Sex Roles最新文献

Abstract

The goal of the current study is to add to the literature on masculinity and mental well-being by examining the role of help-seeking self-stigma as a potential mediating mechanism linking conformity to masculine norms to depression and stress among men. Findings with a community sample of 326 U.S. men (aged 18–75 years old) revealed that greater endorsement of masculine norms was associated with greater help-seeking self-stigma. Additionally, help-seeking self-stigma significantly linked endorsement of masculinity norms to perceived stress, but not to depression. This study furthers our understanding of how gender roles may uniquely shape men’s mental health experiences through creating barriers to seeking treatment.

Non-binary people simultaneously identify outside the binary and experience the consequences of living in societies that embrace the gender binary to varying levels. The current study used a qualitative, interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach to understand how non-binary people experience sexual objectification, which historically has focused on binary gender assumptions and populations. A sample of 10 non-binary people in the United States participated in 45–90-minute individual semi-structured interviews related to their sexual objectification experiences (SOE). Three broad categories of findings emerged from the analysis: (1) the intersectional and ubiquitous nature of SOE; (2) the embodied and burdensome impact of SOE; and (3) individual and communal acts of resistance against SOE. Participants highlighted difficulties navigating multiple marginalized identities through SOE, such as racialized fetishization and being perceived as women. Participants offered vivid descriptions of what SOE does to them physically, such as increasing chronic pain, anxiety, and dissociation. Individuals and communities reclaimed their bodies and built community in resistance to SOE. Understanding the unique SOE experiences of non-binary people may provide information for counseling psychologists to build affirming interventions that are tailored to non-binary people managing SOEs. Implications for future research on the experiences of SOE among non-binary people are discussed.

Research has shown that subversive humor may be used to challenge existing societal hierarchies by confronting people with prejudice. Expanding on this literature, we hypothesized that humor would create two simultaneous and offsetting psychological mechanisms: increasing collective action motivation by signaling speaker power and inspiring efficacy and decreasing collective action motivation by reducing negative emotions towards men as the powerful group. We tested our hypotheses in two experiments, conducted among self-identified women. Study 1 (N = 374) compared videos featuring a comedian (subversive humor vs. non-humor vs. unrelated humor) and Study 2 (N = 224) utilized vignettes depicting a woman’s response to a sexist workplace interaction (subversive humor vs. non-humor vs. amenable response). Subversive humor (vs. unrelated humor/amenable response) increased group efficacy and subsequently collective action intentions. Simultaneously, and as an offsetting mechanism, subversive humor (compared to non-humor) reduced negative emotions toward men and subsequently lowered collective action intentions. Our results call into question the efficaciousness of humor responses to inspire women observers toward collective action for gender equality and emphasize the need for a deeper understanding of humor as a tool to promote action for equality.

Gender equality is a global priority that has yet to be realized. The factors that shape individuals’ ideas about, or attitudinal commitment to, gender equity has been the focus of much research. In this body of literature, however, gender equitable attitudes (GEA) have been labeled, defined, and measured in many ways. Using literature identified in an earlier review of predictors of gender equitable attitudes among men, the goals of this review are to: 1) describe the range of ways that GEA were defined, labeled, and measured inclusive of seven dimensions drawn from existing literature; 2) identify strengths and gaps in the measures reflected in this review as well as assess the need for the refinement and expansion of our conceptualization of GEA to include broader contexts in which these attitudes play out; and 3) provide a compendium of measures to serve as a resource for scholars conducting GEA research. Across 69 studies that met inclusion criteria, 38 unique measures assessing GEA were included in this review. We describe these measures with respect to the conceptual and operational definitions of GEA, life domains captured in the GEA measures, target demographics, psychometric and validity evidence, and the conceptualization of gender within the measures. Following this analysis, we use the data extracted in each of the seven dimensions to make recommendations for future measures of GEA and considerations when assessing GEA.

Sexual assault remains an entrenched public health issue, with adolescent and emerging adult women at disproportionate risk for victimization. Identifying common typologies of sexual assault could be critical in developing effective prevention and intervention. However, prior work in this area has primarily utilized quantitative methodologies to classify sexual assaults into typologies, which may not capture important contextual factors and assault characteristics within typologies. The current study utilized a mixed methods approach, including analysis of survivors’ sexual assault narratives, to identify sexual assault typologies among a sample of college rape survivors (N = 106). Six typologies were identified, which were characterized by specific constellations of assault contexts, perpetration tactics, patterns of perpetrator and victim substance use, and type of relationship between survivor and perpetrator. Future research utilizing multiple methodologies (e.g., interviews, quantitative assessments) should attempt to characterize assault typologies more fully among survivors, as this work could lead to the identification of previously overlooked targets for comprehensive sexual assault prevention programs. Likewise, research focused on identifying risk and recovery-related factors among survivors of different types of assault could be used to tailor interventions to increase their uptake and effectiveness.

Most studies on the effects of social media on young women’s ideal body image and self-perceptions are focused on the exposure to thinness and/or fitness portrayals that emphasize the thin ideal. However, today’s digital content exhibits the ideal female body as a hybrid of physical characteristics such as an hourglass figure consisting of full breasts, thin waists, and large buttocks of well-known celebrities (or influencers) on social media and specifically on the social media platform, Instagram. A fusion of attributes from Kim Kardashian, Scarlet Johansson, and other curvy celebrities reflects the “ideal body” that is voluptuous rather than thin all over. Like the ultra thin ideal, this voluptuous ideal body represents a physical figure that is impossible to achieve for most women. Based on sociocultural theory Thompson et al. (1999) and social comparison theory Festinger (1954), the present study surveyed 189 emerging adult women’s use of Instagram and employed a three-stage serial mediational model of Instagram use and endorsement of the voluptuous body ideal. Results found intensity of Instagram use to be linked to viewing Instagram as a source of information and pressure, which was then linked to participants making more appearance-related comparisons and greater endorsement of a voluptuous body type as ideal. Our study indicates the thin ideal is not the only harmful and influential pressure on women’s body image and supports our argument that the influence of the voluptuous body types should not be overlooked by researchers as well as therapists, counselors, and educators.

Evidence suggests that entertainment media may influence knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to health topics. After the overturning of Roe v. Wade, it is critical to examine how these media may be associated with people’s knowledge, attitudes, and behavioral intentions related to abortion. Using a non-experimental ex post facto design, we examined whether exposure to any of three abortion plotlines was correlated with (a) greater knowledge about abortion, (b) lower stigmatizing attitudes about abortion, and (c) higher likelihood of supporting someone seeking an abortion among a sample of television audience members (N = 1,016), administered via a survey on Qualtrics. We selected three scripted, fictional abortion plotlines on the U.S. television shows Station 19, Better Things, and A Million Little Things, based on medical accuracy and airdates near each other in March 2022. Exposure to a plotline was defined as accurately answering at least two recall questions about a given plotline. We found that compared to those who were not exposed to any of the plotlines, exposure to any of the three plot lines was associated with greater knowledge about abortion and higher willingness to support a friend seeking an abortion, but not with lower stigmatizing attitudes. Exposure to medically accurate depictions of abortion on television may be one way to improve knowledge about abortion and community support for people seeking abortion.

Traditional models of gender identity development for individuals who do not identify with their assigned birth sex have generally treated medical intervention as normative, and non-binary identification as relatively rare. However, changing demographics within gender diverse populations have highlighted the need for an updated framework of gender identity development. To address this gap in the research, this study systematically reviewed the qualitative literature assessing the lived experiences of identity development of over 1,758 gender diverse individuals, across 72 studies. Reflexive thematic analysis of excerpts were synthesised to produce a novel, integrative perspective on identity development, referred to as the Diverse Gender Identity Framework. The framework is inclusive of binary and non-binary identities and characterises the distinctive identity processes individuals undergo across development.

Men often dominate political discussion on social media. Our research investigates when women’s political discussion increases to close the gender gap in political discussion. We argue that women’s political discussion will increase when gender is a highly salient political topic. These increases in women’s political discussion will most likely occur among “resource-poor” women and women of color who often lack the conventional resources thought to facilitate political discussion, such as education and income. We analyzed the gendered dynamics of political discussion on Twitter using a novel dataset of tweets spanning a four-year period before and after the 2016 presidential election—a period when gender and women’s issues shifted from having a low level of salience to a high level of salience. We found that women and men engage in political discussion at comparable rates regardless of their resource levels and during periods of high-gender salience and low-gender salience. We also found that both women of color and white women increase their political discussion during times of high-gender salience relative to low-gender salience. Our results show that social media is a platform that can close the gender gap in political discussion between women and men regardless of women’s resource levels or the salience of gender in politics.