Gender Role Conformity Research Articles

A Disproportionate Burden of Care: Gender Differences in Mental Health, Health-Related Quality of Life, and Social Support in Mexican Multiple Sclerosis Caregivers

Background. Multiple sclerosis (MS) rates in Latin America are increasing, and caregivers there experience reduced mental and physical health. Based on rigid gender roles in Latin America, women more often assume caregiving duties, yet the differential impact on women of these duties is unknown. Methods. This study examined gender differences in mental health (Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Satisfaction with Life Scale, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and Zarit Burden Inventory), health-related quality of life (HRQOL; Short Form-36), and social support (Interpersonal Support Evaluation List-12) in 81 (66.7% women) Mexican MS caregivers. Results. As compared to men caregivers, women had lower mental health (p = 0.006), HRQOL (p < 0.001), and social support (p < 0.001). This was partially explained by women caregivers providing care for nearly twice as many hours/week as men (79.28 versus 48.48, p = 0.018) and for nearly three times as many months (66.31 versus 24.30, p = 0.002). Conclusions. Because gender roles in Latin America influence women to assume more substantial caregiving duties, MS caregiver interventions in Latin America—particularly for women caregivers—should address the influence of gender-role conformity on care and psychosocial functioning.

Dimensions of Disrespect

The current study broadens our understanding of workplace gender harassment (a subdomain of sex-based harassment) by developing an expanded taxonomy and measurement instrument. We move beyond sexual insults to include hostility targeting one’s gender, gender role (non)conformity, and motherhood status. In Study 1, we convened a panel of seven subject matter experts to brainstorm behaviors covering the full content domain of gender harassment, which they later grouped into categories in an open card-sorting task. To tap these categories, we combined survey items from the existing literature with a pool of new items. In Study 2, we administered these items to 425 working women. Exploratory principal axis factoring and confirmatory factor analyses revealed an underlying five-factor structure in these data, reflecting both new and extant themes from the literature. This work culminated in a 20-item scale, the Gender Experiences Questionnaire, assessing five dimensions of gender harassment: Sexist Remarks, Sexually Crude/Offensive Behavior, Infantilization, Work/Family Policing, and Gender Policing. This multidimensional conceptualization of gender harassment, coupled with the new measure, offers a more nuanced view of women’s experiences of hostile work environments. This can further the work of researchers, human resources personnel, managers, educators, policy makers, law scholars and practitioners, and other specialists seeking to understand (and scale back) harassment based on sex and gender. This understanding can potentially inform intervention and prevention efforts in any organized setting (e.g., work, school, and politics) where gender may be devalued.

Victimization and Gender Identity in Single-Sex and Mixed-Sex Schools: Examining Contextual Variations in Pressure to Conform to Gender Norms

Contextual variations in the association between gender role conformity and victimization were studied in fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade girls (N = 469) from same- and mixed-sex schools located in lower middle class neighborhoods in two cities (Bogota and Barranquilla) in Colombia. Self-report questionnaires were used to measure peer victimization (i.e., when a child is the target of negative actions from her/his peers) and gender identity. We hypothesized a negative relationship between typicality and peer victimization in that more gender typical children would be less victimized. We also expected to find a stronger association between gender typicality and victimization in contexts with higher levels of pressure to conform to gender norms. Results indicated that the girls in the single-sex schools endorsed significantly higher levels of gender typicality and felt pressure to conform to gender norms than the girls in the mixed-sex schools. The girls in the mixed-sex schools reported significantly higher levels of peer victimization. Girls in the same-sex schools reported lower levels of peer victimization in classrooms with high levels of perceived pressure to conform to gender norms. Multilevel modeling revealed that gender typicality was negatively associated with peer victimization among the girls in the same-sex schools and was uncorrelated with victimization in the mixed-sex school. These findings add to the database indicating that peers relationships are affected by gender and that the effects of gender are moderated by group composition.

“HIV testing is so gay”: The role of masculine gender role conformity in HIV testing among men who have sex with men.

Men who have sex with men (MSM) account for more than half of all new cases of HIV infection in the United States. Yet, many MSM are unaware of their HIV serostatus. Consistent with research indicating that gender role conformity impacts health behaviors, this study examined how masculine norms may influence HIV testing among MSM in the United States. Data from 170 self-identified MSM (age M = 46.45, SD = 12.18) of self-reported negative or unknown HIV serostatus living in the United States were used in this study. About half (52%) of participants reported that they had been tested for HIV within the past 12 months; 48% reported that they had not. Logistic regression was used to examine the association between domains of masculine gender role conformity and HIV testing within the past 12 months, controlling for number of sexual partners in the last 12 months. The masculine norm of heterosexual self-presentation (i.e., desire to be perceived by others as heterosexual) was negatively associated with HIV testing (B = -0.74, SE B = 0.36, O.R. = 0.48, 95% CI [0.24, 0.96]), after controlling for the effect of number of sexual partners. Psychologists and other health professionals may remain mindful of potential implications of HIV testing among MSM, including potential for MSM to view HIV testing as an "outing" procedure.

An abbreviated tool for assessing conformity to masculine norms: Psychometric properties of the Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory-46.

The Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory – 46 (Parent & Moradi, 2009) is a useful tool with which to assess masculine gender role conformity. The CMNI-46 retained and built on the psychometric strengths of the original CMNI (Mahalik et al., 2003) while offering greater efficiency at approximately half of the length of the original measure. The present study offers additional examination of the reliability, validity, and factor structure of the CMNI-46 with a sample of 255 college men. In this sample, confirmatory factor analysis results suggested acceptable fit of the posited factor structure. Evidence of reliability was garnered with Cronbach’s alphas in the good to excellent range across subscales. Correlations with convergent and discriminant validity indicators were supportive of the validity of subscale scores in this sample, but suggested some caution in interpreting scores on the Playboy subscale. Overall, the findings offered psychometric support for use of the CMNI-46 in research and practice pertaining to men and masculinity.

Young people's comparisons of cross-gender and same-gender bullying in British secondary schools

Background: Young people are highly aware of gender differences in bullying, yet little is known about boys bullying girls and vice versa. Most research focuses on bullies and victims but rarely on bully–victim dyads. Since same-gender bullying is more frequent than cross-gender bullying, studies on same-gender bullying tend to dominate. The aim of this study is to extend knowledge on cross-gender and same-gender bullying. Currently there is no consensus on whether same-gender and cross-gender bullies are associated with particular forms of bullying. A reason is that gender has traditionally been used as a subject variable in bullying research, whereas a gender-as-a-stimulus framework may be more useful for understanding cross-gender bullying. Purpose: The following study takes a gender-as-a-stimulus-variable focus in order to determine how boys and girls in British secondary schools socially construct cross-gender and same-gender bullying. Gender refers to masculinity and femininity roles that are socially constructed. Such ‘myths’ about dichotomous gender differences nonetheless impact on ‘real’ bullying experiences since they structure status hierarchies, and children tend to evaluate their own and their peers' adequacy in terms of gender stereotypes. To increase our understanding of how gender and gender roles affect power imbalances in the school-bullying dynamic and risk for victimisation, this study asks: ‘Why might a boy (girl) bully a girl (boy)?’ and ‘Is a female (male) victim worse off with a same-gender bully or a cross-gender bully?’ Sample: From eight mixed-sex British state secondary schools, 471 students, aged 11–16, sampled from Years 7, 9 and 11, were interviewed in 96 groups of approximately five students each (about 60 students from each school). The average age of the students in the study was 13 years 6 months, and 54% of the sample were girls. Four of the schools were in Cambridgeshire, an area of low ethnic mix and relatively high socio-economic status (SES), and four in east London, an area of high ethnic mix and lower SES. Design and methods: Taking an interpretivist approach, qualitative data were collected through 96 semi-structured group interviews between November 2003 and May 2004. Rather than assuming a dichotomous gender model, the gender distribution of the groups was left to chance, resulting in 86 mixed-sex groups. Each group read a short vignette about a person of their own age who is being bullied by same-gender and opposite genders peers. Half of the groups were allocated a vignette about a male victim and the other half a female victim. To balance this interpretivist focus with findings about gender-as-a-subject-variable, quantitative data were collected via 404 individual interviews, and the focus group data were subjected to limited quantification. Results: Bullying, like peer relationships, needs to conform to age and gender norms if individuals are to minimise risk for further victimisation. There are disparities of power between bully and victim which are considered more acceptable to exploit and disparities which are less acceptable to exploit. The least problematic bully–victim dyad is boy-to-boy. The most unacceptable dyad is a boy physically harming a girl, even if in defence against the girl's bullying behaviour. Conclusions: As well as reflecting gender stereotypes, students' discourse also demonstrated considerable variability and inconsistency, illustrating the complexity of gender role development and the dynamic experience of gender-related bullying. Both gender-role conformity and non-conformity were cited by students as making bullying problematic. This study contributes to knowledge about social cognitions that support and prohibit bullying in different bully–victim dyads.

Predicting health behaviors in young men that put them at risk for heart disease.

There were 161 young adult men who completed measures assessing their health beliefs, masculinity, perceptions of the normativeness of health behaviors in other men, and heart healthy behaviors (i.e., diet, exercise, alcohol abuse, tobacco use, and medical screenings). Men’s heart-healthy behaviors were predicted by beliefs of benefits to healthy behavior, barriers, health knowledge, normativeness of men’s health-promoting behavior, and interaction between masculinity and barriers. The discussion addresses how the Health Belief model applied to men’s heart healthy behaviors may be enhanced through greater consideration of sociocontextual variables such as gender role conformity and social norms. The authors suggest that future research might address multimodal interventions aimed at improving men’s heart health that address both beliefs and men’s social context.

Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Conformity to Feminine Norms Inventory and Development of an Abbreviated Version: The CFNI-45

The present study undertakes the first factor analysis of the Conformity to Feminine Norms Inventory (CFNI) conducted since the instrument's development. Confirmatory factor analysis using data from 243 women offered mixed support for the original 84-item CFNI structure and pointed to ways to modify the structure and reduce the length of the measure; these modifications resulted in the nine-factor CFNI-45. The CFNI-45 demonstrates superior data-model fit and comparable reliability coefficients relative to the original form of the measure. The CFNI-45 subscales also yielded high correlations with corresponding original form subscales, supporting use of the CFNI-45 as an efficient measure of the original constructs. Potential uses of the CFNI-45 in research and practice that address the role of feminine gender-role conformity in women's experiences are discussed.

The relationship between pain tolerance and trait aggression: effects of sex and gender role

The literature on pain and aggression has indicated that pain elicits aggression. However, research has generally examined pain as a situational variable and focused less on the dispositional ability of an individual to tolerate pain. The dearth of research on pain tolerance and aggression appears to contradict the existing theory on the aggression-eliciting effect of pain, in that studies have found a positive relationship between pain tolerance and aggression. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the relationship between pain tolerance and aggression is moderated by sex and whether the positive relationship could be explained by masculine gender role conformity. A sample of 195 collegiate men and women completed trait measures and a laboratory assessment of pain tolerance. Results indicated that correlations between pain tolerance and trait aggression were significant and positive for men but not women. However, when men's conformity to masculine gender role was controlled for, the relationship between pain tolerance and trait aggression was nil and nonsignificant. Results are discussed in reference to socialization and maintenance of masculine status.

Gender role conformity and aggression: Influence of perpetrator and victim conformity on direct physical aggression in women

The wealth of literature indicating that men are more physically aggressive than women may be the reason for the dearth of research on physical aggression in women. However, recent research has found that this discrepancy is better attributed to conformity to gender roles rather than to biological sex. The purpose of the present study was to assess the influence of masculine and feminine gender role conformity on direct physical aggression in women. One-hundred eighty four women were recruited to compete in a sham aggression paradigm against either a hyperfeminine (gender role conforming) or hypofeminine (gender role violating) confederate woman. Results indicated that women evinced more physical aggression toward a hypofeminine woman than toward her hyperfeminine counterpart. Moreover, endorsement of masculine traits by female aggressors was positively correlated with behavioral and self-reports of physical aggression. Femininity was unrelated to behavioral indices of physical aggression but negatively correlated with self-reports of aggression. Findings are discussed in reference to the increased risk of victimization of women who deviate from gender-specific role norms and the impact of perpetrator gender role adherence on aggressive behavior. Future examination of differential effects of general nonconformity on aggression as an alternative explanation of the findings is required.

Precursors of learning experiences in Social Cognitive Career Theory

This study extended the research on Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT; [Lent, R. W., Brown, S. D., & Hackett, G. (1994). Toward a unifying social cognitive theory of career and academic interest, choice, and performance. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 45, 79–122]) by examining the contributions of 3 person inputs (personality, gender, and conformity to gender role norms) to career-related learning experiences for each of Holland’s [Holland, J. L. (1997). Making vocational choices: A theory of vocational personalities and work environments (3rd ed.). Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources] 6 RIASEC themes. Participants (144 female and 113 male college students) completed measures of personality, conformity to feminine and masculine role norms, and learning experiences for Holland’s RIASEC themes. Results of path analyses indicated that the combination of person inputs explained a significant proportion of variance in each of the RIASEC-based learning experiences. Results supported 9 of 13 hypothesized relations involving personality, and suggested that for some personality traits, the relation to RIASEC-based learning experiences is both direct and indirect, via conformity to gender role norms. Results also revealed that gender predicted learning experiences for 5 of the 6 Holland themes; however, 4 of those relations were partially or completely mediated by conformity to gender role norms. Finally, findings supported 5 of 12 hypothesized relations involving conformity to gender role norms, and suggested that gender role conformity may be most relevant to learning experiences in the Realistic and Social domains.

Homosexual Signification

ABSTRACT Contemporary attempts to define homophobia argue that it is a composite prejudice reflecting attitudes toward masculinity, sexual license, and social norms. Influenced by studies of other forms of prejudice, researchers have focused on trying to identify characteristics of a “homophobic personality.” Strategies to reduce homophobia emphasize education and tolerance. There has yet to be an engaged, respectful discussion of the validity of the fears which constitute the phobia in homophobia. This paper suggests a taxonomy of moral themes which recur in arguments against homosexuality. Judeo-Christian writers quote the scriptural proscription of male anal intercourse and the particularly Christian notion of homosexuality as sin (although it is but one particular in a general denunciation of all non-reproductive sexual acts). Secular concern with masculinity, sex and gender role conformity is also a source of homophobic angst. The contention that homosexual acts are against nature is premised on the biological imperative toward reproduction of the species. It does not address the possibility that human sexuality may have other ends and it certainly is not against an individual nature. Clerical and civic authority exist to maintain social order and to restrain individual license and to justify the establishment of a normative sexuality. Among marginalized groups, the practice of exclusive homosexuality may provoke fears of ethnic extinction. Lastly, homosexuality has a history associated with social evils, debauchery, prostitution, criminality and pathology. That heritage still affects the desirability or fear of identification as a homosexual or association with homosexuals. It is my intent that this paper will contribute to understanding the etiology of antagonistic attitudes toward homosexuality and promote an overdue acceptance.

Gender-role orientation and social expectations regarding female adolescents' coping with developmental tasks 1The preparation of this article was facilitated by a grant from the Swiss National Foundation for young researchers, financed by the local research committee of the University of Fribourg to the first author during her stay at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA. We are grateful to

This study focuses on the importance of social developmental expectations, assessed as emotional and cognitive evaluations regarding the timing and the gender-role conformity of normative developmental tasks. Two central questions were raised. First, to what degree do the timing and the gender-role conformity affect the adults' expectations? Second, how much does the adults' own gender-role orientation (GRO), classified as traditional vs. liberal, affect their expectations? A 4 (timing modus) × 2 (developmental task) × 2 (gender-role conformity)-factorial design was administered to a sample of 140 adults of both sexes, 20 to 81 years old. Coping in time and with gender-role typical career received the most approval. Typical developmental tasks were more approved by persons with a traditional than with a liberal GRO. However, the evaluation of non-typical developmental tasks was not affected by the GRO. The possibility of a shift in normative expectations toward more liberal, diverse, and self-defined female gender-roles is discussed.

Gender-Related Factors Influencing Perceptions of Homosexuality

There is a long history linking gender role conformity to perceived homosexuality. However, the lack of a systematic theoretical model hinders the elucidation of the interrelationships among gender stereotypes, conformity to gender stereotypes, and perceived homosexuality, as well as other factors which may mediate these relationships. The purpose of the present study was to propose such a model by combining theories of gender stereotype formation and maintenance with research investigating perceptions of homosexuality. Specifically, this study examined college students' perceptions of gender role characteristics in male and female adult target persons and these students' perceptions of the likelihood that the targets were homosexual. Path analysis demonstrated that the sex and occupation of the target person were significantly related to perceived masculinity, femininity, and homosexuality of the target person. Furthermore, individual differences in these relationships were observed, indicating that the sex and gender role characteristics of the participant influenced perceptions of the gender role attributes and homosexuality of the target person.

Machos and sluts: gender, sexuality, and violence among a cohort of Puerto Rican adolescents.

During the past decade, interpersonal violence increasingly has become a public health concern. As a result, prevention programs now aim to decrease violence among diverse populations. This article describes the beliefs and rationale for gender-based violence among a cohort of low-income, predominantly second-generation, mainland Puerto Rican adolescents. Based on a three-year (1989-91) ethnographic study, the findings describe how these young people, through the use of gender-based social constructs such as "machos" and "sluts," justify violence by linking it to beliefs about gender roles, sexuality, and biology, and thus perpetuate gender-role conformity, particularly heterosexual male dominance. The findings suggest that if the public health community is going to reduce gender-based violence among Puerto Rican youth, it needs to acknowledge that gender and sexuality are important ingredients that support violence and avoid a simplified and stereotypical model of culture that ignores other social factors and changes in traditional Latino gender roles.

The Context of Anti-Gay Violence

Hate crimes against lesbians and gay men occur within a broader cultural context that is permeated by heterosexism. Heterosexism is defined here as an ideological system that denies, denigrates, and stigmatizes any nonheterosexual form of behavior, identity, relationship, or community. It operates principally by rendering homosexuality invisible and, when this fails, by trivializing, repressing, or stigmatizing it. This article focuses upon the nexus between cultural heterosexism and individual prejudice against lesbians and gay men. Key components of the ideologies of sex and gender from which heterosexism derives are identified: (a) the personal-public dichotomy, (b) the stigmatization of particular forms of sexuality, and (c) the linkage of heterosexuality to gender-role conformity. Supported by these ideological underpinnings, cultural heterosexism fosters individual anti-gay attitudes by providing a ready-made system of values and stereotypical beliefs that justify such prejudice as “natural.” By imbuing homosexuality with a variety of symbolic meanings, cultural heterosexism enables expressions of individual prejudice to serve various psychological functions. Further, by discouraging lesbians and gay men from coming out to others, heterosexism perpetuates itself. Recent social trends that may affect the ideology of heterosexism are identified, and their potential for reducing anti-gay prejudice is discussed.

Pelvic shape, gender role conformity and sexual satisfaction

An attempt was made to replicate Schlegel's finding that pelvic shape relates to masculinity - femininity of personality and marital stability. Seventy pregnant women completed scales of masculinity, feminism and sexual satisfaction before a gynaecological examination in which the width of their pelvic outlet was measured by external calipers. Although pelvic shape was not significantly related to either masculinity or feminism in their own right, quadrant analysis revealed that feminine/nonfeminist women were both wider in pelvic outlet and more sexually satisfied than other women. This was interpreted as weak support for the theory that pelvic shape and behavioural sex roles are jointly determined by sex hormones circulating during foetal development.