Date rape and sexual aggression in dating situations: Incidence and risk factors.

In this study we assessed the incidence of and the risk factors for date rape and other forms of male-against-female sexual aggression (SA) in dating situations. Over the course of two semesters, 341 women and 294 men anonymously completed questionnaires. They were asked to describe their most recent date (to provide normative data on dating) and their worst experience with SA during a date, if applicable. We assessed possible risk factors in three ways: (a) For people who had been involved in SA, we compared the characteristics of their SA dates and their recent dates; anything occurring more often on SA dates than on recent dates might be a risk factor. (b) We compared the most recent dates of people who had versus had not experienced SA to identify differences in their date habits. (c) We compared attitudes of people who had versus had not been involved in SA. Results showed that 77.6% of the women and 57.3% of the men had been involved in some form of SA; 14.7% of the women and 7.1% of the men had been involved in unwanted sexual intercourse. Variables that appear to be risk factors are the man's initiating the date, paying all the expenses, and driving; miscommunication about sex; heavy alcohol or drug use; "parking"; and men's acceptance of traditional sex roles, interpersonal violence, adversarial attitudes about relationships, and rape myths. The length of time that dating partners have known each other seems unrelated to the risk of SA. Implications for rape-prevention programs are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Workers' perceptions of discrepancies between chronological age and personal age: You're only as old as you feel.

A large manufacturing organization was surveyed to determine whether workers perceive discrepancies between their chronological ages and the ages they "feel" themselves to be. A substantial proportion (61.5%) of the sample did report such discrepancies. Feeling "younger than one's years" was reported significantly more frequently than feeling "older than one's years"; the mean magnitude of discrepancies was 5.6 years. However, age of respondent affected both the magnitude and the direction of perceived discrepancies. Younger respondents were more likely to perceive themselves as older than their chronological ages, and older respondents were more likely to report that they felt themselves to be younger than their chronological ages. The implications of these observations for the understanding and measurement of subjective age and other age-related variables are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Entry behavior and emotion regulation abilities of developmentally delayed boys

This study investigated the social deficits of developmentally delayed children. Participants were 48 five-year-old to eight-year-old boys. Delayed children (n = 20) were compared with nondelayed children of similar chronological age (CA nondelayed; n = 20) and of similar mental age (n = 8). The behavior and emotion regulation strategies of participants were assessed in an analogue entry situation. Delayed children were just as able as nondelayed children to understand the play themes of others but were more intrusive in delivering their entry attempts. Delayed children appeared to have less effective emotion regulation strategies for coping with entry failure and were more likely to increase their use of disruptive entry strategies over time than CA nondelayed children.     

Age and gender differences in cardiac reactivity and subjective emotion responses to emotional autobiographical memories.

This research reports age and gender differences in cardiac reactivity and subjective responses to the induction of autobiographical memories related to anger, fear, sadness, and happiness. Heart rate (HR) and subjective state were assessed at baseline and after the induction of each emotion in 113 individuals (61 men, 52 women; 66% European American, 34% African American) ranging in age from 15 to 88 years (M = 50.0; SD = 20.2). Cardiac reactivity was lower in older individuals; however, for anger and fear, these age effects were significantly more pronounced for the women than the men. There were no gender differences in subjective responses, however, suggesting that the lower cardiac reactivity found among older people is dependent on gender and the specific emotion assessed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"You're only as old as you feel": Self-perceptions of age, fears of aging, and life satisfaction from adolescence to old age.

We examined differences in subjective age identification from adolescence to old age and the relation between subjective age and fears about one's own aging and life satisfaction. Using a questionnaire format, 188 men and women from 14 to 83 years of age made judgments about how old they felt, looked, acted, and desired to be. Respondents also answered questions about their personal fears of aging and present life satisfaction. Results revealed that individuals in their teens held older subjective age identities, whereas during the early adult years, individuals maintained same age identities. Across the middle and later adult years, individuals reported younger age identities, and women experienced younger age identities than men across these adults years. Results also revealed that discrepancies between subjective and actual age were associated with personal fears of aging and life satisfaction, especially in younger men and women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cataract surgery from a gender perspective--a population based study in Sweden

PURPOSE: To determine the presence of any gender-related differences of preoperative subjective visual functional problems that may explain the higher frequency of cataract surgery found in women. METHODS: All patients (n=453) who, during a one-year period, underwent cataract surgery at Norrlands University Hospital, Ume?, Sweden, were included in the study. Incidence, age-distribution, visual acuity, self-estimated ability to perform vision dependent tasks as well as subjective symptoms from the cataractous eyes preoperatively and visual acuity after surgery were analyzed separately in males and females. RESULTS: Before surgery there were no statistically significant differences between men and women in visual acuity of the eyes to be operated on and the fellow eyes. Preoperatively women had significantly more subjective problems with distance-estimation for near and far (57% and 60%, respectively) compared to males (45% and 43%, respectively). Women had significantly larger problems orientating in unfamiliar surroundings. CONCLUSION: There are gender-related differences in self-assessed visual function before surgery that might contribute to the higher incidence of cataract surgery in women. Preoperatively women experience a higher degree of visual functional problems than men. Women were not found to demand cataract surgery earlier than men when preoperative visual acuities were compared.     

Relationship of childhood sexual, physical, and combined sexual and physical abuse to adult victimization and posttraumatic stress disorder

OBJECTIVE: Prior research has suggested that women who experience childhood sexual abuse are at increased risk for sexual victimization and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in adulthood. However, previous studies have paid insufficient attention to the overlap of childhood sexual and physical abuse. In the present study we disentangled the separate and combined effects of childhood sexual and physical abuse by comparing groups of participants who reported contact childhood sexual abuse only (SA), sequelae of childhood physical abuse only (PA), combined childhood sexual and physical abuse (CA), or no child abuse (NA). METHOD: A sample of 475 female college students completed measures of sexual and physical abuse in childhood (before age 15) and adulthood (after age 15), PTSD and trauma symptoms, and demographic variables. Of these participants, 27 were assigned to the SA group, 53 to the PA group, 31 to the CA group, and 211 to the NA group. RESULTS: The highest rate of adult sexual and/or physical victimization was reported by the CA group, followed by the PA group, with lower rates reported by the SA and NA groups. Using adult victimization as a covariate, the analyses revealed that the CA group reported significantly higher rates of PTSD and trauma symptoms compared to the NA group. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that prior reports of differences in rates of adult victimization and PTSD between women who experienced childhood sexual abuse and women who did not may be attributable to the inclusion of participants with a history of combined childhood sexual and physical abuse in childhood sexual abuse groups. The importance of separating physical and combined forms of victimization from sexual abuse is discussed.     

Gender differences in sexual desire: the effects of anger and anxiety

The effects of anxiety and anger on subjective sexual desire in men and women, following Kaplan's model of hypoactive desire disorders, were examined. Gender-appropriate erotic audiotapes containing statements designed to elicit anxiety, anger, or situationally appropriate feelings (control condition) were presented to 24 men and 24 women. Dependent measures included subjective anxiety and time to expressed desire to terminate the sexual encounter. Results indicated that, for women, both anger and anxiety significantly reduced desire relative to the control condition, with anger showing a more marked effect. For men, similar results were noted, although fewer differences were observed between the anxiety and anger conditions. Significantly more women (79%) than men (21%) indicated that they would have terminated the encounter during the anger condition. Results are discussed in light of potential gender differences in factors that influence sexual desire, with directions for future research highlighted.     

Verbosity and emotion recognition in older adults.

Previous research suggests that older adults are more verbose than young adults and that general inhibitory difficulties might play a role in such tendencies. In the present study of 60 young adults and 61 older adults, the authors examined whether verbosity might also be related to difficulty deciphering emotional expressions. Measures of verbosity included total talking time, percentage of time spent on-topic, and extremity of off-topic verbosity. Over all 3 measures, older men and women were significantly more verbose than young men and women. Older men's (but not older women's) verbosity was related to poorer emotion recognition, which fully mediated the age effect. The results are consistent with the idea that older men who talk more do so, in part, because they fail to decipher the emotional cues of a listener. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender differences in fears related to coronary arteriography

OBJECTIVE: To compare levels of fear and the intensity of specific fears in women and men related to coronary arteriography (CA). DESIGN: Prospective survey. SETTING: A 1360-bed university hospital. Data were collected before, during, and after CA, and again 6 months later. SUBJECTS: The sample consisted of 54 women and 166 men undergoing scheduled CA. METHODS: To compare fear levels at different points of evaluation; two analyses of covariance for repeated measures were performed. RESULTS: On average, women had significantly higher mean scores of fear across the points of evaluation on the Visual Analogue Scale than men (P <.001). During the hospital stay, the most intense fear for both women and men was the fear of coronary artery bypass grafting and the uncertainty about the illness, whereas at home it was the fear of myocardial infarction. On average, women reported significantly intense fears more frequently than men across time. On average, men experienced more intensive fear of problems in their sex life than women (P =. 032). The changes in intensity of fears over time were not significantly different by gender, except in fear of pain (P =.013), health care staff not having enough time to care for the patient (P =.039), and health care staff discussing the patient's condition without the patient being present (P =.048). Age and prior CA were found to be significantly related to most of the fears at different points of evaluation, and to the changes of fears over time. CONCLUSION: There existed differences in the tendency to report intensity of fears by gender; however, the intensity of fears changed in a similar way over time. The results suggest that the few gender differences in fears that existed may be explained by the treatment chosen for the patients and the patients' acceptance of it. Therefore, it is important to adapt information and support according to the treatment chosen for the patient.     

Cognitive functioning and information processing of adult mentally retarded men with fragile-X syndrome

The present study describes cognitive skills and information processing strategies of mentally retarded fra(X) men. Fifty-eight fra(X) positive and 58 fra(X) negative adults, matched on sex, chronological age, length of institutionalisation, general cognitive level, and living conditions, were evaluated with the Bayley or McCarthy Scales of Mental Abilities. Mental ages were mostly situated in the severe mental handicap category and were found to be negatively influenced by chronological age. A relative strength in perceptual performance and non-verbal reasoning and a deficit in sequential information processing turned out to be typical of all mentally retarded subjects, irrespective of fra(X) or control status. Fra(X) adults could be significantly differentiated from control persons on the ground of a higher level of acquired knowledge because of better vocabulary and verbal-expressive skills. On the other hand, they were less able to imitate non-verbal patterns, had more difficulty with visual-motor integration and co-ordination, and applied less efficient general mental processing skills in solving new problems. The memory profile of fra(X) adults was strongly determined by the meaning and the complexity of the information that has to be reproduced. In this article the profile of cognitive strengths and weaknesses in the fra(X) group will be discussed and some general advice for training is suggested.     

Contraceptive behavior in the population of the Czech Republic: results of a national survey

Using an anonymous questionnaire the authors investigated in a representative group of the Czech population above 15 years of age (862 men and 857 women) the use of the main contraceptive methods. During the first intercourse more than half the respondents did not use any contraception, a condom was used only by 19% men and 14% women. In a steady partnership the most frequent method of contraception is coitus interruptus, whereby experience with hormonal contraception was reported by cca one third and with a condom by two thirds of respondents. Among younger men and women there are more users of hormonal contraception and condoms. Only 5% of the examined men and 4% of the women opposed any type of contraception, almost one quarter of respondents use only so-called "natural methods" and almost three quarters of the respondents consider them an essential part of sex life. The attitudes of atheists and junior and more educated women are more liberal.     

The timing of psychosocial transitions and changes in women's lives: An examination of women aged 45 to 60.

64 middle-class women from 4 age cohorts (45, 50, 55, and 60 yrs) participated in retrospective interviews to examine major psychosocial transitions (PTs) and the specific changes that were related to chronological age (CA) and/or to phases of the family cycle, the nature of the PTs, and the characteristics of the Ss who experienced them. Judges read the interview protocols and provided independent ratings of major PTs. Results indicate the following: (a) Major PTs were more likely to be associated with phases of the family cycle than with CA. (b) Within the family cycle, PTs were more likely to occur during the preschool (28% of the Ss), launching (42%), and postparental (33%) phases than during the no children, school-age, or adolescent phases. (c) PTs associated with the preschool and launching phases were characterized by dissatisfaction, personal disruption, marital unhappiness, and decreased personal development, whereas transitions associated with the post-parental phase were characterized by personal mellowing and improved marital relations. (d) Numerous self-reported psychosocial changes were associated with family cycle phase, and a small number of changes was associated with CA. (44 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Women as Job Changers.

The purpose of the study reported here was to determine whether the statement "Women are a bad risk" is fact or myth with respect to women psychologists. The present survey focused on frequency of job change for men and women in psychology. 150 female and 150 male members of the Southeastern Psychological Association completed a questionnaire assessing date of PhD or terminal degree, area of specialization, and a chronological listing of all jobs held since the terminal degree. Results show that, despite some significant differences between women and men psychologists in the Southeast in training, type of employer, level of success achieved, and reasons for changing jobs, there was no significant difference in their job mobility. How then did the apparent myth that "women are a bad risk" start and what has maintained it? One possibility suggested by this study is that, though women are no more mobile than men, the reasons why they change jobs may be considered to be less valid, that is, less socially acceptable, thereby placing a kind of stigma on the move. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-perceived somatotypes and clothing-related behavior of older men and women

507 older men and women (65 yr. or over) participated in an investigation of relationship between clothing-related behavior of older men and women and self-perceived somatotypes. Analysis indicated that body-type was significantly related to significance of apparel, self-esteem, and chronological age. No sex differences were found in perception of body-types. Several implications are discussed and suggestions for further research are made.     

Sex differences in the time course of emotion.

Conventional wisdom holds that women are more "emotional" than men. However, research evidence suggests that sex differences in emotion are considerably more complex. The authors tested hypotheses about sex differences in the engagement of the approach and avoidance motivational systems thought to underpin emotional responses. The authors measured reported emotional experience and startle response magnitude both during the presentation and after the offset of emotional stimuli that engage these motivational systems to assess whether men and women differ in their patterns of immediate response to emotional stimuli and in their patterns of recovery from these responses. Our findings indicated that women were more experientially reactive to negative, but not positive, emotional pictures compared to men, and that women scored higher than men on measure of aversive motivational system sensitivity. Although both men and women exhibited potentiation of the startle response during the presentation of negative pictures relative to neutral pictures, only women continued to show this relative potentiation during the recovery period, indicating that women were continuing to engage the aversive motivational system after the offset of negative emotional pictures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Shifting standards and stereotype-based judgments

Four studies tested a model of stereotype-based shifts in judgment standards developed by M. Biernat, M. Manis, and T. E. Nelson (1991). The model suggests that subjective judgments of target persons from different social groups may fail to reveal the stereotyped expectations of judges, because they invite the use of different evaluative standards; more "objective" or common rule indicators reduce such standard shifts. The stereotypes that men are more competent than women, women are more verbally able than men, Whites are more verbally able than Blacks, and Blacks are more athletic than Whites were successfully used to demonstrate the shifting standards phenomenon. Several individual-difference measures were also effective in predicting differential susceptibility to standard shifts, and direct evidence was provided that differing comparison standards account for substantial differences in target ratings.     

Age identification: a comparison between Finnish and North-American cultures

This study examined perceptions of age among Finnish males and females in three age groups; twenty-five to thirty-nine-year-olds (n = 446), forty to fifty-four-year-olds (n = 482) and fifty-five to sixty-four-year-olds (n = 427). The age perceptions of the Finnish sample were further compared with those of a North-American sample with corresponding age groups (n = 169, n = 187, n = 222) reported by Barak, Stern, and Gould (1988). Four age concepts used were chronological age, subjective age, ideal age, and disparity age. As expected on the basis of previous studies in age identification, no difference was found between Finnish males and females in terms of subjective age. Ideal age, however, differentiated Finnish males and females; the age ideal of females was significantly higher when compared with males with respective chronological ages. The comparison between Finnish and North-Eastern U.S. sample indicated that the latter group had more youthful age identity while the Finns expressed a greater acceptance of their present age status. This was seen in higher subjective and ideal ages of Finns when compared with their North-American counterparts. Socio-cultural differences in terms of meanings associated with chronological age and aging are discussed.     

Pretransplant renal dysfunction predicts poorer outcome in liver transplantation

BACKGROUND: Numerous clinicians and researchers have expressed concern about the necessity and potential adverse consequences of many cesarean births in the United States. The purpose of this study was to explore college students' attitudes and beliefs about cesarean section. METHODS: One hundred two college students (66% women) completed a 20-item questionnaire that asked if they viewed cesarean delivery as a potentially negative experience, as a normal or acceptable method of childbirth, and as medically necessary, and asked about their beliefs concerning risk and prevention of cesarean birth. RESULTS: The number of "undecided" responses in the study was striking (7.8% to 69.6% across the 20 items). In general, women and men responded similarly, although women were significantly more likely than men to say they would be profoundly disappointed if their babies had to be delivered by cesarean section. Despite expressing cynicism about the cesarean birth rate (40% agreed that many unnecessary cesarean births occurred) and not viewing the procedure as a normal way of giving birth (47%), most respondents (over 70%) disagreed that giving birth by cesarean would be a negative experience or would make a woman feel like a failure. CONCLUSION: A high level of uncertainty exists about certain aspects of cesarean birth among young women and men, highlighting the need for information for prospective parents. Most college students did not view the cesarean birth experience as either potentially negative or normal. Future research should explore coverage of cesarean birth in childbirth education classes and the roles physicians, nurses, and midwives play in preparing expectant parents for the possibility of cesarean delivery.     

Development of the formation of categories by normal and retarded persons.

Investigated the development and fragmentation of categories over CA and MA without the requisite of free recall. 26 kindergartners, 26 4th-graders, and 21 9th-graders, and 24 noninstitutionalized retarded pupils (CA, 11.89 yrs; MA, 8.46 yrs) labeled and categorized 480 chromatic slides of picturable objects. As age increased (a) more categories and superordinates congruent with adult criteria were elicited, (b) more superordinates were formed with more items per superordinate, (c) fragmentation of categories increased, and (d) normal Ss were more efficient in the formation of reliable categories than retarded Ss. Results are compared with other developmental and comparative studies in clustering, emphasizing the importance of the availability and accessibility of superordinates in the development of clustering ability. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)