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PubMed1982

Collegiate swimmers: sex differences in self-reports and indices of physiological stress.

Psychological and physiological stress indices were taken from collegiate swimmers of both sexes prior to a practice session and prior to a meet. At another time these same individuals were administered a scale to ascertain their relative self-reported masculinity and femininity. Analysis of covariance demonstrated that 14 males had higher systolic blood pressure than 13 females but lower self-reported feelings of anxiety and hostility associated with the stress of competition. Sex differences in relative masculinity and femininity provided the key to interpretation.

Adult↗

PubMed1988

Homosexual and heterosexual sex-role orientation on six sex-role scales.

A comparison was made of the sex roles of homosexual and heterosexual men and women on the Bem Sex Role Inventory, Personality Attributes Questionnaire, Personality Research Form Androgyny Scale, Adjective Checklist Masculinity and Femininity Scales, Extended Personality Attributes Questionnaire and Undesirable Characteristics Scale. The results indicated that homosexuals and heterosexuals differ in their response to different aspects of sex roles. The most consistent difference was the greater femininity of male homosexuals in respect to male heterosexuals. Other differences were scale-specific and the low interscale comparability indicated such scales should not be used interchangeably. Differences between results of studies comparing sex roles of the homosexuals and heterosexuals appear attributable to sample heterogeneity and distinctions between sex-role scales.

Adult↗

PubMed1995

Blue versus periwinkle: color identification and gender.

This study examined the color identification and vocabulary skills of 101 female and 52 male college students. Femininity scores, color-related hobbies, and academic aptitude scores were also examined for their influence on color identification. The women identified significantly more elaborate colors than did the men. Color identification was significantly correlated with vocabulary but not with scores on femininity. Academic aptitude scores and having a color-related hobby also predicted color identification under some conditions.

Color Perception↗

PubMed1991

Bem Sex-role Inventory stereotypes for men and women varying in age and race among National Register psychologists.

554 psychologists listed in the National Register of Health Care Providers in Psychology used the Bem Sex-role Inventory to rare a "mature, healthy, socially competent" individual in one of 18 target groups (a black or race-unspecified man, woman, or adult in their late 20s, late 40s, or late 60s). Factor analysis produced factors which generated three scales--nurturant, agentic, and self-governing. The attributes "feminine" and "masculine" were treated as individual items. Old targets were viewed as less agentic than younger targets and as less self-governing than the middle-aged. Female targets were perceived as more feminine and less masculine than were men. Interactions for agentic and self-governing suggest age and race and sex of target influence person perceptions.

Adult↗

PubMed1994

Perceived gender roles of managers and effective conflict management.

This study examined the perceived conflict-management behavior and effectiveness of 45 managers who had been rated by 230 subordinates as representing masculine, feminine, or androgynous gender-role types. Analysis indicated that managers perceived by their subordinates as being androgynous were rated as better handlers of conflict situations than their masculine or feminine peers.

Adult↗

PubMed1994

Bulimia: an empirical analysis of psychodynamic theory.

This study examined two aspects of psychodynamic theory concerning bulimia nervosa, that bulimic patients ascribe to a traditionally feminine sex-role and that bulimic women have difficulty differentiating emotional from visceral sensations. 18 bulimic and 18 control women were administered the Bem Sex-role Inventory and the Eating Disorder Inventory. Contrary to dynamic theory, bulimic women were not more likely classified as traditionally feminine than control subjects; however, significantly more controls than bulimic women were classified as androgynous. Analysis of scores on the Eating Disorder Inventory's Interoceptive Awareness scale indicated a significant difference between bulimic persons and controls, providing strong support for the hypothesis that bulimic women have a difficult time differentiating emotional from visceral sensations.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1998

Regular and occasional smoking by college students: personality attributions of smokers and nonsmokers.

Recent reports show an increase in smoking among college students and suggest that occasional smoking is now initiated by previously nonsmoking students. This study evaluated whether this apparent increase in smoking by students is associated with positive self-images associated with smoking. Regular and occasional smokers rated how smoking "changes the way you feel about yourself" on 18 self-attributes that may be associated with smoking, e.g., from cigarette advertisements. Nonsmokers also rated smokers on the same 18 attributes. All three groups rated three attributes in the negative direction with at least a moderate effect size: that being a smoker was less healthy, that smokers were less desirable as a date and that smokers were less attractive while smoking. On only one other attribute regular smokers differed from neutral with at least a moderate effect size: that smoking made them feel less feminine. As hypothesized, the occasional smokers also rated some attributions positively with at least a moderate effect size: that smoking made them feel more daring and more adventurous and did not make them feel like an outcast. The nonsmokers rated a number of additional attributes about smokers negatively with at least a moderate effect size: that smokers are less sexy, less feminine, less sophisticated, less masculine, and less mature. Thus, the results suggest that smoking shows at best mixed associations with self-attributions of college students who smoke and is viewed negatively by those who do not smoke. Other results suggest that the recent increase in occasional smoking may be related to smoking with friends who smoke and smoking while drinking alcohol.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2001

Gender perception of professional occupations.

Students (181 women and 44 men in a southern university) were asked to indicate their perception of whether each of 105 professional occupations was predominately masculine or feminine. Analysis indicated that a majority of the occupations were perceived as masculine, i.e., those predominately power- or product-oriented, while feminine occupations were predominately caregiving. Results were discussed in terms of the influence of media on the perception of gender-specific roles and the implications of these perceptions for the status of a person holding a given occupation.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Effects of leaders' and evaluators' sex on sex-role stereotyping of charismatic leaders.

This study extends research on sex and leadership by examining the relation between evaluators' and leaders' sex and the sex-role stereotyping of charismatic leaders. A total of 219 students (110 men and 109 women) from a large northeastern university rated charismatic leaders depicted in vignettes using the revised Bem Sex-Role Inventory: overall, the leaders were rated higher on masculinity than femininity. Analysis by sex of evaluator and leader showed masculinity was higher in all cases except when male charismatic leaders were evaluated by women. In this case, the results support an androgynous view, i.e., high on both masculinity and femininity.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1993

Cognitive and neuropsychological response asymmetries for adults on the left-right seating axis.

Six studies of the relationship between classroom seating and information processing were conducted with adult subjects. Findings converged to support a hemisphericity-based explanation of effects with right-side-sitters more inclined to a response style associated with the right hemisphere--perhaps, less analytical or less cautious in responding (Experiments 1-4), more "artistic" (Experiment 5), and less lateralized (Experiment 6), and vice versa for left side sitters. First, using incidental memory tasks, subjects (N = 164) with a right side seating preference (i.e., to the speaker's left side) were found, in their test-taking behavior, to respond more positively to inaccurate distractor words (Experiments 1 and 2), particularly those with an ambiguous semantic reference (Experiment 3). For different levels of processing, seating location did not influence auditory memory (Experiments 1 and 2) but right side sitters showed enhanced visual memory for accurate words (Experiment 3). In a sample of 366 subjects, males selecting right side seating were less successful on multiple-choice test performance (Experiment 4), but there were no Side differences in test taking speed or review time. In a sample of 286 subjects (Experiment 5), personality measures on the Vocational Preference Inventory revealed right sitters scored higher on the "Artistic" scale and on femininity on the Masculine-Feminine scale. The final study (N = 90) revealed reduced dichotic processing on verbal tasks (digits and voiced CVs) for right side sitters. Implications are discussed.

Adult↗

PubMed1984

Penile implants in erectile impotence: outcome and prognostic indicators.

In a prospective, multi-disciplinary study thirteen men with protracted, organic erectile impotence were examined before and after penile implantation. Outcome after one year was judged as favourable in nine, doubtful in two, and unfavourable in two cases. Neurotic functioning was unexpectedly common in the group and the more neurotic subjects fared less well after surgery and reported less benefit from it. Findings in the preoperative psychiatric examination that correlated significantly with unsuccessful outcome were immature and neurotic, particularly hysterical traits, low sexual drive, low sexual activity, disavowal of ambivalence towards penile implantation and high "femininity" scores on a sex role inventory, the Gough Femininity Scale.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Gendered personality dispositions, hormone values, and hot flushes during and after menopause.

The study aim was to test the relationship between gendered personality dispositions (GPD), sex hormones, and vasomotor complaints in the menopausal transition. Fifty-seven healthy women (mean age 51.1 years, standard deviation 2.0) were drawn from a population registry. At enrollment all women were menstruating regularly, and all women reached menopause in the course of the study. Questionnaire data and blood samples were collected once a year over a period of five years. GPD scores (based on the Bem Sex-Role Inventory, BSRI), frequencies of hot flushes and hormone data (estradiol, follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, testosterone, androstendione and dehydroepiandrostendione sulfate) were determined. Subjects were placed into four categories based on the BSRI: masculine, feminine, androgynous and undifferentiated. GPD did not change during the menopausal transition. Testosterone and androstendione were related to GPD in that testosterone and androstendione were higher in the sex typed categories (masculine and feminine) than in the non sex-typed categories (androgynous and undifferentiated). GPD are related both to androgens and to vasomotor complaints such as hot flushes during the menopausal transition, but the mechanisms of these relationships are not known.

Androgens↗

PubMed1993

The relationship between sex role and emotional functioning in patients undergoing assisted conception.

It is suggested that infertility may be distressing because it results in an inability to fulfil traditional roles and thus those individuals who adhere to traditional sex roles may be more distressed by the experience of infertility. In order to examine the relationship between sex role and emotional well-being in infertility patients, 58 women attending a clinic for assisted conception procedures and 31 of their male partners completed questionnaires assessing sex-role type (i.e. masculine, feminine, androgynous or undifferentiated) and emotional, marital and sexual functioning. Women with a traditional feminine sex-role type were more anxious than those with a masculine sex-role type but there were no differences in depression or marital or sexual functioning. Men with an undifferentiated sex-role type were more anxious and depressed than those with other sex-role types. The findings are discussed in terms of the relationship between sex role and infertility, previous research into sex differences in distress amongst infertility patients, and the problems associated with measuring distress.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1998

A follow-up study of adolescent girls with early sexual debut in combination with gynecological problems.

This research examined the extent to which women's reproductive experiences during adolescence have repercussions in adult life with regard to sexuality, self-image and state of gynecological health. The investigated group comprised 30 females (study group), with a sexual debut at the age of 15 years or younger and documented gynecological ill-health during adolescence. A comparison was made with 30 matched females from the same school classes (control group) without documented gynecological ill-health. At the age of 25-30 a semi-structured interview was conducted with both investigated and control participants. The majority of the women from the study group experienced their adolescent sexual experiences as generally negative. In early adulthood these women had more recurrent and varied gynecological illnesses than their control group counterparts. The study group women more often referred to their appearance as an indicator of their femininity than did the control women (who defined femininity in terms of 'to be in a relationship'). The study group women had a more negative attitude towards their own body than did the control women. Study group women's early sexual experience was also linked to an increase in norm-breaking behavior, lower educational attainment and a younger age of adult responsibilities compared with the control women.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1997

Treatment of androgen excess in females: yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Hirsutism, acne and androgenic alopecia represent, in females, some of the manifestations of the clinical spectrum of hyperandrogenism. These pictures represent not only cosmetic damage, but also a source of remarkable psychological distress. Often hirsutism is regarded as presumptive evidence of a lack of femininity. The major diagnostic concern is to exclude an ovarian or adrenal androgen-secreting tumor, a congenital hyperplasia or polycystic ovary disease. Ethnic background should be taken into account together with the progression of the symptoms. Following the etiology, surgery and exogenous glucocorticoids or inhibition of gonadotropin secretion have to be carefully chosen in the management of different kinds of hyperandrogenism. Several pharmacologic agents have recently shown the ability to block the androgen receptors at target organ sites, thus allowing a specific antiandrogenic treatment. In some cases cosmetic measures could be of great value. Obesity accompanied by hyperinsulinemia can represent the main cause of ovary androgen hypersecretion; therefore a reduced body weight and muscle activity represent the basis of any treatment. Some other drugs, such as long-acting analogs of somatostatin, could be considered among possible drugs for the future. The aim of this article is to provide an appraisal of what is presently known about the regulation of hair growth, the various causes of excessive androgen secretion and the current methods to solve, safely, this important feminine clinical problem.

Acne Vulgaris↗

PubMed1980

The personality characteristics and family backgrounds of women alcoholics.

Alcoholic women were lower on self-esteem and higher on alienation, neuroticism, and anxiety than "normal" women. On one comparison, alcoholic women appeared somewhat higher on conscious femininity and lower on unconscious femininity, while in another analysis they did not differ from normal women. Women alcoholics were somewhat lower in self-esteem than male alcoholics, less internal in locus of control, and less sex-role traditional than men alcoholics. When respondents with high Lie scores were eliminated from the analyses, these results remained constant.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Sex role group differences in specific, academic, and general self-efficacy.

The primary purpose of this study was to examine sex role group differences (androgynous, masculine, feminine, and undifferentiated) in three different levels of self-efficacy (general, academic, and course specific). A sample of 215 undergraduate participants completed the three measures of self-efficacy and the sex role measure. Results showed that there was a multivariate significance among the sex role groups in the three levels of self-efficacy and that both masculine and androgynous groups had significantly higher general and academic efficacy means than the undifferentiated or feminine groups. The major findings in this study are largely consistent with findings of previous researchers, supporting the theory that masculinity may be a key construct in the differentiation of individuals in self-efficacy, which has been shown to be an important predictor of achievement.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Estimates of emotional and psychometric intelligence: evidence for gender-based stereotypes.

The authors examined participants' estimates of own and parental psychometric intelligence (IQ) and emotional intelligence (EI). The authors asked 224 participants (82 men, 138 women, 4 people who did not report their gender) to estimate their own and their parents' IQ and EI scores on a normal distribution ranging from 55 to 145 points. The authors hypothesized that men would give higher IQ but lower EI self-estimates than women and that participants, regardless of gender, would rate their fathers as higher on IQ but lower on EI than their mothers. The results confirmed the hypotheses, supporting the view that people perceive psychometric intelligence as a primarily masculine attribute in contrast with emotional intelligence, which they perceive as a primarily feminine attribute. The results also showed that the intensity of the stereotypical perception of EI as a feminine attribute diminished when the authors asked participants to estimate their scores on a range of specific EI facets instead of providing a direct overall self-estimate.

Adult↗