Gender remains a key predictor of housework in modern society. However, previous studies have been relatively limited in their ability to adjudicate between possible mechanisms operating at the individual and social-interactional level that may cause this relationship. To address this gap, we employ a novel experimental design in which respondents…

Examines the tendency of men to engage in domestic violence and sexual exploitation and presents male sex-role acquisition as a process of psychosocial violence against young boys, which creates a sense of shame, powerlessness, self-alienation, isolation from others, and retaliatory rage and inhibits capacities for intimacy and mutuality.…

Subtle effects of gender stereotyping in children's literature were studied in 30 noted children's books from 1984 through 1994. Results show more males in titles and pictures, with no difference in central roles. Males were described as more active, but adjectives used for females were more positively evaluated. (SLD)

Using data collected from a previous pilot study, it was concluded that the primary indicators of masculinity and femininity are appearance and behavior. Presented at the American Psychological Association Convention, Washington, D.C., 1976. (Author)

Examined the effects of labeling an infant as a boy or girl on adult-infant interactions. Subjects for the study were 24 fourteen-month-old infants and 24 adult strangers. (JMB)

Possible antecedents of toddler gender separation were studied with 57 toddlers with a mean age of 35 months. There were no differences between gender-segregating and nonsegregating children regarding gender toy preferences or gender awareness, but teachers saw gender-segregating girls as more socially sensitive. (SLD)

The verbal behavior of the characters of three daytime serials was analyzed over a period of two weeks of continual viewing, and coded into 19 previously developed categories. It was found that despite the recent introduction of new and controversial subject matter into the plot lines of these programs, male and female characters were responding…

Feminine sex-role behavior, which includes deferential, nonassertive behavior, may stem from women's low status position and powerlessness. In a study of male and female college students, perceptions of the acceptability of assertive behavior were examined as a function of: (1) sex and status characteristics of assertive speakers; (2) sex of the…

This study assesses college students' reactions to both men and women who were portrayed as behaving in a manner either congruent or incongruent with sex-role stereotypically based social expectations (e.g., either crying or evincing anger in response to either the death of a spouse or severe job criticism). The subjects were 94 women and 107 men,…

Investigated the influence of the feminist movement on preadolescents' conceptions of sex role behaviors in a sample of 321 students in grades five through eight. Results showed that, while significant sex differences existed, boys who felt positively about Womens Liberation tended to have lower male stereotype scores. (JAC)

Supports the tenet that American college students tend to make assertions that correspond to their sex-role stereotypes. (RL)

The decisions and attitudes of sex-stereotyped and androgynous individuals (as defined by the Bem Sex Role Inventory) were compared in a social conformity paradigm. On each of 160 trials subjects predicted one of two possible stimuli after hearing predictions of two other "subjects." No effects of physical sex were observed. On trials when the…

The Vance Richards Verbal Fluency Test was utilized to study the sex role attitudes of 33 female students enrolled in either undergraduate or graduate teacher education programs. A specially developed classroom simulation instrument and direct classroom observations were also used in an attempt to determine the degree to which teachers' attitudes…

The paper includes a critical analysis of the conceptualization and measurement of the traditional and nontraditional categories of sex-role orientation along with a redefinition of those categories which parallels deCharms's (1968) categories of origin/pawn. This operational definition was applied to a small-group study which found that, as…

The well-meaning liberal male (WMLM) is a man who talks a liberal stereotype but behaves inconsistently with his professed beliefs. Using Ajzen and Fishbein's model of behavioral prediction based on attitudinal assessment, males identified as WMLM's, sincere liberals, and traditionalists from the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) were compared.…