Innate Differences
Early sex differences in weighting geometric cues
Stella Lourenco et al.
Developmental Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
When geometric and non-geometric information are both available for specifying location, men have been shown to rely more heavily on geometry compared to women. To shed insight on the nature and developmental origins of this sex difference, we examined how 18- to 24-month-olds represented the geometry of a surrounding (rectangular) space when direct non-geometric information (i.e. a beacon) was also available for localizing a hidden object. Children were tested on a disorientation task with multiple phases. Across experiments, boys relied more heavily than girls on geometry to guide localization, as indicated by their errors during the initial phase of the task, and by their search choices following transformations that left only geometry available, or that, under limited conditions, created a conflict between beacon and geometry. Analyses of search times suggested that girls, like boys, had encoded geometry, and testing in a square space ruled out explanations concerned with motivational and methodological variables. Taken together, the findings provide evidence for an early sex difference in the weighting of geometry. This sex difference, we suggest, reflects subtle variation in how boys and girls approach the problem of combining multiple sources of location information.
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Gender Nonconformity, Intelligence, and Sexual Orientation
Qazi Rahman et al.
Archives of Sexual Behavior, forthcoming
Abstract:
The present study explored whether there were relationships among gender nonconformity, intelligence, and sexual orientation. A total of 106 heterosexual men, 115 heterosexual women, and 103 gay men completed measures of demographic variables, recalled childhood gender nonconformity (CGN), and the National Adult Reading Test (NART). NART error scores were used to estimate Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) Full-Scale IQ (FSIQ) and Verbal IQ (VIQ) scores. Gay men had significantly fewer NART errors than heterosexual men and women (controlling for years of education). In heterosexual men, correlational analysis revealed significant associations between CGN, NART, and FSIQ scores (elevated boyhood femininity correlated with higher IQ scores). In heterosexual women, the direction of the correlations between CGN and all IQ scores was reversed (elevated girlhood femininity correlating with lower IQ scores). There were no significant correlations among these variables in gay men. These data may indicate a "sexuality-specific" effect on general cognitive ability but with limitations. They also support growing evidence that quantitative measures of sex-atypicality are useful in the study of trait sexual orientation.
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Yariv Feniger
Sex Roles, forthcoming
Abstract:
A large representative sample (N = 20,816) of Israeli Jewish high school students served to explore differences between coeducational and same-sex schools in advanced math and science courses. Data were obtained from the Israeli population census of 1995 and from the Israeli Ministry of Education. Results from logistic regressions suggest that girls at all-female state religious schools did not differ from girls at coeducational state schools in placement in advanced math, physics and biology courses. But girls at all-female religious schools took advanced computer science courses at a much higher rate than girls at coeducational schools. This finding is attributed to a different curricular policy and not directly to the all-female environment.
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Joseph Gastwirth & Efstathia Bura
Law, Probability and Risk, September 2011, Pages 225-263
Abstract:
When many individual plaintiffs have similar claims against the same defendant, often it is more efficient for them to be combined into a single class action. Due to their increased complexity and larger stakes, in the USA there are special criteria a party seeking to proceed as a class action needs to satisfy. Statistical evidence is often submitted to establish that the members of the proposed class were affected by a common event or policy. In equal employment cases involving an employer with a number of locations or subunits, defendants may argue that the data should be examined separately for each unit, while plaintiffs may pool the data into one or several large samples or focus on a few units in which statistical significance was observed. After describing the statistical issues involved, it will be seen that requiring plaintiffs to demonstrate a statistically significant disparity in a pre-set fraction, e.g. majority of the subunits is too stringent as the power of the statistical test to detect a meaningful disparity in most subunits is too small. On the other hand, when many statistical tests are calculated on data from a fair system, a small percentage of significant disparities will be obtained. Thus, allowing a class action to proceed if the plaintiffs can demonstrate a statistically significant difference in a few subunits is too lax. The use of established methods for combining statistical tests for data organized by appropriate subgroups will be illustrated on data from two recent cases. Using the concept of power, the expected number, E, of subunits in which a statistically significant result would occur if there were a legally meaningful disparity can be determined. Then the observed number, O, of units with a significant disparity can be compared to E, to see whether data are consistent with a pattern, O close to E, indicating unfairness or O clearly less than E, reflecting fairness. Without such a comparison, the number of units with a statistically significant disparity is not meaningful. Both parties in Dukes v. Wal-mart introduced summaries of the p-values of many individual statistical tests that grouped them into a small number of categories. An appropriate overall procedure combines them into a single summary statistic. This analysis shows that the promotion data for the 40 or 41 regions in the Wal-mart case are consistent with an overall system in which the odds an eligible female being promoted were about 70-80% of those of a male. A similar analysis of the p-values of Wal-mart's subunit regressions also is consistent with a general pattern of a degree of underpayment of female employees relative to that of similarly qualified males.
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Implicit Social Cognitions Predict Sex Differences in Math Engagement and Achievement
Brian Nosek & Frederick Smyth
American Educational Research Journal, October 2011, Pages 1125-1156
Abstract:
Gender stereotypes about math and science do not need to be endorsed, or even available to conscious introspection, to contribute to the sex gap in engagement and achievement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The authors examined implicit math attitudes and stereotypes among a heterogeneous sample of 5,139 participants. Women showed stronger implicit negativity toward math than men did and equally strong implicit gender stereotypes. For women, stronger implicit math=male stereotypes predicted greater negativity toward math, less participation, weaker self-ascribed ability, and worse math achievement; for men, those relations were weakly in the opposite direction. Implicit stereotypes had greater predictive validity than explicit stereotypes. Female STEM majors, especially those with a graduate degree, held weaker implicit math=male stereotypes and more positive implicit math attitudes than other women. Implicit measures will be a valuable tool for education research and help account for unexplained variation in the STEM sex gap.
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The Efficacy of Single-Sex Education: Testing for Selection and Peer Quality Effects
Amy Roberson Hayes, Erin Pahlke & Rebecca Bigler
Sex Roles, forthcoming
Abstract:
To address selection and peer quality effects in tests of the efficacy of single-sex schools, the achievement of girls attending a public single-sex middle school in the Southwest United States (N = 121) was compared to that of (a) girls who applied but were not admitted to the same school (N = 229) and (b) girls who applied to and attended a coeducational magnet school (N = 134). Achievement scores were collected over 3 years for the ethnically diverse participants (41 African Americans, 27 Asian Americans, 163 European Americans, 251 Latinos, and two Native Americans). After controlling for selection and peer quality effects, there was no significant effect of the gender composition of schools on achievement. Implications for educational policy are discussed.
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Covert Pay Discrimination: How Authority Predicts Pay Differences between Women and Men
Mohamad Alkadry & Leslie Tower
Public Administration Review, September/October 2011, Pages 740-750
Abstract:
Research repeatedly highlights the gap between male and female earnings across the public and private sectors. The authors address an overlooked manifestation of pay discrimination against women in the labor market. Using a survey of 384 public sector chief procurement officers, they analyze the indirect effects of gender on women's pay through the intervening variable of authority. Gender affects the amount of authority that is delegated to an employee, which, in turn, affects the variance in pay between men and women. Results reveal that gender plays a hidden role in influencing compensation levels by shifting the chain of authority given to executives as they build a career portfolio. The conclusion underscores why gender pay disparities should account for both the indirect and the direct effects of gender on pay.
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All else being equal: Are men always higher in social dominance orientation than women?
Luisa Batalha, Katherine Reynolds & Carolyn Newbigin
European Journal of Social Psychology, October 2011, Pages 796-806
Abstract:
The belief in the gender invariance of many traits is a view that dominates much of psychology. In social psychology, this position is clearly represented by social dominance theory and the construct of social dominance orientation (SDO) where it is argued that, all else being equal, men will be higher in SDO than women. In other domains, though, these assumptions are being questioned, and researchers are arguing for a gender similarities hypothesis. The argument is that men and women are more similar than different, and where there are effects for gender, these are small. In this investigation, men and women are compared under similar cultural (Study 1), ideological, (Study 2) and status (Study 3) contexts to examine whether, all else being equal, men really are higher in SDO than women. In an additional study (Study 4), a meta-analysis is conducted aggregating the effect sizes of the previous studies. Results demonstrated either no effect for gender or an interaction between gender and the relevant social context and only a small effect size of gender - findings that disconfirm the ceteris paribus assumption of social dominance theory. In conclusion, the implications of the findings for understanding gender effects in social psychology are discussed.
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Career and Family Outcomes for Women Graduates of Single-Sex Versus Coed Colleges
Michele Hoffnung
Sex Roles, forthcoming
Abstract:
This study compares educational, career, and family outcomes by gender composition of college and race/ethnicity of women who graduated in 1993 from three selective U.S. colleges (two single-sex; one coed). It also compares these graduates' assessments of their college experience. The 60 White women and 60 Women of Color were interviewed as traditional-age seniors and surveyed annually for 16 years. In 2009, 76.7% responded. All groups were happy with their alma maters, although they assessed the advantages and disadvantages somewhat differently. Single-sex graduates more frequently indicated that their college had provided a supportive environment and complained that it provided a limited social life. Coed graduates more frequently indicated that their college provided cultural broadening and positive social relationships. Coed White graduates were in touch with more college friends than single-sex White graduates; there was no significant difference by type of college for Women of Color graduates. Results indicate no significant differences in advanced degrees or career status or STEM field involvement by gender composition of college or race/ethnicity. Nor were any differences in marriage or motherhood variables found. The similarity in outcomes supports the primacy of status of college and is interpreted as positive indication that U.S. colleges have become more hospitable to women.
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Gender-Bias Primes Elicit Queen-Bee Responses Among Senior Policewomen
Belle Derks et al.
Psychological Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
Queen bees are senior women in male-dominated organizations who have achieved success by emphasizing how they differ from other women. Although the behavior of queen bees tends to be seen as contributing to gender disparities in career outcomes, we argue that queen-bee behavior is actually a result of the gender bias and social identity threat that produce gender disparities in career outcomes. In the experiment reported here, we asked separate groups of senior policewomen to recall the presence or absence of gender bias during their careers, and we measured queen-bee responses (i.e., masculine self-descriptions, in-group distancing, and denying of discrimination). Such gender-bias priming increased queen-bee responses among policewomen with low gender identification, but policewomen with high gender identification responded with increased motivation to improve opportunities for other women. These results suggest that gender-biased work environments shape women's behavior by stimulating women with low gender identification to dissociate with other women and to display queen-bee responses as a way to achieve individual mobility.
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Julia Becker et al.
European Journal of Social Psychology, October 2011, Pages 761-773
Abstract:
Three studies examined how a woman's reaction to a man's benevolently sexist offer of help affected observers' perceptions. Results suggest a dilemma for women: A woman who accepted benevolently sexist help was perceived as warm but incompetent and less suited for a competence-related job (management consultant), whereas a woman who declined help and asserted her independence as a woman was perceived as competent but cold and less suited for a warmth-related job (day care worker). By contrast, observers viewed the male help-offerer especially favorably (warmer, more competent, and more qualified as a management consultant) when the female target accepted (versus confronted) his patronizing offer. But only perceivers who endorsed benevolent sexism showed these effects. Implications for challenging benevolent sexism are discussed.
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Judicial Innovation and Sexual Harassment Doctrine in the U.S. Courts of Appeals
Laura Moyer & Holley Tankersley
Political Research Quarterly, forthcoming
Abstract:
The determination that sexual harassment constituted "discrimination based on sex" under Title VII was first made by the lower federal courts, not Congress. Drawing from the literature on policy diffusion, this article examines the adoption of hostile work environment standards across the U.S. Courts of Appeals in the absence of controlling Supreme Court precedent. The results bolster recent findings about the influence of female judges on their male colleagues and suggest that in addition to siding with female plaintiffs, female judges also helped to shape legal rules that promoted gender equality in the workplace.
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Do sexist organizational cultures create the Queen Bee?
Belle Derks et al.
British Journal of Social Psychology, September 2011, Pages 519-535
Abstract:
‘Queen Bees' are senior women in masculine organizational cultures who have fulfilled their career aspirations by dissociating themselves from their gender while simultaneously contributing to the gender stereotyping of other women. It is often assumed that this phenomenon contributes to gender discrimination in organizations, and is inherent to the personalities of successful career women. We argue for a social identity explanation and examine organizational conditions that foster the Queen Bee phenomenon. Participants were 94 women holding senior positions in diverse companies in The Netherlands who participated in an on-line survey. In line with predictions, indicators of the Queen Bee phenomenon (increased gender stereotyping and masculine self-descriptions) were found mostly among women who indicated they had started their career with low gender identification and who had subsequently experienced a high degree of gender discrimination on their way up. By contrast, the experience of gender discrimination was unrelated to signs of the Queen Bee phenomenon among women who indicated to be highly identified when they started their career. Results are discussed in light of social identity theory, interpreting the Queen Bee phenomenon as an individual mobility response of low gender identified women to the gender discrimination they encounter in their work.
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Gender bias in employment contexts: A closer examination of the role incongruity principle
Crystal Hoyt
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
This research extends the role incongruity analysis of employment-related gender bias by investigating the role of dispositional and situational antecedents, specifically political ideology and the salience of cues to the traditional female gender role. The prediction that conservatives would show an anti-female candidate bias and liberals would show a pro-female bias when the traditional female gender role is salient was tested across three experimental studies. In Study 1, 126 participants evaluated a male or a female job applicant with thoughts of the traditional female gender role activated or not. Results showed that when the gender role is salient, political ideology moderates evaluations of the female candidates such that conservatives evaluate her negatively and liberals evaluate her positively. Study 2 (89 participants) replicated this effect and showed that this political ideology-based bias does not occur when the non-traditional female gender role is made salient. Study 2 also demonstrated that the observed effects are not driven by liberals' and conservatives' differing perceptions regarding the female applicant's qualifications for the job. Finally, Study 3 (159 participants) both replicated the political ideology-based evaluation bias for female candidates and demonstrated that this bias is mediated by conservatives' and liberals' attitudes toward the roles of women in society.
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Céline Bagès & Delphine Martinot
British Journal of Social Psychology, September 2011, Pages 536-543
Abstract:
Same-gender role models are likely to improve girls' math performance. This field experiment examined whether the explanation given for a role model's success also influence children's math performance. Fifth graders were presented with a female or a male role model before a difficult math test and were informed about the cause of his/her math success (effort vs. ability vs. no explanation). The results showed that the gender of a hardworking role model did not influence math performance. In contrast, when the role model's success was not explained or explained by abilities, children performed better with the female role model than with the male role model. The hardworking role model and the female role model allowed reducing stereotype threat among girls.