Sex role identity and sex-stereotyped tasks in the development of learned helplessness in women.

80 undergraduate females participated in a study investigating the relation of sex-role identity and sex-stereotyped tasks to the development of learned helplessness in women. Half of the Ss from 4 sex-role identity groups received bogus feedback and were forced to fail on a concept formation task described to them as either a male- or female-stereotyped task; the other 40 Ss succeeded on the task. Failure on the concept formation task produced by dysphoric mood (as measured by the Depression Adjective Check Lists) in the Ss, regardless of their sex-role identity and regardless of how the concept formation task was described. However, cognitive/motivational symptoms of helplessness were found only among low-masculine Ss who failed on a male-stereotyped task. Results are compared with previous findings and suggest that feminine-sex-typed women may be particularly susceptible to some helplessness symptoms in contexts defined as male appropriate. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex role identity in female alcoholism.

Compared 28 alcoholic women with 28 matched controls on a variety of masculinity-femininity measures (e.g., Franck Drawing Completion Test). The alcoholics were expected to earn more masculine scores than the controls on measures which tap relatively unconscious levels of sex role identity. On 2 measures of conscious femininity, the alcoholics were typically feminine. On the 3rd, a measure of attitudes toward motherhood, the alcoholics were more feminine than the controls. On a questionnaire measure of sex role style, the alcoholics gave more assertive, masculine responses than the controls, and the scores for alcoholics on a projective measure of unconscious masculinity-femininity were more masculine than those for the controls. The medical histories of the alcoholics contained a higher incidence of obstetrical and gynecological disorders than did the histories of the controls. The relationship between sex role identity disturbance and the psychological function of alcoholic women's excessive drinking is discussed. (22 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex role attributes, symptom distress, and defensive style among college men and women.

Administered the Personality Research Form-Andro Scale Masculinity and Femininity subscales, the Symptom Check List-90 (Revised), and the Defense Mechanism Inventory to 84 male and 90 female undergraduates. Results indicate that interrelations among sex-role attributes, defense preferences, and symptom distress differed for men and women. Cross-sex-typed Ss mostly accounted for differences in symptom distress within each sex: Masculine women reported relatively low and feminine men reported relatively high degrees of symptom distress. In addition, sex roles interacted with sex in determining defense preferences. The possibility that defensive styles mediated between sex-role attributes and symptom distress was also explored. Among women, an association between masculine attributes and a rejection of self-blaming defenses accounted for the negative relation between masculinity attributes and symptom distress. Among men, sex-role attributes and defensive styles, for the most part, contributed independently to symptom distress. (36 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex role identity and the decision to regain control among women: A learned helplessness investigation.

280 female undergraduates from 4 sex-role identity groups underwent either an initial loss of control (helpless) or control (nonhelpless) experience. Ss were then allowed to choose their role in a team problem-solving task. They could either (a) have total control over the team's decisions, (b) have no control over the team's decisions, or (c) not participate in the task. Compared to Ss low on masculinity, Ss high on masculinity chose to be in control of team problem solving in both the helpless and nonhelpless conditions. None of the 14 feminine-sex-typed Ss chose to control the team's decisions in the helpless condition, whereas 10 of the 14 masculine-sex-typed Ss made this choice. Results are discussed relative to the high rates of depression among women. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex role typing and ego identity in Israeli, Oriental, and Western adolescents.

1,129 Oriental and Western Israeli students from religious and secular high schools participated in a study to investigate (a) the relation between sex-role typing and ego identity, (b) the distribution of sex-role typing within different cultural groups, and (c) the relative contribution of masculinity (M), femininity (F), religiousness, sex, and ethnic origin to prediction of ego identity variables. Ss completed the Bar-Ilan Sex Role Inventory and the Adolescent Ego Identity Scale, which measures 3 factors: commitment and purposefulness, solidity and continuity, and social recognition. More androgynous, less sex-typed, and less undifferentiated Ss were found among Orientals than among Westerners. Sex-role type was significantly related to each of the ego identity variables, indicating that androgynous Ss were highest followed by masculine, feminine, and undifferentiated Ss. Boys were higher than girls on Solidity and Continuity, but lower on Social Recognition. Westerners were higher than Orientals on Commitment and Purposefulness and on Total Ego Identity. Religious Ss were higher than secular Ss on Commitment and Purposefulness. Regression analyses revealed high prediction of ego identity variables with greater prediction power for M than for F in both ethnic groups. Ego identity was predicted by M among boys, whereas both M and F predicted ego identity with greater prediction power for M than for F. (61 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex role identity, marital satisfaction, and response to behavioral marital therapy.

Explored the relationships among masculinity, femininity, marital satisfaction, and response to behavioral marital therapy (BMT) using 44 married nonclinic couples (mean ages of males and females 33.7 and 31 yrs, respectively), 54 maritally distressed clinic couples receiving BMT, and 18 maritally distressed clinic couples placed on a waiting list; the mean ages of males and females in both distressed clinic groups were 32.1 and 29.9 yrs, respectively. Ss completed the Marital Adjustment Scale and masculinity and femininity scales derived from the California Psychological Inventory. Results indicate that for each sex, both femininity and masculinity were significantly correlated with self-reported marital satisfaction; the magnitude of the correlations between femininity and marital satisfaction was higher than the correlations between masculinity and marital satisfaction. Among clinic couples, androgyny was the least frequent sex-role identity for either husbands or wives; conversely, among nonclinic couples, there were more androgynous husbands and wives than there was any other sex-role type. In the clinic group, both husbands and wives showed statistically significant but small increases in masculinity after receiving 10 wks of BMT. Masculinity and femininity level prior to treatment also significantly predicted response to BMT. The potential importance of both masculinity and femininity in successful marriages is highlighted, and treatment implications are discussed. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex of authority role models and achievement by men and women: Leadership performance and recognition.

Investigated whether performance, for both sexes, is conditioned by expectations for them, with expectations being at least partly defined by same-sex role models. 276 undergraduates were exposed to all-male, all-female, or mixed-authority role models and then participated in a 4-person mixed-sex discussion. Vicarious cultural experience of authority models was represented by videotaped reenactments of TV commercials. Ss viewed either 4 traditional commercials showing a man as authority and woman as subordinate, or 4 reversed-role versions in which the male and female actors switched roles in the same scenarios. Personally observed authority models were represented by the experimenter, who supervised the discussion. Sex of authority in the commercials and sex of experimenter were crossed in a factorial design. In the all-male authority condition, men and women performed equally (as measured by talking time and number of substantive content suggestions), but recognized only the men as leaders in postdiscussion evaluation questionnaires. In the all-female authority condition, men and women also performed equally, and, in addition, they also received equal leadership recognition. In the 2 mixed-authority conditions, men objectively outperformed women. The data show that recognition is not a direct function of performance for either sex but is influenced by the evaluators' expectations, which are partly defined by sex of authority role models in the social environment. (103 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Life satisfaction and identity structure in late middle-aged men and women.

A total of 32 retirement-age subjects (17 men and 15 women) provided information about their lives by rating each of their identities in terms of a list of self-generated features. They also rank-ordered their currently enacted identities in terms of time spent in each and completed a life-satisfaction questionnaire. The Identities?×?Features matrices were analyzed by algorithms that generated a hierarchical model of identity structure for each subject based on feature ratings. The hierarchical levels of identities were combined with time-spent rankings to obtain an index of personal style, a measure that reflected the unique organization of identities for each subject. Personal style indices were then correlated with life-satisfaction scores. Results confirmed the prediction that life satisfaction in this age group is a function of the amount of time spent in identities that give expression to multiple aspects of the self. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex role identity and its relationships to sex role attributes and sex role stereotypes.

Examines J. Kagan's (1964) and L. A. Kohlberg's (1966) theories of sex role identity. Both premise relationships among an individual's sex role identity, perception of sex role stereotypes, and own masculine and feminine sex role attributes, but the theories specify different patterns of correlations among these variables. Kagan's theory views sex role identity as the product of the mutual influence of stereotypes and attributes, whereas Kohlberg's posits sex role attributes as the product of the stereotypes and identity. 104 male and 110 female college students were administered measures of each variable including the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ), modified versions of PAQ to measure stereotypes of men and women, and a measure of sex role identity developed by the present author. Results indicate an overall relationship between sex role identity and the other 2 variables. Results generally support Kohlberg's theory over Kagan's. Significant correlations were found where Kohlberg's theory would predict a relationship—between sex role stereotypes and sex role attributes. Nonsignificant correlations were found where Kagan's theory would predict a relationship—between sex role stereotypes and sex role identity. Results are compared to findings by J. T. Spence et al (1975), and questions are raised about the psychological constructs underlying measures of sex role attributes. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social facilitation in a competitive situation.

80 male introductory psychology students participated in a study to determine whether or not the effects of social facilitation could be isolated from the effects of rivalry when people were competing in the presence of one another. The dependent variables were performance on a form board and tonic heart rate (hr). No evidence was found to indicate that the effects of social facilitation could be isolated from the effects of rivalry. Increases in tonic hr are interpreted as indicating that rivalry is an incentive (p     

Adjustment to a low-control situation: Reexamining the role of coping responses.

The aim of the study was to test a revised conceptualization of the role of coping in adjustment to a low-control stressor—women's adjustment to a failed in vitro fertilization (IVF) attempt. Data were collected prior to the IVF treatment (Time 1) and twice after the failed IVF attempt (1 to 2 weeks after finding out the results, n?=?171, and 6 weeks later, n??139). Initial adjustment was assessed at Time 1, whereas measures of coping and both self-report and partner ratings of adjustment were obtained at Times 2 and 3. As predicted, escapist strategies and problem-management strategies (mainly at Time 2) were associated with poor adjustment, whereas problem-appraisal coping was associated with better adjustment. There was also support for the proposed positive relationship between adjustment and emotional approach coping (on self-report adjustment). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in 2- and 3-years-olds: Mother-child relations, peer relations, and peer play.

This paper examines the different behavior patterns utilized by boys and girls as they form peer relationships and engage in peer play; the nature of their relations with their mothers is also reported. Girls manifested more intense involvement with their mothers, engaged in less peer play than boys, showed lower mood, lower levels of play, less direct aggression, and more controlling play with peers. Furthermore, their mothers handled their requests for contact and aggressive behavior differently than did mothers of boys. Boys were slower to become aware of separateness but once aware, they came to terms with it faster than girls. The boys took longer to pay attention to peers; once peers were focused on, the play moved more quickly to high levels than did the play of the girls. Qualitative findings were supported by quantitative findings-boys showed more contact and more involvement with their peers than did girls. The hypothesis is tentatively offered that the reaction to the awareness of psychological separateness from their mothers is more intense in girls than in boys partly because girls experience this awareness earlier, owing to their more rapid cognitive maturation. . . (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex and locus of control as determinants of children's responses to peer versus adult praise.

Gave 80 Black 1st graders varying in internal–external control (as identified by scores on the Stanford Preschool Internal–External Scale) a series of digit substitution problems during which their performance was praised by either a Black boy and girl or a Black man and woman ostensibly watching them from another room. Agents' feedback was previously videotaped. As predicted, boys were most responsive to peer feedback and girls were most responsive to adult feedback, as revealed by faster problem-solving rates on reinforced tasks, higher scores on a related substitution task, and greater attributions of agent helpfulness. Predictions involving locus of control received only modest support. The relationship of these results to earlier studies involving dissimilar populations is discussed and educational implications are drawn. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotional responses to work-family conflict: An examination of gender role orientation among working men and women.

The present study tested the effect of work-family conflict on emotions and the moderating effects of gender role orientation. On the basis of a multilevel design, the authors found that family-interfering-with- work was positively related to guilt, and gender role orientation interacted with both types of conflict (work-interfering-with-family and family-interfering-with-work) to predict guilt. Specifically, in general, traditional individuals experienced more guilt from family-interfering-with-work, and egalitarian individuals experienced more guilt from work-interfering-with-family. Additionally, a higher level interaction indicated that traditional men tended to experience a stronger relationship between family-interfering-with-work and guilt than did egalitarian men or women of either gender role orientation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prediction of success in a competitive reaction time situation.

The major problem of this experiment was to determine the effect of a win or loss in a competitive reaction time (RT) task on the prediction of success on the following trial. Each of the 15 experimental pairs of college students was matched with a pair of control Ss who also engaged in a competitive RT task but predicted a sequence of events identical to the sequence of wins and losses generated by the experimental pair. During the last 70 trials the event on a given trial had a substantial effect on the prediction on the subsequent trial, an effect which was different for the 2 groups. For the experimental group the effect of a win was considerably greater than that of a loss, and the degree of asymmetry was positively related to the proportion of win events. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality structure as viewed through early memories and identity status in college men and women.

Early memories were obtained from 98 undergraduates in the 4 identity status categories and rated for psychosocial maturity in order to replicate an earlier study by R. L. Josselson (see record 1983-23229-001) with college women. In a result that was consistent with those of that earlier study and other studies in which deeper aspects of personality development that underlie identity formation were assessed, identity-achievement and moratorium Ss exhibited more developmentally advanced concerns in their early memories than did foreclosure and identity-diffusion Ss. In another result that was consistent with the interpretation that identity achievement often involves a rapprochement between needs for the relatedness and individuation, identity-achievement Ss of both sexes were found to blend secondary, less mature themes involving nurturance and security with the more mature themes of mastery, competition, and independent activity that were primary in their early memories. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex role identity in young adults: Its parental antecedents and relation to ego development.

Examined how ego development and socialization experience interact in relation to sex-role identity (SRI). 60 male and 60 female 22–26 yr olds completed the Bem Sex-Role Inventory and J. H. Block's (unpublished) childrearing practices report. Both measures were scaled so as to yield scores on agency, communion, and androgyny. Ss also completed the Sentence Completion Test of Ego Development. Analyses revealed that the predictive power of the variables differed by sex. Ego development was predictive of SRI in males but not females, whereas socialization practices were predictive of SRI in females but not males. Results support N. Chodorow's (1974) position regarding the differing socialization experiences of men and women. (49 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal consequences of depression: Responses to men and women enacting a depressed role.

To investigate interpersonal consequences of depressed behavior, telephone interactions were conducted between same- and opposite-sex pairs of 62 male and 64 female undergraduates. In each pair, one person enacted a depressed or nondepressed role. The content of the 2 roles differed only in the presence or absence of characteristically depressive affect and attitudes. Ratings of interest in further contact, personal rejection, and perceived impairment of role functioning all revealed a similar pattern: Depressed persons were more strongly rejected than nondepressed persons, especially by persons of the opposite sex. Interactions with depressed persons elicited significantly more depression in the listener than did interactions with nondepressed persons. Moreover, significantly more feminine traits were attributed to depressed than nondepressed persons. The responses of others to depressed individuals are discussed with respect to their implications for conceptualizing and treating depression. The results also have implications for the understanding of sex differences in the epidemiology of depression. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A randomized controlled trial of a peer support intervention targeting antiretroviral medication adherence and depressive symptomatology in HIV-positive men and women.

Objective: To determine the efficacy of a peer-led social support intervention involving support groups and telephone contacts compared with standard clinical care to enhance antiretroviral medication adherence. Design: Randomized controlled trial with follow-up. Participants were 136 HIV-positive indigent mainly African American and Puerto Rican men and women recruited from an outpatient clinic in the Bronx, New York. The 3-month intervention was delivered by other HIV-positive clinic patients trained in addressing barriers to adherence and sensitively providing appraisal, spiritual, emotional, and informational adherence-related social support. Main outcome measures: Medical chart-abstracted HIV-1 RNA viral load, antiretroviral adherence according to electronic drug monitoring and participant self-report, and social support and depressive symptomatology. All assessments conducted at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months. Results: Intent-to-treat and as-treated analyses indicated no between-conditions intervention effects on the primary outcome of HIV-1 RNA viral load or any of the secondary outcomes at immediate postintervention or follow-up. Post hoc analyses within the intervention condition indicated greater intervention exposure was associated with higher self-reported adherence, higher social support, and lower depressive symptomatology at follow-up, even after controlling for baseline adherence. Conclusion: Null findings, consistent with the limited literature on efficacious highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) adherence interventions, may be due to insufficient exposure to the intervention, its low intensity, or the nature of the sample-a heterogeneous HAART-experienced group of patients with high levels of substance use and multiple other competing stressors. Overall, findings highlight the need for more comprehensive and intensive efforts to battle nonadherence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)