Sex Roles最新文献

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic saw a shift toward a more traditional division of labor–one where women took greater responsibility for household tasks and childcare than men. We tested whether this regressive shift was more acutely perceived and experienced by women in countries with greater gender equality. Cross-cultural longitudinal survey data for women and men (N = 10,238) was collected weekly during the first few months of the pandemic. Multilevel modelling analyses, based on seven waves of data collection, indicated that a regressive shift was broadly perceived but not uniformly felt. Women and men alike perceived a shift toward a more traditional division of household labor during the first few weeks of the pandemic. However, this perception only undermined women’s satisfaction with their personal relationships and subjective mental health if they lived in countries with higher levels of economic gender equality. Among women in countries with lower levels of economic gender equality, the perceived shift predicted higher relationship satisfaction and mental health. There were no such effects among men. Taken together, our results suggest that subjective perceptions of disempowerment, and the gender role norms that underpin them, should be considered when examining the gendered impact of global crisis.

Women’s reproductive autonomy is an ideologically divisive issue, and this divisiveness goes beyond just attitudes toward abortion to include other outcomes such as miscarriage. Previous research has established that hostile sexism is positively associated with punitive attitudes toward pregnant women who flout conventional pregnancy proscriptions. Across three studies (N₁ = 296; N₂ = 580, N₃ = 308) we conceptually replicated this research while shifting the focus from abstract attitudes to concrete policies punishing women for miscarriage, and moving beyond hostile sexism to examine the role of political orientation (including libertarianism). In all three studies, hostile sexism remained a significant positive predictor of support for punishing women for miscarriage even after controlling for political orientation. Conservative and libertarian self-identification were positively associated with support for punishment at zero-order, and in multiple regressions adjusting for sexism and demographic variables, conservatism remained significantly positively related to support for punishment in two studies. Libertarianism was no longer a significant predictor of support for punishment after adjusting for sexism; with this in mind, we conducted mediation analyses and found significant indirect paths from libertarian identification through hostile sexism in two of the three studies. These findings provide evidence for the role of sexism and political ideology in the increasingly punitive post-Roe vs. Wade United States.

Prior research has documented an association between conformity to masculine gender norms and muscle dysmorphia symptomatology. However, much of this research has been limited to samples of men. To address this important gap in the research, the aim of this study was to determine the association between conformity to masculine gender norms and muscle dysmorphia symptomatology among a gender-diverse sample of Canadian adolescents and young adults. Data from the Canadian Study of Adolescent Health Behaviors (N = 2,719) were analyzed. Regression analyses were used to estimate the association between conformity to masculine gender norms and muscle dysmorphia symptomatology, clinical risk for muscle dysmorphia, and lifetime anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) use, among the overall sample and stratified by gender. Conformity to masculine gender norms was positively associated with muscle dysmorphia symptomatology, clinical risk for muscle dysmorphia, and lifetime AAS use among the sample. Moreover, findings were similar among boys and young men, girls and young women, and transgender/gender-expansive participants. Findings underscore the relevance of masculine gender norms in relation to the pursuit of muscularity among adolescents and young adults. Future research is needed to explore the specific mechanisms underlying the link between conformity to masculine gender norms and muscle dysmorphia symptomatology across genders.

In the present study, we draw from ambivalent sexism and frameworks centering marginalization to investigate how individuals’ marginalized race or gender identity influences their perceptions of benevolent sexism. We conducted an experimental scenario study during which a sample of Black and White adult participants (n = 325; M_age = 25.89 years) read a vignette about an interaction where a man student (perpetrator) gives a protective justification for restricting a woman student’s (target) involvement in one of two tasks for a class project. Participants were then asked about how dangerous they believed the tasks were, how they believed the woman target felt after her behavior was restricted, and whether they believed the man perpetrator had benevolent or malevolent motivations behind his restrictive behavior. We theorized that participants with marginalized race-gender identities would be more sensitive to threat, and consequently, that they would be more accepting of paternalistic behaviors. Our results supported the hypotheses: we found that compared to White men, participants with marginalized race and/or gender identities perceived the restricted task described in the vignettes as more dangerous and were consequently more likely to perceive the woman target as feeling more positively about her treatment and to perceive the man perpetrator as having more benevolent (and less malevolent) motivations for his behavior. These results suggest that individuals’ marginalized race or gender identities may influence their perceptions of benevolent sexism through their impact on how members from these groups perceive threat. The implications of study findings for future research and policy are discussed.

Meat consumption needs to be reduced to limit climate change but achieving this requires understanding the drivers of meat consumption. In this study, we investigated two potential drivers—a contextual threat to masculinity and the stable individual difference of masculine ideology—and how they predict meat-eating intentions, attitudes, and environmentalism. Employing a sample of 375 Australian men, a population known for its high meat consumption, we did not find support that a contextual threat to men’s masculinity increased pro-meat attitudes or intentions. Instead, we found that prevailing views about masculine ideology significantly predicted meat-related attitudes and intentions, with avoidance of femininity associated with lower avoidance of meat and lower intentions to eat clean meat, and the endorsement of male dominance tied to lower pro-environmental responding. Our findings suggest that situational threats to masculinity may not robustly affect meat consumption intentions and highlight the importance of more stable individual differences in the conception of the male gender identity in maintaining men’s high meat consumption.

Abstract

To elucidate how ingroup identification is implicated in attitudes towards gender equality, it is important to consider that (1) people simultaneously identify with more (a nation) vs. less abstract groups (gender), and (2) gender collective narcissism is the specific aspect of ingroup identification likely to inspire opposite attitudes towards gender equality among men (negative) and women (positive), but (3) national narcissism is likely to align with men’s interests and inspire negative attitudes towards gender equality among men and women. In Study 1, we demonstrate that gender collective narcissism is the same variable among men and women. In Study 2, we show that among women (but not among men) in Poland, gender collective narcissism predicts intentions to engage in normative and non-normative collective action for gender equality. In Study 3, we show that gender collective narcissists among women endorse an egalitarian outlook, whereas gender collective narcissists among men reject it. In contrast, national narcissism predicts refusal to engage in collective action for gender equality and endorsement of an anti-egalitarian outlook among women and among men. Thus, national narcissism and gender collective narcissism among men impair pursuit of gender equality. Gender collective narcissism among women facilitates engagement in collective action for gender equality. Low gender collective narcissism among men and low national narcissism may also facilitate support for gender equality.

Abstract

In this study, we examined the role of dispositional sexism in male service academy cadets' evaluations of military leadership potential for sexually dimorphic male and female faces, with a particular focus on the impact of hostile sexism. Male cadets (N = 224) rated eight pairs of masculinized and feminized faces on 14 characteristics relevant to Army leadership and completed a measure of hostile and benevolent sexism. We tested a 2 (sex of face: male, female) × 2 (gender of face: masculine, feminine) × 2 (type of sexism: hostile, benevolent) × 2 (level of sexism: low, high) mixed model ANOVA with the first two variables as within subjects and the last two variables as between subjects and using composite leadership potential ratings as the dependent variable. Results indicated a significant three-way interaction between sex of face, gender of face, and levels of hostile (but not benevolent) sexism, whereby participants with elevated levels of antipathy towards women reported the least positive perceptions of military leadership potential for women with masculine facial features. These findings underscore the importance of addressing hostile sexism in military training and leadership development programs to promote equality and inclusion.

In this article, we report the development and psychometric properties of scores on a new 8-item scale designed to assess women’s sexual objectification experiences in their family of origin: Sexual Objectification Experiences in Family of Origin Scale. Our participants were 827 young adult women, ranging in age from 18–30 years old, who filled out a web-based survey. We provide support for structural validity (via exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses) and reliability (alpha and omega) for scores on this new measure. Supporting construct validity, Sexual Objectification Experiences in Family of Origin Scale was positively correlated with depression, disordered eating, self-objectification, internalization of cultural standards of beauty, and body shame. Associations with mental health and body image outcomes held true, even after controlling for interpersonal sexual objectification experiences and childhood sexual abuse, providing support for incremental validity. Mental health providers can use this scale as a clinical assessment tool to better understand the contextual factors that may be impacting young adult women’s struggles with body shame, depression, and disordered eating. It can also be used to inform treatment strategies that target family of origin concerns and the role of sexual objectification within the family unit on individual distress.

Stateless and without citizenship, Rohingya women face elevated risks of sexual and gender-based violence. Notably, there has been little empirical examination of societal reactions to victimized Rohingya women and perpetrators. To address this lacuna of research, this study examines, with a sample from India, the roles of anti-Rohingya statements and hostile sexism in victim-directed and perpetrator-directed reactions to the sexual assault of a Rohingya versus Indian woman. Participants scoring high on sexism who were exposed to anti-Rohingya statements were more likely to engage in negative victim-directed responding (e.g., blaming) and positive perpetrator-directed responding (e.g., sympathy) when the victim was Rohingya. Anti-Rohingya statements had no impact in the Indian victim condition. Among low sexism participants, reactions to anti-Rohingya statement exposure did not vary as a function of victim ethnicity. The results imply that a collateral consequence of anti-Rohingya refugee statements may be to advance a “climate of social tolerance” for sexual violence against Rohingya women and embolden potential perpetrators, especially among majority group members who strongly endorse sexist beliefs. The findings underscore the need for greater societal awareness of the insidious effects of anti-refugee statements for Rohingya women, which could hopefully facilitate the development of effective interventions.

Abstract

The field of intersex studies is advancing and requires scholars to update their knowledge and representation of people with intersex variations. To examine how psychology students are taught about people with intersex variations, we reviewed best-selling USA psychology textbooks in introductory psychology (n = 8), psychology of women and gender (n = 5), human sexuality (n = 4), and biological psychology (n = 3). All textbooks indexed intersex or cognate terms, with alternative terms (e.g., disorders of sex development) indexed less frequently. Intersex variations were described as emerging during the stages of sex development, and as challenging binary categories for sex. Several specific variations were commonly described as syndromes with little reference to psychological research or lived experiences. Women and girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) were most clearly framed as “natural experiments” about how nature and nurture intersect. Diverse sex development involving 46 XY genotypes tended to be described as difference from norms for male endosex development. However, two textbooks included lengthy narratives of people’s lived experiences as intersex, and photographs of intersex-identified individuals were common. Photo images of the South African athlete Caster Semenya depicted more of her body than did the photo images of other intersex-identified individuals. The textbooks generally included critical reflection on the assumptions of a gender binary, and on the attribution of ambiguity to others’ bodies, genetic determinism, the medical gaze, and the sex testing of athletes. We consider how information in these textbooks can shape the representation of intersex among psychology students, and how it may be used to develop more humanizing representations of intersex across all psychology textbooks.