differences in well-being. Three meta-analyses of gender research relevant to this model are provided along with an empirical investigation of the relations between agency and communion, unmitigated agency and unmitigated communion, and self- and peer reports of well-being and distress in a sample of 201 college students. The results extended Helgeson's model by showing that agency and communion can be assessed at the level of interests and role behaviors and that the association of agentic traits with well-being may be inflated by self-reports. Results also point to problems in distinguishing trait measures of agency from unmitigated communion and communion from unmitigated agency. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The his and hers of prosocial behavior: An examination of the social psychology of gender.

Prosocial behavior consists of behaviors regarded as beneficial to others, including helping, sharing, comforting, guiding, rescuing, and defending others. Although women and men are similar in engaging in extensive prosocial behavior, they are different in their emphasis on particular classes of these behaviors. The specialty of women is prosocial behaviors that are more communal and relational, and that of men is behaviors that are more agentic and collectively oriented as well as strength intensive. These sex differences, which appear in research in various settings, match widely shared gender role beliefs. The origins of these beliefs lie in the division of labor, which reflects a biosocial interaction between male and female physical attributes and the social structure. The effects of gender roles on behavior are mediated by hormonal processes, social expectations, and individual dispositions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender and letters of recommendation for academia: Agentic and communal differences.

In 2 studies that draw from the social role theory of sex differences (A. H. Eagly, W. Wood, & A. B. Diekman, 2000), the authors investigated differences in agentic and communal characteristics in letters of recommendation for men and women for academic positions and whether such differences influenced selection decisions in academia. The results supported the hypotheses, indicating (a) that women were described as more communal and less agentic than men (Study 1) and (b) that communal characteristics have a negative relationship with hiring decisions in academia that are based on letters of recommendation (Study 2). Such results are particularly important because letters of recommendation continue to be heavily weighted and commonly used selection tools (R. D. Arvey & T. E. Campion, 1982; R. M. Guion, 1998), particularly in academia (E. P. Sheehan, T. M. McDevitt, & H. C. Ross, 1998). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Drug use, agency, and communality: Causes and consequences among adults.

Certain causes and consequences of drug use may be unique to young adults and might involve gender-role expectations that women are most directed toward communality issues, whereas men are concerned with agentic tasks. Failure in these gender-specific tasks would lead to an increase in future drug use and earlier drug use would hinder the development of these skills for men and women. Data were obtained in 1984 and 1988 from 391 women and 156 men in their early to mid 20s as part of a 12-yr longitudinal study of adolescent development and drug use. Analyses were conducted with structural equation models incorporating repeatedly measured constructs of polydrug use, communality, and agency. Results generally supported these expectations when both specific and general effects were considered. In addition, women's drug use also interfered with their agentic goals and men's drug use damaged their communal relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relation of agency and communion to well-being: Evidence and potential explanations.

There are pervasive sex differences in psychological and physical well-being, many of which can be linked to the differential socialization of men and women. Numerous studies have linked psychological masculinity and femininity to well-being. In the present article, this literature is explained by focusing on the specific personality traits captured by conventional measures of masculinity and femininity: agency (focus on self and forming separations) and communion (focus on others and forming connections), respectively. Both agency and communion are required for optimal well-being (D. Bakan, 1966); when one exists in the absence of the other (unmitigated communion or unmitigated agency), however, negative health outcomes occur. Research that is consistent with this idea is presented, and the processes by which unmitigated agency and unmitigated communion affect well-being are explored. These processes involve control, social support, and health behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Work preferences, life values, and personal views of top math/science graduate students and the profoundly gifted: Developmental changes and gender differences during emerging adulthood and parenthood.

Work preferences, life values, and personal views of top math/science graduate students (275 men, 255 women) were assessed at ages 25 and 35 years. In Study 1, analyses of work preferences revealed developmental changes and gender differences in priorities: Some gender differences increased over time and increased more among parents than among childless participants, seemingly because the mothers’ priorities changed. In Study 2, gender differences in the graduate students’ life values and personal views at age 35 were compared with those of profoundly gifted participants (top 1 in 10,000, identified by age 13 and tracked for 20 years: 265 men, 84 women). Again, gender differences were larger among parents. Across both cohorts, men appeared to assume a more agentic, career-focused perspective than women did, placing more importance on creating high-impact products, receiving compensation, taking risks, and gaining recognition as the best in their fields. Women appeared to favor a more communal, holistic perspective, emphasizing community, family, friendships, and less time devoted to career. Gender differences in life priorities, which intensify during parenthood, anticipated differential male-female representation in high-level and time-intensive careers, even among talented men and women with similar profiles of abilities, vocational interests, and educational experiences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social comparison, self-stereotyping, and gender differences in self-construals.

Four studies examined gender differences in self-construals and the role of social comparison in generating these differences. Consistent with previous research, Study 1 (N=461) showed that women define themselves as higher in relational interdependence than men, and men define themselves as higher in independence/agency than women. Study 2 (N=301) showed that within-gender social comparison decreases gender differences in self-construals relative to a control condition, whereas between-genders comparison increases gender differences on both relational interdependence and independence/agency. Studies 3 (N=169) and 4 (N=278) confirmed these findings and showed that changing self-construal changes gender differences in social dominance orientation. Across the 4 studies, strong evidence for the role of in-group stereotyping as mediator of the effect of gender on self-construal was observed on the relational dimension but not on the agentic dimension. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The dynamics of masculine-agentic and feminine-communal traits: Findings from a prospective study.

A reciprocal impact hypothesis posits an influence of gender-related traits (agency and communion) on role enactment and a reciprocal impact of role enactment on gender-related traits, for both men and women. Specifically, in this study it was predicted that agency influences career success and career success influences agency. In addition, the reciprocal influence of communion and family roles was examined. A prospective study with almost 2,000 university graduates, who were tested after graduation and 1.5 years later, clearly supported the reciprocal impact hypothesis for agency and career success. Communion influenced family roles, but there was no reciprocal influence. Implications for theories of career success and of sex and gender are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The mitigation of interpersonal behavior.

Theorists since D. Bakan (1966) have advocated the importance of mitigation for successful adaptation within the interpersonal domain. Although mitigation has previously been conceptualized as a balance between agency and communion (interdimensional mitigation), the circumplex framework suggests that mitigation may also be conceptualized as a balance within agency and a balance within communion (intradimensional mitigation). In the two present studies, participants collected records of their interpersonal behavior and affect subsequent to their social interactions for a period of 20 days. Random coefficient procedures were then used to examine these two contrasting models of mitigation in the prediction of affect. No empirical evidence of interdimensional mitigation was found. The findings suggest that agency and communion were each mitigated intradimensionally through moderate levels of behavioral expression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What we think we do (to each other): How personality can bias behavior schemas through the projection of if–then profiles.

People's knowledge about others includes not only person schemas about the typical traits of others but also behavior schemas about the likely interpersonal consequences of different behaviors. In this article, it is argued that perceiver effects can be interactive at the level of behavior schemas. A person's own personality configuration of if–then responses in social interactions (Mischel & Shoda, 1995) may contribute to that person's beliefs about the meaning and impact of relational behaviors more generally. In consequence, people who experience strong (or weak) responses to behaviors that vary along a particular trait dimension, such as warmth–coldness, may expect others to experience similarly strong (or weak) responses to those same kinds of behaviors. In 3 studies, people who were high in trait communion expected others to respond more strongly to behaviors that varied in warmth–coldness than did people who were low in trait communion, and people who were low in trait agency expected others to respond more strongly to behaviors that varied in assertiveness–unassertiveness than did people who were high in trait agency. Studies 2 and 3 provided evidence that participants' behavior schemas were based on assumptions derived from their own if–then personality profiles. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)