Sex Roles最新文献

Men are vastly underrepresented in early childhood education and care, particularly in childcare work. To uncover stereotypes that motivate or hinder support for men in childcare in society, we employed a representative sample (N = 280) from Czechia, which has one of the lowest percentages of men working in childcare in the EU. We identified and contrasted descriptive, prescriptive, and proscriptive stereotypes about men, women, or childcare workers without a specified gender. Next, we examined the link between convergence of descriptive and prescriptive stereotypes about men in childcare and support for men working in childcare. In both open responses and trait ratings, men working in childcare were less often perceived or expected to be warm than women working in childcare. In the trait ratings, men working in childcare were less often expected to be moral and competent than women working in childcare. Yet, the overall stereotypical profiles of men converged with childcare workers with no gender information. Greater convergence between descriptive and prescriptive stereotypes about men working in childcare was associated with higher support for them. These findings highlight the specific role that normative beliefs play in support for men in childcare in the larger social environment.

Transgender people often experience discrimination and prejudice and these experiences have increased in recent years in countries such as the United States (e.g., increases in anti-transgender bills targeting gender affirming care). Past research has examined interventions to decrease transgender prejudice. In the current meta-analysis, we aimed to better understand the effectiveness of interventions aimed at reducing transgender prejudice, both overall and by intervention types (e.g., education, contact). We separated analyses based on research designs – i.e., pretest/posttest single group (PPSG) as well as pretest/posttest with control (PPWC) and posttest only with control designs (POWC). After screening, 35 PPSG studies with a total of 3,331 participants met the criteria and were included in the analyses. Additionally, 35 PPWC/POWC studies were combined and there was a total of 8,359 participants who met the criteria and were included in the analyses. We also conducted subgroup analyses on intervention types when there were at least five studies. We found that implementing interventions reduced transgender prejudice both compared to other conditions (via PPWC/POWC designs) and between time-points (via PPSG designs). Across both study design types, contact interventions were the only intervention type that significantly decreased transgender prejudice. These results suggest that interventions should continue to be implemented to reduce transgender prejudice and that researchers should aim to include some form of contact into their interventions.

Female breadwinner relationships (FBRs) occur when a woman earns more money than her male romantic partner. In four studies, we used diverse methods to document the threat that FBRs pose to heterosexual scripts (i.e., social conventions for heterosexual romance). First, a reflexive thematic analysis of 94 newspaper and magazine articles about FBRs identified themes concerning social stigma and feelings of gender threat (i.e., co-occurring feelings of gender nonconformity and inadequacy) that undermine well-being for FBRs, alongside themes concerning hope for a more egalitarian future. Next, two pre-registered experiments (Ns = 880 and 1612) revealed stigmatizing attitudes towards FBRs, which were perceived to be less desirable, worse quality, and less stable than male-breadwinner relationships. Finally, a cross-sectional study of married women and men (N = 511) affirmed that feelings of gender threat partially explained FBRs’ poor relationship outcomes. Across all four studies, and consistent with theories of fragile masculinity, men suffered worse gender threat than women in FBRs. These findings offer novel insight into heterosexual scripts and the punishing social consequences for people who violate those scripts and suggest that social stigma about FBRs may pose a barrier to gender equality in close relationships and in society.

The current study examined associations between the length of paternity leave taken by new fathers and maternal gatekeeping behavior and attitudes (i.e., mothers’ encouragement or discouragement of fathers’ involvement in parenting). Survey data on fathers’ and mothers’ leave length, maternal gatekeeping behavior and attitudes, and psychological and demographic covariates were drawn from a longitudinal study of the transition to parenthood among a sample of 130 dual-earner, different-sex couples in the U.S. Path analysis indicated that longer paternity leave time was associated with lower maternal gateclosing behaviors and attitudes. Paternity leave length was not related to maternal gateopening behavior. Mothers’ leave time was not related to maternal gatekeeping. The use of paternity leave may benefit the coparenting relationship between mothers and fathers by reducing maternal gateclosing behaviors and attitudes, making space for fathers to be more independent and involved parents and for mothers and fathers to adopt more egalitarian parental roles.

Despite dramatic changes since the 1970s, gender and educational gaps in gender egalitarian attitudes have persisted while the racial gap (with Blacks leading) has narrowed. We apply interest-based and socialization mechanisms to predict the differential influences of labor market influences on changing gender attitudes for different races, genders, and educational groups. Using 21 waves of the General Social Survey, 1977–2018 (N = 27,662), and cross-classified age-period-cohort models, we examine the effects of two known labor market dynamics that shifted Americans’ gender attitudes, gender equality in the labor force and men’s overwork, on egalitarian gender attitudes among different racial, gender, and educational groups. The findings indicate that rising labor force gender equality is associated with stronger shifts toward gender egalitarianism among whites, bringing their attitudes more in line with Blacks and closing the racial gap. The rise of men’s overwork in the mid-1990s coincided with the “stalled gender revolution” and is associated with rising conservatism among whites and the college-educated. The gender gap in attitudes has persisted in the last four decades and neither of these labor market dynamics has exerted any impact. Results align with the socialization perspective that individuals respond to labor market dynamics more in accordance with their socially prescribed roles than their self-interests.

Ethical sexual regret refers to regret for acts during a sexual experience that questions one’s ethical behavior and may be an important concept in understanding and preventing sexual assault. Although sexual regret is relevant to discussions of consent and unwanted/coerced sex, few researchers have explored the concept, even fewer have explored the phenomenon in men, and none in queer men. In this discourse analytic study, we focused on male-identifying participants who were asked to write about a sexual experience about which they felt ethical regret. Discourses were categorized into five themes that informed the analysis. Several discourses revealed that heteronormative gendered social norms may offer men a way to position themselves as good men who had lapses of judgment rather than men who disregard their own morals for sexual advantage. When men were on the receiving end of sex that was uncaring, unfair, coercive or otherwise unethical, they positioned themselves as responsible for the harm, perhaps indicating a lack of availability of a victim discourse. We also noted an absence of a discourse that focused on care for the sexual partner. We discuss how examples of ethical sexual regret may guide future work related to facilitating sexually ethical encounters for men across sexual and gender identities.

This study explores the workplace experiences of Muslim women in two STEM sectors in Canada: computer sciences and engineering sciences. Through qualitative semi-structured interviews with 17 Muslim women and drawing on theories of inequality regimes and intersectionality, this paper investigates the barriers that Muslim women face to fit into the organizational cultures within the computer and engineering fields due to their intersectional identities and how they respond to perceived barriers. Results revealed that most participants felt excluded from both formal and informal interactions. Their technical abilities were often questioned by non-Muslim, white male colleagues, leading to feelings of alienation and difficulty establishing trust and deeper connections. The visibility of their religious identity, particularly through the wearing of headscarves, intensified these challenges due to intersectional stereotypes. Additionally, balancing work and home responsibilities emerged as a significant barrier, as extended work hours and traditional religious gender roles, which prioritize childcare and household duties, hindered career progression. In response, participants employed strategies of confrontation and negotiation to navigate these workplace barriers. This research contributes to the gender and organizational literature by highlighting the specific challenges Muslim women face in STEM fields in Canada and underscores the need for inclusive policies that address these intersectional obstacles.

Women are still underrepresented at the top levels of organizations across Europe and the United States. Scholars have identified obstacles that hinder women’s climb to the top but have overlooked women’s perceptions of job advertisements for top-level positions as a potential barrier to top-level positions. The present study investigated the effects of meta-stereotyped person requirements (positive vs. negative) and their wording (dispositional vs. behavioral) in job ads for top-level executive positions on female candidates’ application intention, as well as the mediating effect of job attractiveness. An experimental field study in a large, Western European governmental organization (N_{main study} = 432 female officers), preceded by a pilot study (verbal protocol analysis; N_pilot = 19 female executives) showed that compared to positively meta-stereotyped person requirements, negatively meta-stereotyped person requirements reduced female candidates’ attraction to a job and, in turn, their intention to apply for top-level executive positions. The way person requirements were worded in job ads (i.e., in a behavioral versus dispositional way) also affected women’s perceived job attractiveness, yet this depended on the type of requirement. Implications are considered for drafting job ads to encourage more qualified female candidates to apply.

Gender inequalities are pervasive across various life domains, yet research has often overlooked how people perceive that women are treated differently than men. To fill this gap, we developed and validated the 16-item multidimensional Social Treatment and Experiences of Women (STEW) scale across different samples of women and different cultural contexts, namely Italy and the UK N = 1,195). Using exploratory (Study 1, N = 703) and confirmatory (Study 2, N = 550; Study 3a, N = 132; Study 4, N = 201; Study 5, N = 233) factor analysis, we identified four dimensions: workplace inequalities, domestic imbalance, harassment towards women, and social expectations. Studies 3a and 3b (N = 96) demonstrated convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity of the STEW, linking the STEW’s subscales to group-based emotions, reported experiences of sexism, attitudes towards affirmative action, and attitudes towards women’s sexual freedom. Replicating the factor structure in the UK, Study 4 found the STEW explained unique variance in group-based emotions and intergroup attitudes beyond personal experiences of sexism. Last, Study 5 showed that the STEW explains unique variance in collective action intentions and feminist identification beyond people’s attitudes towards gender equality. Highlighting the importance of conceiving gender inequalities as a multifaceted issue, the STEW provides a robust tool for assessing perceptions of differential treatment of women across domains and can inform more comprehensive interventions promoting gender equality.

Process-based consent conceives of sexual consent as a process whereby individuals are continuously considering and have concern for their sexual partner’s willingness to continue engaging in sexual behavior without coercion. The current study used cross-sectional survey data and hierarchical linear regression to examine the independent and interactive effects of sex-related alcohol use attitudes, hostility toward women, and peer support for abuse on college men’s process-based consent (N = 463; M age = 19; 93% heterosexual; 64% White, non-Hispanic). Findings revealed significant main effects of all three primary study variables on process-based consent beliefs and behaviors while controlling for fraternity membership, relationship status, and sexual history. A significant three-way interaction indicated that permissive sex-related alcohol use attitudes may inhibit process-based consent among college men with higher levels of hostility toward women who also believe their peers hold rape-supportive attitudes. These findings indicate that education around consent is necessary but may not be sufficient for preventing sexual violence. Interventions developed with and delivered by peer leaders that challenge harmful peer group norms about sex-related alcohol use and the mistreatment of women may create a social environment with more favorable conditions for changing individual college men’s beliefs and behaviors.