Abstract The purpose of this study was to explore the differences among college students¡¦ personality traits, gender identities and types of expected occupations. One hundred ninety-one participants were selected by convenient sampling for completing Gender Role Identity Scale, Expected Occupational Type Scale, Big Five Inventory Chinese version, Sexist Attitudes toward Women Scale Chinese version and personal information questions in 2010 to 2011. Frequency distribution, descriptive analyses, independent t-test and analysis of variance were conducted for answering research questions. The initial findings were as follows: 1. The highest percentages of females college students¡¦ gender role identity types was androgynous¡]30.77%¡^; The highest percentages of male college students¡¦ gender role identity was masculine¡]31.63%¡^. 2. Students¡¦ background (i.e. sex, college, parenting style and birth order) presented non-significant relationship to gender role identity types. 3. Female college students expected to engage in female-related occupations while males preferred in male-related occupations. 4. Feminine college students presented non-significant difference in take male-related jobs. 5. Female and male college students presented non-significant differences on big five traits. 6. Masculine college students tended to have higher scores on extraversion and be more emotional stability than Feminine college students. 7. Androgynous college students have the highest scores on openness than these feminine and undifferentiated college students. 8. Females tended to have better gender equality perceptions. 9. There were non-significant differences on sexist attitudes toward gender scores between different gender role identity college students.

Thesis advisor: Mary E. Walsh / Gender is an undeniably significant element of human identity, contributing to multiple aspects of development. Previous research suggests that gender typicality, a sense that one is typical for one's own gender category, is associated with positive developmental outcomes among children while a sense of gender atypicality is generally associated with negative outcomes, including lowered self-esteem (Egan & Perry, 2001). This study further investigates the relationship between gender typicality and self-esteem from a developmental-contextual perspective by examining the relationship in the context of various developmental systems (e.g., school, peer group). Positive connections to developmental systems such as peers and school have been found to foster resilience by reinforcing strengths and buffering students from negative outcomes (Masten & Coatsworth, 1998). Therefore, it was hypothesized that classroom social support and school belonging would moderate the relationship between gender typicality and self-esteem by protecting gender atypical children from the negative cost of low self-esteem. Within the current sample, the relationship between gender typicality and self-esteem was more robust than in previous studies. While the moderating hypotheses were not confirmed, gender typicality was found to mediate the relationship between school belonging and self-esteem. The current findings underscore the vital role of gender and gender typicality in children's lives. Implications for prevention and intervention efforts in schools are discussed. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2009. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology.

The emergence in recent years of strong female musical artists asserting their sexuality as empowerment (Andsager & Roe, 2003; Gauntlett, 2002) has necessitated an evaluation of their depictions in music videos as perceived by contemporary target audiences. This study attempts to determine how viewers’ gender role identity, based upon gender schema theory (Bem, 1981; 1993) and measured through Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI), relate to perceptions of female pop and hip hop artists’ music videos. It was hypothesized that sex-typed respondents would perceive portrayals as traditional more than other groups, whereas cross-sex typed respondents would perceive empowerment more than others groups. A convenience sample of 177 female undergraduate students was used for this cross-sectional study. Results did not support the hypotheses. Though some of the traditional items were found significant, no other significant differences emerged. Overall, gender role identity was ultimately found to have little relationship to perceptions of music video portrayals.

La présente étude s’interroge sur les rapports entre la prise de risque et différentes variables individuelles et sociales ─ l’identité sexuée, la recherche de sensations, l’estime de soi, l’attachement aux parents et la supervision parentale ─ chez jeunes adolescents piétons âgés de 9 à 14 ans. Afin d’obtenir les données, 948 participants scolarisés de la classe de CM1 à celle 3ème ont répondu à un questionnaire. Les résultats nous ont permis de confirmer que d’une part les garçons prennent plus de risques que les filles et d’autre part, que plus l’enfant est âgé plus il prend des risques dans l’espace routier. Les résultats confirment également l’existence de liens entre l’identité sexuée, la recherche de sensations, l’attachement aux parents, la supervision parentale et la prise de risque piéton. Par contre, l’estime de soi n’est pas corrélée à la prise de risque piéton. Des analyses de régression linéaires nous ont permis de montrer que la recherche de sensations s’explique par non seulement un besoin biologique ou physiologique de sensations mais aussi par un besoin de correspondre à des rôles sociaux, à la norme. La recherche de sensations c’est en grande partie quelque chose qui vise à satisfaire un besoin identitaire, rôles de sociaux auxquels on est tenu d’adhérer. Le modèle de Baron et Kenny (1986) nous a permis de vérifier que la supervision parentale agit bien comme variable médiatrice entre l’attachement des parents et la prise de risque piéton. Ainsi nous proposons un modèle plus complexe du MIO (modèle interne opérant) de Greenberg (1987). En effet, la supervision fait partie de l’attachement ; c'est-à-dire qu’en plus des dimensions communication/confiance et aliénation, on ajoute la dimension de supervision. Le sentiment d’être bien supervisé par les parents explique la mise en danger de soi en plus de l’attachement confiant. / In the present study, we investigate the relationships between risk-taking and different individual and social variables – gender-role identity, sensations-seeking, self-esteem partial-attachment and parental-supervision – in young adolescent pedestrians (9 to 14 years old). In order to obtain valuable data, 948 pupils from CM1 to 3rd had to answer a set of questions. The results have confirmed that, on the one hand, boys take more risks than girls, and on the other hand, the more the child is old, the more he takes risks in the road-space. The results confirm, also, the association of the variables gender-role identity, sensations-seeking, parental attachment and parental supervision with the pedestrian risk-taking. On the other hand, there is no relationship between self-esteem and pedestrian risk-taking. A series of multiple regression analyses have shown that sensations-seeking cannot be explained only by biological or physiological need of sensations, but also by the need to correspond with the social roles. The Baron and Kenny (1986) model allows to verify that the parental-supervision does act as a mediating variable between parental-attachment and pedestrian risk-taking. So, we propose a more complex model of the MIO (construct of “working models”) of Greenberg (1987). Supervision is one of the dimensions of the attachment that is to say that, in addition to the communication/confidence and alienation dimensions, there is the supervision dimension. The feeling of being well-supervised by the parents, explains the self-endangering in addition to the confident-attachment.

A schooling system that claims to offer its students the opportunities to develop their talents and help towards self-determination in their adult lives might be expected to have a career structure itself that demonstrated these virtues, one in which there was equality of the genders in positions of influence and leadership, and no gender stereotyping of roles. Apart from the fairness and consistency of that expectation, it is also reasonable to expect the neutral template of teacher employment and textbook selection in schools. Many children may grow up with few books in their homes but lots of those in their schools. Many of the textbooks used in elementary schools, according to recent studies, contain gender stereotypes. In these, females are rarely found as central characters and when they appear at all, they are often passive figures dependent on male characters. Women are frequently shown in domestic roles / in most textbooks it is assumed that only males &#039 / go out to work&#039 / whereas daughters are the best helpers of their mothers whose sons are allowed to do what they wish. In the light of those allegations, this research is designed as a case study which addresses itself to the aim of looking into stereotyped gender role presentations existing in elementary school textbooks used by the students studying at 1st-5th grades in 2001/2002 academic year of an elementary school placed in Burdur and to see whether these students are affected by the exposure of those stereotyped gender role presentations. For this purpose, the textbooks being studied are analyzed according to pre-set categories to deduce how they include stereotyped gender role presentations and the evaluation of the effects of that exposure on students are made by asking 1st-3rd grade students to draw and 4th-5th grade students to write compositions on a given topic. This study also attempts to find out both whether Turkish elementary school teachers teaching at 1st-5th grades are aware of stereotyped gender role presentations in those textbooks that they use and their own points of view about stereotyped gender role presentations via interviews carried out with them. In conclusion, stereotyped gender role presentations are encountered in those analyzed school textbooks studied at 1st- 5th grades in 2001/2002 academic year of the elementary school placed in Burdur and the perceptions of those presentations are also obtained in the drawn and written productions of the students studied at the same school. Through the teachers&#039 / interviews, various kinds of perceptions towards gender role concept and its stereotyped presentations that take place in those textbooks are observed in their sayings