Thesis (M.A.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Humanities, Classics, and Comparative Literature, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 90-92).

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of attributional style, sex roles, and sex-role self-discrepancy in the relationship between gender and depression. Epidemiological studies report a higher incidence of depression among women then men (approximately 2:1). Among the various theories suggested to explain this gender difference, sex roles, attributional style, and self-discrepancy have been conceived as possible explanations. The relationship between gender and depression may be better understood through examining the possible contribution of these three independent variables. To examine these theories, a sample of 130 subjects was drawn from clients at the USU Counseling Center, the USU Community Clinic, the Logan Regional Hospital, and students from an introductory psychology class at USU. Participation was based on voluntary informed consent of the subjects and approval of the above mentioned institutions. Each subject completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Extended Attributional Style Questionnaire (EASQ), and a revised version of the short Bern Sex-Role Inventory (SBSRI) measuring ideal versus actual self. Path analysis was used to examine the sequence of the relationships presumed by the androgyny model, congruence model, and masculinity model. Neither sex role was found to correlate significantly with depression. Overall, the directions of the path coefficients best supported the androgyny model, but these coefficients were too weak to explain the variance. Attributional style was related to depression, but no gender difference was found in the correlation between attributional style and depression. The correlation coefficient between feminine self-discrepancy and depression was positive but statistically insignificant for the females from the clinical sample and very small for females from the student sample. Overall, attributional style, sex-roles, and self-discrepancy in sex-role characteristics were not found to contribute to the higher rate of depression in women.

<p>The aim of the study was to develop an understanding of how adolescent South African girls in institutional care perceive their female gender role, in the past, the present and future.</p><p>The research question was: How do adolescent girls living in institutional care in South Africa perceive their female gender role in the past, the present and future? A mixed design, a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, was used in order to answer the research question. The quantitative part of the study consisted of a questionnaire, and the qualitative part of the study contained seven interviews. To interpret the analyzed data a theoretical framework was used, consisting of the theory of social constructionism and gender theory. The final result of the quantitative and the quantitative parts of the study showed that the perception of the female gender role among the respondents is more stereotyped/ traditional when it comes to the area of relationships and sexuality, but more equal in the field of future occupation and the professional role. The result shows that a majority of the respondents have one view of gender roles in general, a more traditional picture of how things are supposed to be, and another, less conservative when they express their own desires of how they want their future life and household.</p>

The majority of studies concerning psychological sex and management style have indicated that people consider the masculine style of managing to be the most popular. However, such studies are out of date and/or were usually measuring the perceptions of surveyed college students. Few studies have focused on successful managers in successful organizations. A modified version of the Bern Sex Role Inventory was distributed to 52 managers in a Total Quality Management organization. This study hypothesized that successful managers would be androgynous managers. The results of the study indicated that successful managers are androgynous managers, and that there is no significant difference in the number of female and male androgynous managers.

The study was designed to determine the effects of psychological sex-role on pre-performance anxiety in masculine (rugby), feminine (balance beam), and neutral (badminton) sex-typed motor activities. Instruments used to gather data included the Personal Attributes Questionnaire, the Sport Competition Anxiety Test, and the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2. Twenty-six masculine, 24 feminine, and 27 androgynous males and females were submitted to a three-phase training session for each sport skill. At the conclusion of each session, prior to performing the skill in front of a panel of judges (confederates of the experimenter), subjects were administered the self-report state anxiety (A-state) inventory. Data were analyzed by a 2 x 3 x 3 design. Conclusions were that individuals classified as feminine reported more feelings of A-state prior to performance than individuals classified as masculine or androgynous. Furthermore, the performer's biological sex affected anxiety levels, depending upon perceptions concerning the sex-appropriateness of the activity.

This investigation was designed to determine whether a relationship existed between sex-roles (masculinity, femininity and androgyny) as measured by the Bem Sex Role Inventory and success (win-loss record) in a round-robin fencing tournament of 35 subjects enrolled in beginning fencing during spring semester of 1979 at North Texas State University. The Pearson product-moment coefficient of correlations were calculated to ascertain whether or not significant relationships at the .05 level of confidence existed among the sex-roles of the subjects and success in fencing. This study concluded that individuals with a high feminine score will find success in a round-robin fencing tournament and individuals with a high masculine score will find success in a round-robin fencing tournament.

Factors which influence severity of moral judgement in men and women were investigated in this study with 94 male and 89 female undergraduate students as participants. Effects of "sex of judge," "sex of transgressor," and "value orientation" variables were examined across five diverse story conditions. A measure of identification was also obtained. As hypothesized, a significant main effect was found for "value orientation," but not for "sex of judge" or "sex of transgressor" variables. The hypothesized disappearance of a "sex of judge" by "sex of transgressor" interaction was found. Hypotheses concerning a permissive trend and the effects of degree of identification were not confirmed.

Estuda as práticas sexuais de risco para a infecção pelo HIV entre jovens (18 a 25 anos) do período noturno de escolas públicas da cidade de São Paulo; avalia os efeitos de um modelo de prevenção segundo variáveis baseadas no Modelo de Redução de Risco em AIDS; analisa diferenças entre os gêneros. Desenvolveu-se um estudo longitudinal, envolvendo 4 escolas divididas randomicamente em grupo-intervenção e grupo-controle. 394 estudantes participaram do baseline, sendo que 77% completaram o questionário pós-intervenção. Desenvolvimento de Oficinas de Sexo Mais Seguro com 4 encontros, de 3 horas cada, onde foram discutidos: o simbolismo da AIDS; percepção de risco; influência das normas de gênero nas atitudes; informações sobre AIDS; corpo erótico e reprodutivo; prazer sexual; negociação do uso do preservativo. Dados do baseline mostraram que a freqüência do uso de preservativo foi baixa entre os jovens que mantiveram relação sexual, e que há diferenças significativas entre os gêneros com relação à sexualidade e aspectos envolvidos na prevenção de AIDS. Ao avaliar as oficinas, observaram-se efeitos estatisticamente significativos entre as mulheres, que tiveram relações sexuais mais seguras, e em algumas variáveis envolvidas com a prevenção da AIDS. As mudanças foram menos significativas entre os homens. Conclui-se que o risco para a infecção pelo HIV pode ser diminuído, mas resultados mais expressivos podem ser encontrados se forem enfatizados os obstáculos sócio-econômicos e papéis sexuais de gênero através de programas comunitários específicos de longa duração. / Examines sexual risk for HIV infection among young adults (18 to 25 years old) night school students in São Paulo city; evaluates effects of an HIV/AIDS prevention model through AIDS Risk Reduction Model variables; analyzes gender differences. A longitudinal study was conducted among four public night schools that were randomized into intervention group and control group. 394 students participated in the baseline survey, 77% completed a post intervention questionnaire. Development of Safer Sex Workshops during four sessions with 3 hours each, where they discussed: AIDS symbolism, risk perception, influences of gender norms on attitudes, AIDS-related knowledge, erotic and reproductive body, sexual pleasure, condom negotiation. Condom use was low among students that had sexual relation and gender differences were significant at baseline. Workshops evaluation showed significant effects among women that had more safer sex and in some variables involved with AIDS prevention. Changes were less significant among men. We conclude that the risk to HIV infection can be lowered, but more significant results can be achieved if the socioeconomic barriers and gender differences are considered in specific long-term community programs.

This study establishes a link between research done in the field of public relations on source credibility, communicator gender, message strength, and source affiliation. Research has established that source credibility is one of the most important factors influencing the acceptance of a message. For this study, source credibility was measured using three main dimensions: expertise, trustworthiness and attractiveness. Similar to many studies focusing on source credibility, this study focuses on the various attributes of the communicator or message source. This study uses an experimental procedure to investigate the relationships between source credibility, message strength, source affiliation, and communicator gender. Based on previous findings, this study hypothesized that higher message strength will be perceived as more credible than lower message strength, sources labeled 'public relations practitioner' will be perceived as less credible than sources that are not, and male communicators will be seen as more credible than females. Findings indicate, however, that message strength has no significant influence on source credibility. Nor does it significantly influence the opinions of the participants on the communicator's gender and their affiliation with the term public relations practitioner, except in the case of their levels of expertise. The results however did indicate that there are statistically significant interactions between the trustworthiness and attractiveness of the source and the attitudes of the participants toward the public relations message, the corporation and their subsequent behavioral intentions.

The management literature in gender issues argues that in spite of the progress made in the last few decades, women still face difficulties in being accepted and recognised as managers because the manager’s role has been perceived as masculine. Gender stereotypes, hence, continue to become a barrier to women’s access to top management position. This study examines the perceptions of the relationship between sex role stereotypes and the perceived characteristics necessary for managerial success among Chinese students in New Zealand. The study sample consisted of 94 male Chinese students and 119 female Chinese students studying in New Zealand. In order to allow for cross-cultural comparisons, this study used a direct replication the Schein Descriptive Index (SDI) from previous study (Schein & Mueller, 1992). The male and female perceptions on the relationship between sex role stereotypes and characteristics were analysed separately. The results revealed that both male and female Chinese students in New Zealand perceive that successful middle managers possess characteristics, attitudes and temperaments more commonly ascribed to men than to women in general. In addition, the results were compared with previous studies conducted in China and Japan, New Zealand, America, Britain, Canada, and Germany. Our findings conclude that Asian people are worse than Western people in respect to managerial sex role stereotyping, particularly, Chinese males who show a very strong degree of managerial gender stereotyping. Multiple discriminant analysis was used to discriminate the relationship between men, women and middle managers on 92 items from the survey questionnaire. The analysis resulted in two separate canonical functions which distinguished between three groups women, men and managers).