Browsing by Subject "Sex differences (Psychology)"
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Item Adolescent risk behaviors and developmental contextualism: a person-oriented approach(Texas Tech University, 2001-08) O'Neal, Keri KristenIssues surrounding person-oriented approaches to the study of risk behavior served as the impetus for this research. Cluster analysis is one such person-oriented technique that allows for the identification and empirical classification of individuals based upon a specified set of factors. However, issues remain as to the most appropriate cluster analytic strategies to use when studying adolescent risk behaviors. The first goal of this study was to explore differences found when clustering adolescent risk behaviors at time 1 and retaining the same groupings over time, compared with clustering at each point in time and examining the correspondence of the clusters. The second goal was to explore ways in which cluster analyses shed light on gender similarities and differences in the course and correlates of risk behaviors. Three waves of the National Youth Survey were used resulting in a final sample of 1391 (717 males, 674 females) individuals used in the cluster analyses. Using Ward's minimum-variance method, the optimal cluster solution yielded five clusters based upon the pseudo-T and consideration of group sample sizes. Results indicate differing patterns when individuals are allowed to re-cluster at each time period compared with maintaining the same clusters across time. Gender differences emerged; suggesting differential patterns associated with adolescent risk behaviors and the benefits of clustering separate samples of women and men. Implications for past and future research are discussed.Item An evaluation of help fields on various types of menu hierarchies(Texas Tech University, 1986-12) Kreigh, Robert JosephNot availableItem Effect of sex of defendant, sex of expert witness and type of crime on judicial decisions: a mock jury study(Texas Tech University, 1982-08) Dravin, Linda PNot availableItem Gender differences and perceived gender differences in love and sexual attitudes(Texas Tech University, 1993-08) Bettor, Laura LLiterature in the area of love and sexual attitudes supports the idea that different sexual standards for men and women that are held by either partner in the relationship, or by significant others, including society, may be influential in regard to the fate of the relationship. Historically, a double standard has been held concerning premarital sex for men and women, and it is evident that aspects of the double standard are embedded in gender roles. Throughout the history of the double standard, sex has been a goal for men, and women have been expected to set sexual limits if they want commitment from men. The current study examined the impact of gender differences and perceived gender differences on close relationships. Partners were studied in interaction in two types of vignettes. In one vignette, a sexual interaction had taken place in the context of a casual relationship, and in the other, a sexual interaction had taken place in a serious, romantic relationship. The sample of 148 male and 148 female subjects were asked to complete a series of questionnaires as they believed the persons in the vignettes would answer them. The questionnaires addressed love attitudes, sexual attitudes, self-esteem, sexual guilt, attitudes toward women, trait descriptors, and acceptance of a dating or marital relationship with the stimulus person for the self, a brother, or a sister. Subjects were also asked to answer a subjective measure concerning their own views on love and sex. No subject evaluated both a male and female stimulus person, and no subject evaluated a stimulus person in both relationship conditions. Results indicated that the effect of the emotional context in which the sexual interaction took place was much stronger than the effect of the gender of the stimulus person or the gender of the subject. Differing most across conditions were love attitudes, personal relevance of the stimulus person, and some sexual attitudes. Interestingly, stimulus person gender, emotional context, and subject gender had little impact on sexual guilt, and no impact on self-esteem. There were several additional interesting findings. Female raters perceived the male stimulus person to be less romantic and more game-playing than did male raters. Also, male raters perceived that the male stimulus person felt more guilt than did the female stimulus person. Overall, male subjects seemed more accepting of casual sex and were less judgmental of the people involved. Considering the subjects' subjective views on love and sex, it is evident that some gender-specific standards are still intact, and that men and women still follow certain sexual scripts. Several female subjects tended to see the male stimulus person in the serious context as a perfect mate, and males assumed that the female stimulus person in the serious context had made the male wait for sex. Both male and female respondents assumed that in the casual context, the male stimulus person was using the female. Male respondents seemed to view this as a common situation, while female respondents evidenced anger toward males. Given the changing rates of marital patterns in today's society, as well as the current political and social struggles between genders, further and more precise research in the area of gender differences in love and sex attitudes appears warranted. Once there is a better understanding of gender differences, perhaps existing sexual standards will be better understood, differences between men and women may be valued, and other changes in the social and political realms will result.Item Gender differences in risk-taking behavior: from family of origin to personality variables(Texas Tech University, 1998-05) Marquis, Anne-MarieGender differences in risk-taking behavior are reported frequenth in the more current risk-taking literature. The purpose of this study was to create a link between the powercontrol theory's explanation of gender differences in risk-taking (Grasmick, Hagan, Blackwell, & Ameklev, 1996; Hagan, Simpson, & Gillis, 1985, 1987, 1988) in the sociological literature with the theory that Sorrentino, Hewitt, and Raso-Knott (1992) have espoused, i.e., that an individual differences variable, uncertainty orientation, is strongly correlated with gender differences in risk-taking. Because the first theory is based mostly on delinquent risky behavior and the second theory is based on risk-taking in chance situations (a risky choice task), measures of both were administered to 118 male and 146 female undergraduate university students enrolled at Texas Tech University. Other measures administered included the following: Amett's Risky Behavior Scale (RBS; 1994), which includes items related to delinquency (mentioned above), reckless driving, substance abuse, and risky sexual behavior; the Amett Inventory of Sensation Seeking (AISS; Amett, 1994); the short form of the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ; Spence & Helmreich, 1978); the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1979); and both the projective measure for assessing uncertainty orientation and the adaptation of the Byme and Lam berth (1971) acquiescence-free measure of authoritarianism to assess certainty orientation (Sorrentino, Hewitt et al., 1992). In addition, the same information collected by Grasmick et al. (1996) to test power-control theory also was collected. These questions related to parental occupational patriarchy; parental attitudinal patriarchy; intensity of childhood parental control; and risk preferences. These measures would serve to link this study to existing literature related to gender differences in risk-taking behavior. Results found both consistencies and inconsistencies with previous research. Congruencies with previous studies were: males preferred higher levels of risk than females on the risky choice task and the RBS, and higher levels of sensation seeking on the AISS. Factor analysis of the RBS yielded four discrete types of risky behavior (risky sexual behavior, reckless driving, delinquency, substance abuse). Males reported engaging in significantly more reckless driving and delinquent behavior. Gender differences were not statistically significant for risky sexual behavior or substance abuse. Family of origin predicted risky preferences for women. The specific relationship between lower patemal control and an increase in women's risky preferences was replicated. Furthermore, a replication of the correlation between variables related to an egalitarian family of origin and increase in women's delinquent behavior was obtained. Overall, the power-control theory did well to predict delinquency in both genders. Correlations between uncertainty orientation and some types of risky behaviors (delinquent behavior, substance abuse, and risky preferences) were found for women, but not for men. Data from the present study yielded no significant relationship between need for uncertainty and risk choice on the probability pairings task, though gender alone influenced behavior in this game as males preferred higher levels of risk than females. Additional findings and implications for future research are discussed.Item Gender differences in social reasoning during peer collaboration(Texas Tech University, 2001-08) Bell, Gloria EvelynResearchers have long recognized that intellectual growth and social experiences are linked in cognitive development (Piaget, 1965; Vygotsky, 1978). Peer collaboration has provided a useful research paradigm in which to explore the effects of social interaction on the developmental process. Differences observed in problem-solving strategies during collaboration on various cognitive tasks have suggested that working with a partner can either facilitate or deter learning depending on the context of the problem and the gender ofthe collaborators (Hill, 1983; Tudge, Winterhoff, & Hogan, 1996). To date, there has been insufficient research using problem-solving tasks in the interpersonal domain to clarify the relationships of social context and gender to social reasoning. The purpose of the present study was twofold: (1) to investigate gender differences in adolescent social reasoning during peer collaboration regarding the resolution of hypothetical interpersonal dilemmas within two social contexts (dating and employment) and (2) to explore differences in communication among pairings of different gender compositions, i.e., two females, two males, or one female and one male. Within a pretest-posttest design, college undergraduates (N - 96, mean age = 18.53, SD = 0.72) were randomly assigned to work either individually at all times or with a partner at the second of three testing sessions. In general, differences in level of reasoning were found by context with participants reasoning at higher levels for dating dilemmas more often than employment dilemmas. Furthermore, collaborative pairs as a group performed better than individuals; however, this was primarily due to the performance of male and mixed-gender dyads, specifically males collaborated at higher levels of reasoning than female collaborators. Male and mixed-gender pairs benefited most from working with partners while reasoning about interpersonal problems within the dating context, whereas female pairs and participants working alone did not. In regard to gender differences in communication, male pairs talked less than female and mixed-gender pairs; however, no gender differences were found in number of interruptions or talk-overs. Gender and use of transactive discussion were found to interact with the level of social reasoning used in both social contextsItem Gender, values, and the formation of occupational goals(2006) Weisgram, Erica S.; Bigler, Rebecca S.Item The influence of gender processes on jury deliberations(2002-08) Cargill, Kima Leigh; Gilbert, Lucia AlbinoItem Shame and guilt in narcissistic and histrionic personalities and in depression(Texas Tech University, 1990-05) Beavers, Camille Lucille.Item The differences in external information search between female and male new automobile buyers(Texas Tech University, 1996-05) Reinarz, Lynda LNot availableItem The effects of the performance and gender of relevant peers on the development of universal and personal helplessness(Texas Tech University, 1981-08) Callahan, Steven SeanNo other theory of depression has generated as much research as Seligman's (1975) learned helplessness theory. The theory recently was revised to account for the fact that humans attribute the events in their lives to specific causes. Abramson, Seligman, and Teasdale's (1978) reformulated learned helplessness theory predicts that whether individuals make internal or external, stable or unstable, and global or specific attributions for their lack of control determines the extent, severity, and duration of the resulting helplessness effects. Specifically, the reformulated theory differentiates between individuals who uniquely lack control and who make internal attributions for this experience (personal helpless condition) and those that make external attributions because they are not alone in lacking control (universal helpless condition). Universally helpless individuals show cognitive and motivational deficits and often display depressed affect as well. Personally helpless individuals are more likely to display depressed affect and also experience a loss of self-esteem. In addition, the depressed affect and the cognitive and motivational deficits experienced by the personally helpless individuals are particularly severe. The present study had two major purposes. One was to test the predictions made by the reformulated theory regarding universal and personal helplessness. The study attempted to induce the conditions of universal and personal helplessness by having students directly compare their performances with those of a peer. The second purpose of the study was to test whether the gender of this peer affected the students' development of learned helplessness. Evidence that the personal helpless students displayed more depressed affect thaji the universal helpless students was observed. In addition, personal helpless, but not universal helpless students displayed more depressed affect than control students. However, personal helpless students> when compared with the universal helpless students, did not display the predicted cognitive and motivational deficits or decreased self-esteem. In addition, no significant differences in cognitive and motivational functioning, degree of depressed affect, or level of self-esteem were observed when students who participated in the study with a male confederate (helpless same condition) were compared with students who participated with a female confederate (helpless opposite condition). These findings were inconsistent with the study's predictions that the helpless opposite students would display cognitive and motivational deficits, lower self-esteem, and a greater degree of depressed affect. However, helpless opposite, but not helpless same students were found to display a greater degree of depressed affect than control students. Additional findings indicated that, as predicted, helpless students displayed more depressed affect than nonhelpless or control students. However, contrary to predictions, helpless students did not display predicted cognitive and motivational deficits. Also, students' attribution ratings did not support the predictions of the reformulated theory that the formation of internal, global, and stable attributions for lack of control is associated with more severe helplessness. However, there was evidence that students made self-protective attributions: they tended not to make internal or stable attributions for their experiences of noncontingency. The results of the present study provide only partial support for the reformulated theory of learned helplessness. However, the study is important in that it is one of only a few to induce helplessness by having students compare their performances with those of a peer. In addition, it is one of the few to present students with an experience of noncontingency and then measure both the attributions they form for their performances and the resulting helplessness symptoms. Researchers in the future are encouraged to investigate how social factors and the attribution process affect the elicitation of helplessness, and what characteristics make some individuals particularly susceptible to or immune from the development of learned helplessness. In addition, a determination of whether an expectation of noncontingency or some other factor is responsible for producing the symptoms of learned helplessness is a crucial, pressing need.Item The relationship of instrumental and expressive behaviors to sex role type in college women(Texas Tech University, 1983-05) Worley, Karen Boyd.Item The relationship of listening behaviors and psychological traits of selected community college students(Texas Tech University, 1985-05) Tindall, Tyler HubertThe purpose of this study was to ascertain the relationship between the Jungian psychological traits of selected community college students and their listening behavior. Listening is the most frequently used communication system by college students to acquire information presented by an instructor. College students utilize listening three times more than any other communication skill. Psychological traits have been linked to student learning styles which are essentially differing ways students prefer to perceive and process information. Justification for the study was based upon the premise that psychological traits are related to information acquisition preference. In this study an assessment of psychological traits was made using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) which is derived from Carl Jung's theory of psychological type. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator classifies the respondent's preferences for psychological traits on four dichotomous scales: Extraversion/Introversion, Sensing/Intuition, Thinking/Feeling and Judging/Perceiving. Sixteen different personality types result from the combinations of psychological traits which are indicative of differing preferences in information acquisition. Listening behavior was assessed in this study by use of the Kentucky Comprehensive Listening Test (KCLT) which scores the respondent's listening skills in short-term listening, short-term listening with rehearsal, interpretative listening, distraction listening, and long-term listening. An overall total score is also produced on the respondent's listening behavior. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and the Kentucky Comprehensive Listening Test were administered to 208 community college students attending Midland College and Amarillo College. The Pearson product-moment technique was used to correlate the continuous numerical scores generated from the four scales of the MBTI with the overall total score of the KCLT and the five subscale scores. Results revealed statistically significant relationships between the strength of preferences in the four functioning modes on the MBTI and the overall total score and the five subscales of the KCLT. Additionally, t-test for Independent samples revealed statistically significant differences between the demographic variable of respondent sex and MBTI psychological trait preferences and the listening scales of the KCLT.Item Item What is beautiful is sex-typed: a developmental examination(2003) Hoss, Rebecca Anne; Langlois, Judith H.Stereotypes about attractiveness and gender seem to implicate each other in various ways. Previous research has found that adults rate highly attractive targets as being more sex-typed than less attractive targets. This phenomenon has been identified as the “beauty-is-sex-typed” stereotype and has been examined only in adults and with a limited number of sex-typed attributes. The studies reported here extend previous research and provide important developmental data by having adults (Experiment 1) and 7-9-year-old children (Experiment 2) rate more and less attractive target faces for the likelihood of having feminine, masculine, and gender-neutral attributes. Attributes used in ratings included items from three different gender stereotype domains (i.e., traits, activities, and occupations) in order to provide a more complete examination of the beauty-issex-typed stereotype than has been assessed previously. Results showed that both adults and children subscribe to the beauty-is-sex-typed stereotype, but for female targets only: All participants rated high attractive females significantly higher than low attractive females on having feminine traits, activities, and occupations. Additionally, children but not adults rated attractive females higher than unattractive females on gender-neutral attributes. In contrast, all participants rated males, regardless of attractiveness, as equally masculine and gender-neutral in attributes. Children’s results did not appear to depend on the cognitive skill of multiple classification even though expressing a beauty-is-sex-typed stereotype conceptually requires noticing both a target’s gender and attractiveness. Secondary results included that all participants showed stronger cross-sex-typed stereotypes for activities and occupations than traits. Taken together, these results have important implications for the development of both attractiveness stereotyping and gender stereotyping. Even in young children, attractiveness stereotypes consist of both sex-relevant (“beauty is good”) and sex-irrelevant (“beauty is sex-typed”) components, and these components include traits, activities, and occupations. Moreover, gender stereotypes of female targets, at least for adults and children in middle childhood, seem to depend on the attractiveness of the targets.Item Willingness to interact with an AIDS-infected coworker(Texas Tech University, 1989-08) Waltz, William EdwardThe purpose of this study was to determine if knowledge about AIDS translates into a positive attitude towards people with AIDS. Data were collected to determine if individuals with a positive attitude about AIDS will express a greater willingness to interact with an AIDS-infected coworker. This project also investigated the relationship between a willingness to interact with an AIDS-infected coworker and an individual's Holland code scores. Subjects' responses were evaluated to determine if the Holland code scores differentiate between sex role orientation scores as defined by the Bem Sex Role Inventory. This study also investigated the relationship between high Feminine scores and a greater willingness to interact with, and hold a more positive attitude towards people with AIDS. Finally, the data were evaluated to determine if females are more likely than males to express a willingness to interact with, and hold more positive attitudes towards people with AIDS. There were 184 students in this study, 92 males, and 92 females. It was found that AIDS knowledge does correlate with attitude toward people with AIDS (r (182) = .32). Attitude toward people with AIDS does correlate with a willingness to interact with an AIDS-infected coworker (r(182) = .52). Individuals who expressed a willingness to interact with an AIDS-infected coworker also scored high in the Holland code areas of Artistic (r (182) = .23) and Intellectual (r(182) = .19). These correlations were significant at the p<.05 level. Additionally, scores in Social and Realistic correlated with Feminine scores (r182) = .51 and r(182)= .35, p<.05, respectively). Only scores in Enterprising correlated with Masculine scores (r(182) = .38, p<.0 5). Individuals with high Feminine scores expressed a willingness to work with (r(182)=.21, p < .05) , and had a more positive attitude towards people with AIDS (r(182)=.33, p<.05) than those individuals with high Masculine scores. Females expressed a greater willingness to interact with (t = 5.30) , and held a more positive attitude toward people with AIDS (t = 3.66) than the males. These differences were each significatnt at the p<.05 level