Research has shown that females gaze more than males while speaking and listening regardless of the sex of their partner. To determine if these differences are due to biological sex or sex role, 24 dyads, in which subjects were matched on sex and sex role, conversed for 10 minutes while patterns of speech and gaze were recorded by two judges.…

Much of the sex role research published in the late seventies was concerned with measuring masculinity and femininity, based on stereotyped trait ratings using tests like the Bem Sex Role Inventory or the Personal Attributes Questionnaire. In response to the need for a wider variety of measures, the Activities Inventory (AI), a checklist of…

Compared male and female managers' communication style with subordinates in staff meetings. A category system was developed for coding communicative behaviors. Managers were administered the Bem Sex Role Inventory. Results indicated that male and female managers demonstrated similar communication styles and similar masculine perceptions of…

Over the last decade or so, researchers have started to describe some of the ways young children begin to acquire and apply certain gender-relevant concepts, constructs, and behaviors. Researchers are beginning to build developmental models detailing young children's acquisition of certain gender-typed behaviors and gender schema factors. The…

In the first study reported most American norms governing reactions to self-disclosure to friends and strangers were replicated. In the second study American norms governing self-disclosure to males and females were not replicated. (Author/AM)

Examined the relationship of gender-role orientation and specific behavioral coping responses of wives (N=82) experiencing a long-term separation from their military spouses. Results showed that an androgynous gender-role orientation was significantly associated with four of the five coping patterns identified as helpful to wives managing a…

This study examined whether kindergarten-age children showed traditional gender role behaviors in their choice of play activities. Participating in the study were 9 boys and 11 girls, all 5 or 6 years old and attending the same kindergarten class in a middle size, suburban elementary school. Data on student choice behavior were gathered during the…

Male and female experimenters requested adult shoppers (N=178) to fill out a questionnaire. Refusal data showed shoppers helping other-sex more than same-sex experimenters. Other results showed a significant three-way interaction among helper and helpee sex and sex-typing and situation sex-typing and that helper sex-typing did not have significant…

Previous equity research indicates that females more often than males prefer to divide rewards equally when their own work inputs are greater than that of their partner. In the present study, males and females divided rewards either between themselves and another person, or between two hypothetical members of a work dyad. Results showed that when…

In an experiment conducted with southern white college students, a sex-neutral task was used to test male-female paired students for dominant behavior. Males were found to challenge their partners' opinions far more than females were, even though the task was not one culturally defined as either masculine or feminine. (GC)

Research using a model for studying same-sex friendships has indicated differences between men's and women's friendships consistent with traditional sex roles and socialization patterns. However, the differences are small and diminish as strength/duration of friendship increases. There is no evidence that women's friendships are inferior to those…

College freshmen responded to a questionnaire on alcohol use and sex roles. Results indicated a slight increase in number of students drinking and an increase in the quantity of alcohol consumed. No significant relationship was found between sex role and quantity of alcohol consumed. (RC)

Investigated the relationship between sex role orientations and performance in interpersonal situations. Males and females in each of four sex role categories role-played situations requiring the appropriate expression of assertiveness. Androgynous subjects were most effective in rated skills components while undifferentiated subjects were highly…

Supports the hypothesis that male leaders will receive higher ratings of alpha behavior than female leaders in mixed-sex groups, regardless of the females' ratings in same-sex groups. Points to linear male leadership patterns, while female patterns vary depending on the composition of the group. (RL)

Toddler children and their parents were observed in their homes using an observation checklist. Parent behaviors were categorized as positive, negative, or neutral, and parental reactions to specific child behaviors were examined to determine if the sex of the child or the actual behavior influenced the type of parental reaction. (Author/JMB)