The purpose of this descriptive study was to explore the performance of the Bern Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) (Bern, 1974) amongst South African students. Little information exists about student sex roles in this country. The BSRI is. widely used as a research instrument in South Africa, without investigation of the applicability of the American norms on which it is based to the behaviour of the instrument in South Africa. The primary aims were twofold: firstly, to describe the inventory's behaviour and establish norms for local students; and secondly, to translate the BSRI into the Afrikaans language and establish norms for Afrikaans students. Subjects were two samples of students (N=lSO, n females = 10.9, n males = 41, each). All subjects were classified '·'white", were full time bona fide Psychology One students from the Universities of Cape Town and Stellenbosch. Stratified random samples were drawn from the student populations. Quantitative methods were used to gather the data, namely the BSRI. The BSRI was translated into Afrikaans using backtranslation and decentring methods. A BSRI protocol, a. letter of motivation, and a stamped, addressed envelope were sent to the subjects by mail. Completed protocols were mailed to the researcher. All results were anonymous. Completed protocols were coded, scored, and analysed using statistical software resident on the UCT Sperry-Univac mainframe. The main findings were that the University of Stellenbosch (US) male students were more masculine sex typed than their University of Cape Town (UCT) counterparts. UCT students were found to be more androgynous than US; the BSRI demonstrated high internal reliability, with subscale internal reliability scores demonstrating strong homogeneity of items. The UCT BSRI protocols were factor analysed into two clearly independent dimensions called masculinity and femininity. It was found that the US BSRI protocols did not factor analyse into two clearly independent dimensions. A large factor in the US sample is representative of an androgynous individual in that the factor loaded with positive masculine and feminine BSRI items that Bern (1974) regarded as indicative of androgyny. The implications of the study are that the BSRI masculinity norms developed in the United States are not applicable to South African students. The Afrikaans translation of the BSRI cannot be used to determine sex roles in the same manner as the original BSRI intends. Future research could ·involve the qualitative assessment of sex role, especially in a multi-cultural design.

Research (Miller, Worthington, & McDaniel, 2008) has shown that women have higher levels of dispositional forgiveness than men. Studies (Exline & Zell, 2009; Toussaint & Webb, 2005) have also discovered that empathy predicts dispositional forgiveness differently in men compared to women. It is unclear why these sex differences exist. Therefore, four models were constructed, analyzed, and compared using structural equation modeling in order to determine whether gender role orientation moderates the relationship between empathy and dispositional forgiveness. Self-report data were collected from 502 undergraduate university students at a mid-sized, Midwestern, public university in the United States. The models examined did not fit the data well; possibly caused by the interaction between empathy and femininity within each model. However, significant findings emerged. Results showed that angry rumination negatively predicted dispositional forgiveness. Concerning gender role orientations, results showed that femininity positively predicted dispositional forgiveness, while masculinity did not significantly predict dispositional forgiveness. Contrary to expectations, empathy negatively predicted dispositional forgiveness. However, additional analyses clarified that empathy actually positively predicted dispositional forgiveness; a finding that was likely distorted by multicollinearity in the main models examined. Results revealed that femininity significantly moderated the empathy-dispositional forgiveness relationship. In this study, masculinity did not significantly moderate the relationship between empathy and dispositional forgiveness. This work concludes with a discussion of results in the context of McCullough’s theory of forgiveness (McCullough et al., 1998) and Gilligan’s (1994) theory of moral reasoning. Additionally, issues affecting the measurement of constructs and implications for research and practice are discussed. / Access to thesis permanently restricted to Ball State community only. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

Stoppard (1989) contended that cognitive behavioral etiological explanations of depression were biased and utilized androcentric standards to determine an individual's vulnerability to depression. Stoppard's theory has been supported in part by scientists who have tested the gender role hypothesis of depression. This hypothesis proposes an overlap between social conceptualizations of depression and women. Research supporting this prediction has demonstrated a positive association between criteria for depressive disorders and prevailing feminine gender roles (e.g., Cook, 1990; Fisher, 1989; Landrine, 1988; Rothblum, 1983). The current project further investigated the gender role hypothesis of depression and Stoppard's (1989) criticism of Beck's cognitive theory of depression. Using a six-point Likert rating scale, a sample of 453 undergraduates evaluated items on the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) in terms of how typical each item was of men and women. Responses were factor analyzed and assessed in relation to conceptualizations of women's gender roles and established criteria for depression. Exploratory factor analyses yielded a two-factor solution that accounted for 29 percent of the total variance among the BDI-II items. Based on the patterns in participants' responses, these two factors were labeled "Depression" and the "Absence of Depression." Further, the "Depression" factor was comprised of items more typical of women, while the "Absence of Depression" factor appeared to contain more items typical of men. Both of these factors were found to possess satisfactory internal reliability. Supplementary analyses suggested male and female participants did not differ in their ratings of the "Absence of Depression" factor. Both perceived this factor as typical of men. In contrast, males and females varied in their assessment of the "Depression" factor. Females rated the "Depression" factor higher than males, indicating that this factor was more typical of women. Multiple regression analyses also suggested that gender-related personality traits (e.g., instrumental & communal) and beliefs about discrimination against women differentially contributed to predicting responses to the "Depression" and the "Absence of Depression" factors. Theoretical, empirical, and clinical implications are offered for all of these results in the hopes of eliminating the overlap between social conceptualizations of depression and women, and enhancing the accurate identification, treatment, and investigation of depression. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

Tang Taryn. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 52-59). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.ii / ABSTRACT --- p.iii / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.v / LIST OF TABLES --- p.vii / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.viii / Chapter CHAPTER 1 --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Multiple Roles --- p.2 / From Scarcity and Enhancement to Balance --- p.2 / Scarcity Theory --- p.2 / Expansion Theory --- p.3 / Role Quality --- p.4 / Moderators and Mediators --- p.7 / Identifying the Ambiguity --- p.9 / Gender Role Socialization --- p.12 / Changing Gender Roles --- p.12 / A New Synthesis --- p.15 / Chapter CHAPTER 2 --- STUDY1 --- p.17 / Purpose --- p.17 / Method --- p.17 / Participants and Procedures --- p.17 / Measures --- p.18 / Item Development of Gender Role Socialization --- p.18 / Gender Role Stress --- p.18 / Gender Role Orientation --- p.19 / Results --- p.20 / Exploratory Factor Analyses --- p.20 / Relationship to Other Constructs --- p.22 / Discussion --- p.23 / Chapter CHAPTER 3 --- STUDY2 --- p.25 / Purpose --- p.25 / Method --- p.25 / Procedures --- p.26 / Participants --- p.27 / Measures --- p.28 / Gender Role Socialization Scale --- p.28 / General Health Questionnaire --- p.29 / Role Quality --- p.29 / Analysis Plan --- p.30 / Results --- p.32 / Confirmatory Factor Analyses --- p.32 / Differences between the Three Role Combinations --- p.33 / Correlational Analyses --- p.34 / Regression Analyses --- p.36 / Discussion --- p.41 / Conclusion and Future Directions --- p.49 / REFERENCES --- p.52 / APPENDIX A Gender Role Socialization Questionnaire --- p.85 / APPENDIX B Role Quality Questionnaire --- p.88

Vulnerability to Feminine Gender Role Stress (FGRS), defined as the tendency to evaluate the self along feminine dimensions, was introduced as a psychosocial mediator between environmental stressors and maladaptive outcomes to explain the higher rate of particular mental health problems among women relative to men. FGRS was proposed to result from 1) vulnerability, adherence to feminine standards for self-appraisal, and 2) exposure to environmental conditions which directly threaten or challenge one's ability to live up to these standards. Two studies investigated the FGRS construct. In Study 1, women who appraised threats and challenges to feminine commitments as highly stressful, rated feminine traits as more personally important to exhibit, than did women who did not appraise these situations as highly stressful. Additionally vulnerability to FGRS interacted with inadequate social support to predict depressive symptomatology in women. Study 2 compared subjects high and low in FGRS vulnerability in responses to a counseling task presented as either a feminine or gender-neutral stressor. When the task was presented as a feminine stressor, women whose scores on the FGRS scale indicated adherence to feminine self-evaluation criteria evidenced greater physical stress, and cognitive engagement, including attempts to cognitively reframe the situation in order to cope with it, than did women who did not show adherence to these criteria. Across stressors high FGRS subjects reported greater reliance than low FGRS subjects on feminine styles of coping, including providing and soliciting social support. These findings elucidate the processes underlying women's vulnerability to FGRS and contribute to the understanding of gender-role mediated psychopathology in women. / Ph. D.

The purpose of the present study was to develop a measure of feminine gender role stress appraisal (FGRS), the cognitive tendency to appraise threats and challenges to femininity as stressful. Stressors particularly salient for women were identified. Through factor analysis these stressors were categorized as situations involving emotional detachment, evaluation of physical attractiveness, potential victimization, assertive coping, and evaluations of nurturance. The FGRS appraisal style should create additional stress in the lives of women to the extent they are faced with these types of stressors. Thus, it was predicted that women high on FGRS would be more vulnerable to stress related disorders that disproportionately afflict women. Supporting this hypothesis, women with high FGRS scores reported more depression and, to a lesser extent, anxiety. Additionally, the psychometric properties of the FGRS scale were investigated. Women scored higher on FGRS than men and scores among women showed good two week testretest reliability. The tendency to appraise situations on the FGRS scale as stressful was moderately associated with the tendency to perceive masculine threats and challenges and daily hassles as stressful as well. Discriminant validity was demonstrated between FGRS appraisal and the expression of hostility and self-perceived femininity. / Master of Science

The notion of changing sex-role attitudes has been utilized as an criminality (Adler, explanation for increasing 1975; Hoffman-Bustamante, female 1973; Steffensmeier, 1980; Simon, 1975). Despite the paucity of evidence, the women's movement has been held suspect by the suggestion that changing sex-roles result in increased violence of crime committed by women. The purpose of the present study was to provide further information about the sex-role orientations of female offenders in a penal setting and to explain the relationship between criminal sex-role orientation and other social variables descriptive of criminality. A two-part questionnaire was administered to 109 women inmates at a correctional facility and to a control group of 107 female freshman at a southwest Virginia university. A personal history inventory provided basic demographic information such as age, race, educational level, family background, and marital status. A short 15-item version of The Attitudes Toward Women Scale (Spence and Helmreich, 1973) was used to measure the respondents' sex-role attitudes. The results of the study indicated that women inmates were more traditional in their sex-role attitudes when compared with a sample of college women. There was no relationship between female offenders' sex-role attitudes and the type of crime committed. Finally, the educational level of the inmate respondents and amount of time incarcerated, were statistically significant predictors of both AWS score and the type of crime committed. Explanations of female crime are only now beginning to be tested. Those who have tried to examine the link between the women's movement and female crime have found little or no evidence of a relationship. Such was the case in the present study. Before more complete interpretations of the data on female crime can be formed, more studies need to be conducted. / M.S.

Thesis (MEdPsych)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / Bibliography / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The issue of masculinity is complex, and many theories on how gender is constructed exist. The central premise of this study is that gender construction is the result of dynamic social interaction and, as such, a post-structuralist paradigm is ascribed to. The concept of multiple masculinities exists to explain the influences different contexts have on how masculine ideas are constructed. This is not a passive process and individuals are considered active creators of their own identity. However, research demonstrates that not all masculinities are equal. Hegemonic masculinity maintains its leading dominant position status through using strategies of power and dominance to maintain the pinnacle position of status in the hierarchy of masculinities. The purpose of this study is to listen to the narratives of pre-adolescent boys about masculinity. Post-structuralist and social constructivist ideas that meaning is fluid and open to change, is influenced by culture and the individual meanings that people make. This understanding provides the theoretical framework for this qualitative study. Through a narrative-inquiry design, meaning was made of the individual experiences of six boys within the context of a single-sex preparatory school. The narratives of these participants, purposively selected, were obtained using the data-collecting methods of interviews, a focus group and the construction of a collage. The analysed data was presented both in the form of the narratives of the participants and through a thematic analysis. The findings indicate that within this private, single-sex preparatory school context, multiple constructions of masculinity are formed, and they all appear to be constructed in relation to hegemonic notions of masculinity. It was found that fathers play an important role in the way in which boys construct their masculine identity. However, their peers and the school context also play a significant role. Further, the findings revealed that although hegemonic notions of masculinity in this context had a powerful impact on these participants’ construction of masculinity, there are indications some are challenging overt expressions of hegemonic masculinity and, as such, hold more complex, transitional constructs of masculine identity. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die kwessie rondom manlikheid is kompleks en daar bestaan baie teorieë oor hoe geslag gebou word. Die sentrale uitgangspunt van hierdie studie is dat die konstruksie van geslag ‘n resultaat van dinamiese sosiale interaksie is en dus aan 'n post-strukturalistiese paradigma toegeskryf word. As sodanig bestaan die konsep van verskeie vorme van manlikheid om te verduidelik hoe verskillende kontekste manlike idees beïnvloed. Dit is nie 'n passiewe proses nie. Individue word as aktiewe skeppers van hulle eie identiteit beskou. Navorsing toon egter dat nie alle vorme van manlikheid gelyk is nie. Hegemoniese manlikheid hou 'n dominante posisie in stand deur die gebruik van strategieë van mag en oorheersing; die hoogsteposisie van status in die hiërargie van manlikheid word dus gestaaf. Die doel van hierdie studie is om na die narratiewe van pre-adolessente seuns oor manlikheid te luister. Post-strukturalistiese en sosiale konstruktivistiese idees wat aandui dat bedoelings vloeibaar en veranderbaar is, afhangende van kultuur en die betekenis wat deur 'n individu daaraan geheg word, voorsien dus 'n teoretiese raamwerk vir hierdie kwalitatiewe studie. Deur die gebruik van ‘n narratiewe ondersoek-ontwerp, is die betekenis van die individuele ervaringe van ses seuns in die konteks van 'n enkel-geslag voorbereidende skool geevalueer. Die verhale van hierdie deelnemers, wat doelgerig geselekteer is, is verkry deur gebruik te maak van onderhoude, 'n fokus groep en die konstruksie van 'n collage as data insamelingsmetodes. Die geanaliseerde data is beide in die vorm van verhale van die deelnemers sowel as 'n tematiese analise aangebied. Die bevindinge dui daarop dat binne hierdie private, enkel-geslag voorbereidende skoolkonteks, verskeie konstruksies van manlikheid gevorm word en het telkens beblyk in verhouding tot hegemoniese idees oor manlikheid gebou te word. Daar is bevind dat vaders 'n belangrike rol speel in die wyse waarop seuns hul manlike identiteit konstrueer. Eweknieë en die skoolkonteks speel egter ook 'n belangrike rol in die konstruksie van geslag. Die bevindinge het verder aan die lig gebring dat, alhoewel hegemoniese idees oor manlikheid in hierdie konteks 'n kragtige uitwerking op hierdie deelnemers se konstruksie van manlikheid het, daar aanduidings is dat sommige van die deelnemers openlike uitdrukkings van hegemoniese manlikheid uitdaag en sodoende meer komplekse oorgang-konstrukte van manlike identiteit het.

This research study examines the impact of international migration of household labor for Bosnian immigrant women living in Portland, Oregon. Bosnia is a society with enduring patriarchal traditions which assume that women are in charge of doing household chores. Men are in charge of providing for the family monetarily. Many Bosnian families migrated to the U.S. in the mid 1990's in order to escape the war in Bosnia. In this study I interview 10 of these Bosnian women, concerning the division of labor in their homes in Bosnia and their homes in U.S. After migrating to the U.S. the amount of work women did within the home lessened as their husbands became more involved in helping with various chores. The changes in the division of household labor did not subvert traditional gender roles. Wives transferred and adapted their views of gender performativity after they migrated to the United States. The results are consistent with research that states that migrant women focus more on advancement of their family rather on their own emancipation.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Previous research has found that the clarity of information provided to raters about women managers’ performance affects ratings of their competence, likeability, and overall evaluation. The current study sought to contribute to this literature by examining whether individual differences of raters can explain the reason for differential performance evaluations of male and female managers, despite them both performing equally. For this purpose, the current research extended the findings of Heilman and colleagues by replicating their methodology while introducing a moderator variable, the rater’s Implicit Person Theory (IPT). The IPT differentiates people into either entity theorists (that is, those who believe that behavior is trait-based and therefore fixed and stable) and incremental theorists (those who believe that behavior is situationally mediated and hence, changeable). Specifically, it was proposed that the effects found in the previous study would be stronger when the rater possessed an entity theory as opposed to an incremental theory. In doing so, this research attempted to provide an understanding of why male and female managers might be given different ratings, all other things being equal. Analyses revealed results that were consistent with, as well as some that were quite inconsistent with, previous findings. Rater IPT was found to have a significant effect on ratings provided by male participants but not those of female participants. Other findings and implications are discussed and limitations and future research directions are stated.