The study described revealed gender differences in adolescents' patterns of overt and covert interpersonal social behaviors. Females' overt behaviors were more competent in terms of greater eye contact, situationally appropriate self-expressiveness, and adoption of independent stances. Males were more likely to respond in an inappropriately…

Male graduate students exhibited significantly more aggressiveness (interruptive behavior) than female students in both male and female professors' classes, although more male aggressiveness occurred in female professors' classes. Male students were more verbally assertive in female professors' classes only. Among students, aggressiveness was…

Validates the "College Self-Expression Scale." Shows that females are significantly more assertive, and that in one of the criterion situations each sex was significantly more assertive toward members of the same sex than members of the opposite sex. (RL)

Presents data from a study of assimilative and accommodative discourse devices in the speech of 24 preschool children and 24 middle-childhood youngsters (12 boys and 12 girls in each group) in grades 3 and 6. Boys' discourse, regardless of age, contained more accommodative devices, whereas girls' discourse contained more assimilative devices. Some…

Argues that behavioral differentiation of the sexes is minimal when children are observed or tested individually. Sex differences emerge primarily in social situations resulting in social styles that place females at a disadvantage in interactions with males. The role of the nuclear family in the development of these styles is discussed. (FMW)

While a great deal of clinical research attention has been directed toward assertive training, there have been few studies examining the social impact or interpersonal evaluation of assertive versus unassertive behavior, including the differential evaluation of assertiveness exhibited by males and females. In this study, subjects observed a…

Previous research findings were used in this study to develop and compare categories of the commonly used tactics and motives of sexually aggressive college women and men. In the collaborative work, 43% of the men and 26% of the women said they had perpetrated at least one act of sexual persistence. Based upon the reports of sexual targets,…

Differential responding for males and females on individual items from the Adult Self Expression Scale was investigated using four samples. Men report themselves as more assertive in dealing with bosses and supervisors. Women report themselves as more assertive in expressing love, affection, compliments, and anger to one's parents. (Author)

Documented sex differences in speech and their significance are considered. The research literature on sex-differentiated speech reveals the influence of sex-role stereotypes and assumptions about the relation of speech to sex-differentiated socialization. The more substantiated differences form three clusters: (1) the production of esteemed…

Studied predictors of social dominance and the effects of social dominance on the play behavior of 16 young children 1 to 3 years old. Observed multiple interactions with multiple partners to explore individual-level effects and effects due to individual-partner interactions. Found support for expectations that social dominance mediates…

Most definitions and training of assertive behavior fail to consider cultural diversity in social skills. Verbal, nonverbal and cognitive components of assertive behavior were investigated to determine cultural variations in assertiveness. Black (N=30) and white (N=30) male and female college students enacted 16 role-play scenes with 4 role…

One explanation for the lack of contraception use among adolescents is that young women may feel embarrassment or rejection by their partners if they initiate the use of contraception. To explore young adults' reactions to contraceptive use, 160 college students evaluated a description of an unmarried young couple which varied the length of time…

Identifies conceptual and methodological strengths of Hawley and Little's article and commends the pedagogical value of the approach taken. Notes that questions still unanswered concern the validity of adult caregiver perceptions of social dominance, the relationship between competition hierarchies and hierarchies based on directed agonism, and…

This study examined dominance attempts of grade school children engaged in a cooperative task. Within each of three grade levels (K, 1, 3), eight mixed-sex triads were randomly formed. Utilizing verbal indices of dominance, significant differences were found for cross-sex and same-sex attempts, by grade level and triadic composition. The results…

This study examined the relation of social situation variables and children's gender to children's social problem solving ability in potentially unsafe situations. A total of 62 preschoolers (mean age 4.4 years) were shown a series of four vignettes. In two vignettes, an adult or a child asked a second child to cross a street. In two other…