Facial Appearance, Gender, and Emotion Expression.

Western gender stereotypes describe women as affiliative and more likely to show happiness and men as dominant and more likely to show anger. The authors assessed the hypothesis that the gender-stereotypic effects on perceptions of anger and happiness are partially mediated by facial appearance markers of dominance and affiliation by equating men's and women's faces for these cues. In 2 studies, women were rated as more angry and men as more happy-a reversal of the stereotype. Ratings of sadness, however, were not systematically affected. It is posited that markers of affiliation and dominance, themselves confounded with gender, interact with the expressive cues for anger and happiness to produce emotional perceptions that have been viewed as simple gender stereotypes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex typing and gender ideology: Two facets of the individual's gender psychology that go together.

Three studies tested the hypothesis that gendered personality dispositions are related to gender attitudes and gender discriminatory behaviors. In Study 1, sex-typed individuals were more likely than androgynous, undifferentiated, and cross-sex-typed individuals to accept gender rules designating culturally appropriate behavior for men and women. In Study 2, sex-typed individuals were particularly likely to pay attention spontaneously to the sex of job applicants and then to devalue the interview performances of women. In Study 3, only sex-typed men tended to endorse sexist language. As expected, sex typing and gender ideology go together. This relation between two facets of the individual's gender psychology indicates that some sex role inventories may tap more than expressivity and instrumentality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in intensity of emotional experience: A social role interpretation.

According to gender role theory, women's greater emotional intensity than men's stems from normative expectations for sex differences that arise as a result of men's and women's social roles. In Exp 1, endorsement of normative expectations for sex differences was associated with sex differences in Ss' own emotions: To the extent that they endorsed stereotypical differences between men and women, female Ss reported personally experiencing emotions of greater intensity and male Ss reported experiencing emotions of lesser intensity. The 2nd study manipulated expectations for responsiveness while Ss viewed a series of emotion-inducing slides. When instructions rendered normative expectations comparable for men and women, no sex differences were obtained in emotion self-reports. Furthermore, women evidenced more extreme electromyograph physiological responding than men, suggesting general sex differences in emotion that are not limited to self-report. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fluctuations of sex-related self-attributions as a function of stage of family life cycle.

In a cross-sectional study, sex-related self-attributions of 426 women and 378 men were assessed at 8 stages in the family life cycle. It was hypothesized that sex differences are not fixed in adulthood but fluctuate according to the demand characteristics of various life situations. Factor analysis of the Bem Sex-Role Inventory yielded 9 factors, providing a more precise evaluation of how desirable and undesirable aspects of instrumentality and expressivity vary throughout adulthood. The majority of effects were related to stage of family life and not age. On 1-way ANOVA, compassion and tenderness showed stage-of-life effects for both sexes, but autonomy and leadership showed effects only for men. Cross-sex-typed attributes were prominent during grandparenthood, with a rise in expressiveness for men and a rise in autonomy for women. Men were more autonomous and less acquiescent than women during expectancy and young parenthood but not at other stages. Women showed more tenderness than men at all stages except among the married-childless and grandparents. There were few sex differences across the different states of life in nonassertiveness and social inhibitions. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender and perceived pay entitlement: Testing for effects of experience with income.

This article reports on 2 studies where variations on a research design from the literature on gender and perceived pay entitlement were used to test for effects of past pay experience and salience of the pay experience for the participants. In Study 1 with 72 undergraduates, level of previous income was not a predictor of self-payment behavior for women or men, and men allocated more pay to themselves than did women. In Study 2 with 74 undergraduates, women and men did not differ on perceived entitlement when the income and work experience were made salient, but they did in the nonsalient condition, as in Study 1. Also, past income and self-pay were positively correlated for women in the salient condition. Further, when the data from Study 1 and Study 2 from the same condition (past income nonsalient) were combined, those with the higher previous income level paid themselves more than did others, among both men and women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-focused attention, gender, gender role, and vulnerability to negative affect.

Research has independently shown that both gender and self-focused attention are linked to depression. In this article, we report a series of studies investigating the relation between these variables. Using a standard self-focusing manipulation, Study 1 suggested that women evidence a greater propensity to self-focus than men. We replicated these findings in Study 2. In Study 3, we conducted an experiment to determine if sex role in conjuction with experimentally increased self-focused attention would lead to more emotional distress after a negative event had occurred. Results suggested that feminine individuals who received a self-focusing manipulation responded with greater levels of self-focused attention and negative affect than did any other group. We interpreted findings in terms of a tendency to self-focus that might prime feminine people to experience depression, or alternately, as a lack of self-focusing that may insulate masculine individuals from the experience of depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Affective dimensions of attachment styles: Exploring self-reported attachment style, gender, and emotional experience among college students.

This study explored the relationships among self-reported attachment styles, gender, and several aspects of subjective emotional experience pertinent to the counseling situation: (a) attention to emotion, (b) intensity of emotion, and (c) emotional expressivity. Four self-report measures, including an adult attachment style questionnaire and 3 measures of emotion, were given to 140 undergraduates. Results show that attachment groups could be distinguished on the basis of their emotional experience along 2 dimensions: (a) expressivity and (b) "intentness," a combination of attention and intensity. Men and women could be distinguished on a combination of all 3 dependent measures. Gender differences were less prominent, however, when men and women within the same attachment style were compared. Implications for counseling are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Handshaking, gender, personality, and first impressions.

Although people's handshakes are thought to reflect their personality and influence our first impressions of them, these relations have seldom been formally investigated. One hundred twelve participants had their hand shaken twice by 4 trained coders (2 men and 2 women) and completed 4 personality measures. The participants' handshakes were stable and consistent across time and coders. There were also gender differences on most of the handshaking characteristics. A firm handshake was related positively to extraversion and emotional expressiveness and negatively to shyness and neuroticism; it was also positively related to openness to experience, but only for women. Finally, handshake characteristics were related to the impressions of the participants formed by the coders. These results demonstrate that personality traits, assessed through self-report, can predict specific behaviors assessed by trained observers. The pattern of relations among openness, gender, handshaking, and first impressions suggests that a firm handshake may be an effective form of self-promotion for women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conflict over emotional expression: Psychological and physical correlates.

This study addresses the construct of conflict or ambivalence over emotional expression. Ambivalence is seen as an important mediator in the link between emotional styles and psychological and physical well-being. Using the "personal striving" framework, a questionnaire measure of ambivalent emotional strivings (AEQ) was designed. In Study 1, 292 Ss completed this measure along with questionnaire measures of expressiveness, social desirability, and intense ambivalence. Women scored significantly higher than men on both the AEQ and expressiveness. In Study 2, scores on the AEQ were found to be negatively correlated with self-reported and peer-rated expressiveness. In Study 3, 48 Ss participated in a 21-day study of mood and health. Expressiveness was positively correlated with some measures of well-being and with daily negative affect. Ambivalence was positively correlated with several indices of psychological distress. Although the AEQ correlated with questionnaire measures of physical symptomatology, neither the AEQ nor the expressiveness measures correlated with daily symptom reports. Results support the contention that conflict over emotional expressiveness is a variable worthy of study in its own right, having implications for research on personality and health. (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)     

Gender differences in the age-changing relationship between instrumentality and family contact in emerging adulthood.

Data from the Children in the Community Transitions Study were used to examine gender differences in the impact of family contact on the development of finance and romance instrumentality from ages 17 to 27 years. Family contact decreased among both men and women across emerging adulthood, although it decreased more rapidly in men than in women. Both finance and romance instrumentality increased for men and women across emerging adulthood. The growth rate did not differ between men and women in either domain, although men tended to be characterized by higher levels of instrumentality than women. There were noteworthy gender differences in the impact of family contact on the development of instrumentality. At age 17, family contact was negatively associated with instrumentality for both men and women; at age 27, the impact of family contact on instrumentality was less negative for women and was positive for men. (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)     

Emotion and aging: Experience, expression, and control.

Age differences in emotional experience, expression, and control were investigated in 4 studies. A community sample of 127 African Americans and European Americans (ages 19–96 years) was used in Study 1; a community sample of 82 Chinese Americans and European Americans (ages 20–85 years) was used in Study 2; a community sample of 49 Norwegians drawn from 2 age groups (ages 20–35 years and 70+ years) was used in Study 3; and a sample of 1,080 American nuns (ages 24–101 years) was used in Study 4. Across studies, a consistent pattern of age differences emerged. Compared with younger participants, older participants reported fewer negative emotional experiences and greater emotional control. Findings regarding emotional expressivity were less consistent, but when there were age differences, participants reported lesser expressivity. Results are interpreted in terms of increasingly competent emotion regulation across the life span. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sexuality and the commission of physical violence to partners and non-partners by men and women.

In 2 studies of physical violence and sexuality among college students, more than 75% of men and more than 60% of women reported committing physical violence in the past year, including more women to partners and more men to non-partners. More than 90% of men who committed violence to partners were also violent to non-partners. In Study 1, among 193 men and 203 women, people who committed violence had higher scores on sexual depression and general depression than did people who were not violent. People violent to non-partners had more sexual preoccupation and more alcohol use problems than did other people. In Study 2, among 160 college men and 138 college women, people in 4 violence groups did not differ in total sexual fantasies or sexual functioning. The findings support the importance of differentiating between violence toward partners and toward non-partners among both men and women and suggest a role of depression in partner violence and antisocial features in violence toward non-partners. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ethnicity, desirable responding, and self-reports of abuse: A comparison of European- and Asian-ancestry undergraduates.

One thousand fifty-two (582 non-Asian, 470 Asian) university students were assessed regarding levels of physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, and socially desirable responding. Differences between Asian-ancestry and European-ancestry students in self-reported incidence and expression of abuse were evaluated, as was gender and the relation between self-reported abuse and socially desirable responding. Asian-ancestry men and women reported higher levels of physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect than did their Euro-ancestry counterparts, and Euro-ancestry women reported a higher incidence of sexual abuse than did Asian-ancestry women. Across ethnicity, men reported higher levels of physical abuse and neglect but lower levels of sexual abuse than did women. Socially desirable responding was not related to measures of abuse. Findings are discussed in terms of cultural influences on child-rearing and disciplinary practices. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender-related traits and helping behaviors.

Explored the relation between gender-related instrumental and expressive traits and bystander intervention. 91 male and 83 female undergraduates participated in either a 2- or a 4-person group discussion, carried on via an intercom, during which one of the purported participants (18 undergraduate confederates served) supposedly fainted and fell to the floor. Relationships were determined between helping behavior and scores on the M (instrumentality) and F (expressiveness) scales of the Personal Attributes Questionnaire. In both experimental conditions, men high in instrumentality were less likely to respond than low-scoring men, thus replicating findings obtained by D. M. Tice and R. F. Baumeister (see record 1986-01161-001) with a group of men and women. A high degree of expressiveness in men was also associated with lesser responding. These results were contrary to those reported by P. Senneker and C. Hendrick (see record 1984-12171-001), who found with a group of women that instrumentality facilitated helping behaviors. Nonsignificant results were found in females, but the trends were in the same direction as those reported by Senneker and Hendrick. A theoretical analysis integrating these disparate findings is presented. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Student evaluations of college instructors: Effects of type of course taught, instructor gender and gender role, and student gender.

The college curriculum is often separated into divisions or course types (e.g., natural science, the arts) that may be perceived to differ in the extent to which they use expressive feminine attributes (e.g., affectionate, sensitive) and instrumental masculine attributes (e.g., assertive, forceful). In Experiment 1, the effects of course type, student gender, and instructor gender and gender role on student evaluations of instructor effectiveness were examined. In Exp 2, students' perceptions of the importance of various gender role characteristics in instructors of different course types were explored. Results suggest that instructor gender role is more important than instructor gender in affecting student evaluations. Both female and male students preferred instructors (science instructors, in particular) who possessed both feminine and masculine characteristics, regardless of the gender of the instructor. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Graphing the order of the sexes: Constructing, recalling, interpreting, and putting the self in gender difference graphs.

Graphs seem to connote facts more than words or tables do. Consequently, they seem unlikely places to spot implicit sexism at work. Yet, in 6 studies (N = 741), women and men constructed (Study 1) and recalled (Study 2) gender difference graphs with men’s data first, and graphed powerful groups (Study 3) and individuals (Study 4) ahead of weaker ones. Participants who interpreted graph order as evidence of author “bias” inferred that the author graphed his or her own gender group first (Study 5). Women’s, but not men’s, preferences to graph men first were mitigated when participants graphed a difference between themselves and an opposite-sex friend prior to graphing gender differences (Study 6). Graph production and comprehension are affected by beliefs and suppositions about the groups represented in graphs to a greater degree than cognitive models of graph comprehension or realist models of scientific thinking have yet acknowledged. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)