Perceptions Of Gender Roles Research Articles

Sex Differences in Response to Visual Sexual Stimuli: A Review

This article reviews what is currently known about how men and women respond to the presentation of visual sexual stimuli. While the assumption that men respond more to visual sexual stimuli is generally empirically supported, previous reports of sex differences are confounded by the variable content of the stimuli presented and measurement techniques. We propose that the cognitive processing stage of responding to sexual stimuli is the first stage in which sex differences occur. The divergence between men and women is proposed to occur at this time, reflected in differences in neural activation, and contribute to previously reported sex differences in downstream peripheral physiological responses and subjective reports of sexual arousal. Additionally, this review discusses factors that may contribute to the variability in sex differences observed in response to visual sexual stimuli. Factors include participant variables, such as hormonal state and socialized sexual attitudes, as well as variables specific to the content presented in the stimuli. Based on the literature reviewed, we conclude that content characteristics may differentially produce higher levels of sexual arousal in men and women. Specifically, men appear more influenced by the sex of the actors depicted in the stimuli while women's response may differ with the context presented. Sexual motivation, perceived gender role expectations, and sexual attitudes are possible influences. These differences are of practical importance to future research on sexual arousal that aims to use experimental stimuli comparably appealing to men and women and also for general understanding of cognitive sex differences.

Impact of Intimate Partner Violence on Unmet Need for Mental Health Care: Results From the NSDUH

Impact of Intimate Partner Violence on Unmet Need for Mental Health Care: Results From the NSDUH

Relationships between Gender Role Attitudes, Role Division, and Perception of Equity among Heterosexual, Gay and Lesbian Couples

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationships between gender role attitudes, household tasks, and the perception of equity among heterosexual, gay and lesbian couples. One hundred and twenty-four participants (54 heterosexuals, 30 gay men and 40 lesbians) were tested. It was found that same-sex couples had more liberal attitudes toward gender roles than did heterosexual couples. In addition, significant differences were found between the spouses in their responses regarding role division in housekeeping in each group. The responses of heterosexual spouses correlate more closely with each other regarding the role of each of the spouses than was the case for same-sex couples. However, the role division among lesbian couples was more egalitarian than that of heterosexual couples. In addition, heterosexual women consider their married life less equitable than heterosexual men do. Similarly, one of the gay spouses considers the relationship less equitable than the other spouse does. The results are discussed in terms of their relevance to theories of social perception and cultural backgrounds.

‘Relationships Based on Love and Relationships Based on Needs’: Emerging Trends in Youth Sex Culture in Contemporary Urban Vietnam

This paper addresses one of the important dimensions of the experience of youth in contemporary urban Vietnam; that is their sexual practices, behaviour and attitudes. Within a conceptual framework that focuses on sexuality and social change in a modernising and increasingly open society, and based on data collected from ethnographic fieldwork in Hanoi from 1999 to 2004, this paper describes an emerging sexual culture among urban youth. It highlights the emerging trends, issues, and activities which constitute youth sex culture in present-day urban Vietnam. It further argues that the emerging trends in youth sexual culture are reflective of rapid and diverse changes in Vietnamese society as well as the impacts of market reforms on its moral codes, values, and perceptions. There has been a continuation of the ‘traditional’ perceptions of gender roles (particularly the expectation of women to uphold propriety and chastity) and, at the same time, a recognition of the increasingly assertive role of young women in ‘modern’ sexuality and hence of increasing gender equality in this regard. Meanwhile, young Vietnamese nowadays form heterosexual relationships based on both the grammar of love and the grammar of the market.

Key Stage 3 pupils’ perception of music

The key aim of the research summarised in this article was to examine pupils’ perception of music and to determine whether or not these perceptions were the same for both female and male pupils. The empirical enquiry consisted of the administration of a questionnaire to six secondary schools in the north-east of England followed by semi-structured interviews. The results indicated that pupil perception is related to gender role perceptions, with female adolescents exhibiting a more positive attitude to music than their male counterparts. It is therefore argued that more emphasis must be placed on changing male adolescents’ perception of music if their present position as passive consumers of school music is to change.

Where are the Men? Gender Segregation in the Childcare and Early Years Sector

Men are a small minority of childcare workers, and this has contributed to skills shortages which have affected the sector's ability to meet rising demand. The paper looks at current initiatives aimed at recruiting men, particularly through the Government's National Recruitment Campaign, and the benefits which might be gained from their inclusion in the workforce. It explores the barriers to men's employment in the sector, including men's own perceptions of gender roles and attitudes towards ‘women's work’. The paper identifies a range of measures which might lead to greater effectiveness in both recruiting and retaining men to the sector.

Singing gender

In this article, we explore the presentation and contestation of discourses of womanhood in verbal art performance. In Tuscan-Italian Contrasto verbal duels the artists, both males and females, may impersonate female characters as they exchange insults between each other. In doing so, they deploy multiple discourses of womanhood to demonstrate their wit and verbal artistry. As a consequence, they often subvert and contest “appropriate” female behavior as well as ideas of morality, which might be connected to those behaviors. This highlights the manipulability of discourses of womanhood to obtain particular goals. We analyze Contrasti performances where characters of mother-in-law and daughter-in- law are impersonated. We further argue that the contraposition of different discourses on stage increases the fluidity of gender as a category. In this sense poetic performances are revealed as a loci where perceptions of established gender roles and the connected moral order might be negotiated or destabilized.

Eating behavior differences and the perception of gender roles in Czech and German nonclinical samples

This study compares non clinical subjects from the Czech Republic and Germany regarding their eating behavior and attributes they associate with female role models. We assessed Czech and German students and their mothers, 328 subjects in total, by having them complete 2 questionnaires related to weight, eating behavior, as well as different role models (a professionally successful woman, a good mother, etc.). The female Czech students had a lower ideal BMI than the German female students, and were more dissatisfied with their bodies. Thus, the higher drive for thinness in the Czech students could be an indicator for an increased risk regarding eating disorders. Regarding role models, the Czech results were very different from those of the Germans. The Czech women characterized female roles more with items like following own goals, competent in job, competing. The more professional female role description in the Czech Republic reflects the tradition of working women in former socialist states. But the relationship between eating behavior and gender roles remains unclear.

Perceptions of Gender Roles, Gender Power Relationships, and Sexuality in Thai Women Following Diagnosis and Treatment for Cervical Cancer

To describe patients' and their partners' perceptions of gender roles, gender power relationships, and sexuality before diagnosis of and after treatment for cervical cancer. Descriptive. Southern Thailand. 97 women with cervical cancer who received cancer treatment, including radiotherapy, and their partners. Structured interview methods were used to gather information relating to gender roles, gender power relationships, and sexuality. Gender roles, gender power relationships, and sexuality. Fifty-two percent of the women (n = 50) were diagnosed with stage II cervical cancer. The percentage of women who undertook various activities specific to gender roles before their diagnoses was higher than the percentage who undertook the same activities after treatment. An increased percentage of partners undertook the women's gender-role-specific activities after the women received cancer treatment compared with the percentage who did so before diagnosis. Little change in gender power relationships was reported. A high percentage of the couples reported changes in various aspects of their sexuality after cancer treatment compared with before diagnosis. Gender roles, gender power relationships, and sexuality changed for women with cervical cancer and their partners after the women completed cancer treatment. Open discussions among women with cervical cancer, their partners, and oncology nurses are necessary to identify culturally sensitive and appropriate solutions.

Predicting Gender Role Stereotypes among Adolescents in Israel: The Impact of Background Variables, Personality Traits, and Parental Factors

This study examined predictors of gender role stereotypes among a sample of 121 Israeli adolescents aged 13–17. Specifically, the contribution of three sets of variables was tested: background variables, parental factors, and adolescents’ personality traits (self-esteem and tolerance for ambiguity). The findings indicate that background variables contributed most toward predicting adolescents’ gender role types. The adolescent boys expressed more stereotyped gender role perceptions than did the girls. In addition, the older the adolescents, the less stereotyped their perceptions. The contribution of ethnicity was also found to be significant: adolescents of Asian-African background tended to have more stereotyped gender role perceptions than did their counterparts of mixed ethnicity. As for intergenerational transmission of stereotypes, mothers’ gender role stereotypes were found to be more significant predictors than fathers’ stereotypes: mothers transmitted stereotypes equally to sons and daughters, whereas fathers influenced their daughters more than their sons. Finally, adolescents’ personality traits contributed significantly toward predicting their gender role stereotypes: the higher the adolescents’ self-esteem and the greater their tolerance for ambiguity, the less stereotyped their gender role perceptions.

Masculine interest behind high prevalence of female contraceptive methods in rural Nepal

This article explores the nexus between intraspousal power relations and couples' participation in contraceptive decision-making. Further, it discloses whether perceived gender roles and privilege influence couples' contraceptive behaviour in rural Nepal. Two hundred and twenty-three couples from 197 randomly selected households from two rural population clusters in eastern Nepal were interviewed. Additionally, 40 key informants were included to collect in-depth qualitative information. The conclusion provides the essence of the results from quantitative and qualitative analyses. Out of 10 independent variables regarding the social power status of the wives and husbands (education, age, occupation, personal income, household headship, political participation, social participation, access to mass media, exposure to psychological assault and physical assault from husband), four variables, namely education, personal income, exposure to psychological assault and physical assault demonstrated significant influence on wives' participation, while no one variable showed association with husbands' participation in contraceptive decision-making. Despite the husband's domination, husband-wife joint involvement in making contraceptive decisions was common. However, stereotyped gender roles and privilege appeared to be influential in deciding the types of methods to use, to shift the methods, and to terminate using contraception. As an unequal conjugal relationship is one of the factors responsible for the husband's domination in the decision-making process, women's empowerment should be an entry-point for the transformation of gender discriminatory attitudes and behaviour. Women's empowerment enhances an equal conjugal relationship, and thereby helps in achieving equal partnership in reproductive health decision-making.

Social Role Theory and the Perceived Gender Role Orientation of Athletes

In this research we examined the influence of athletic roles upon the perceived gender role orientations of male and female athletes. Participants were 148 students who read a bogus newspaper article that described either a male or female athlete who had successfully competed in an athletic event. The type of sport (football, basketball, and cheerleading) was manipulated. Female football players and basketball players were perceived as higher in agency than female cheerleaders. Male cheerleaders were perceived as higher in communality than male football players and male basketball players. Participants made external attributions concerning the motivations of athletes who competed in gender traditional sports. They made internal attributions concerning the motivations of athletes who competed in gender nontraditional sports. These findings are examined in relation to social role theory.

Measuring Perceptions of Gender Roles: The IAWS for Pakistanis and U.S. Immigrant Populations

A new scale called the Islamic Attitudes Toward Women Scale (IAWS) was developed and administered to a sample of 195 Pakistani adults and to a sample of 140 Muslim immigrants in the United States. In support of the construct validation of the scale, it was found to significantly differentiate between liberal and conservative Muslims in Pakistan, and in both samples, men held more conservative attitudes than women. For both women and men, more liberal scores on the IAWS were correlated with less accepting beliefs about marital violence toward women. In the U.S. immigrant sample, those who had been in the United States longer had less conservative attitudes.

An examination of the current usefulness of the Bem Sex-Role Inventory.

In the present study, an ethnically diverse convenience sample (N = 182; 62% female) of working adults (56%) and college students (M age=30.9 yr., in SD = 12.8, range= 18 to 71) completed the Bem Sex-Role Inventory which is a widely used self-report measure of perceptions of gender roles. Based on their scores, individuals' sex roles can be categorized as Masculine or Feminine (sex-typed) or Androgynous. The results of this study suggest that, almost 30 years after it was first developed, the categories can still be used to categorize men and women of varying ages.

Ali Akbar Mahdi. « Perceptions of Gender Roles Among Female Iranian Immigrants in the United States », in : Parvin Alizadeh, ed., The Economy of Iran: Dilemmas of an Islamic State. London - New York, Tauris, 2002, pp. 189-213

Comment hommes et femmes immigres percoivent-ils les rapports sociaux entre les sexes, autant observes dans leur pays d’origine que ceux qu’ils acquierent dans le pays d’accueil ? Pour repondre a cette question, l’A. a mene une enquete aupres des femmes iraniennes residant aux Etats-Unis. Il a envoye un questionnaire a quelques centaines d’adresses, dans une association culturelle d’Iraniens composee majoritairement d’universitaires, scientifiques, medecins, cadres superieurs. En depit de ce ...

Men's experience of considering counselling: ‘Entering the unknown’

Agency statistics in the UK and North America reveal that fewer men than women attend counselling, at a ratio of about 1:2. This study investigated men's experience of considering counselling, with the aim of gaining further understanding of factors that might contribute to the existing gender discrepancy in utilisation of counselling. Following responses by 47 men to written questionnaires, 10 men who had considered and ultimately attended counselling were interviewed, and a grounded theory method of analysis was used to generate and analyse the participants' experiences. Three interconnected categories emerged: societal perceptions of counselling and gender roles; change of experience over time; and knowledge — ‘knowing’ and ‘not knowing’ the protocols of counselling. The implications of these findings are discussed. It is recommended that prospective male clients should be provided with information about the counselling process, and that there needs to be increased awareness by counsellors and referring agents of male gender issues.

Viewer perception of gender roles on network prime‐time television

This study examines the perception of sex roles on network prime‐time television programming. College students (N = 321) rated major female and males characters in comedies and dramas during prime time using the Bem Sex‐Role Inventory (BSRI). Compared to Peevers' (1979) study, male characters were found to be less sex‐typed. In fact, both sexes were perceived similar to real life people. However, differences were found by genre, with male and female leads perceived as stereotypically depicted in dramas but comparable in comedies. The utility of using character perceptions as a complement to traditional content analyses of TV shows is discussed.

A Study of Subjectivity in the Perception Gender Roles of Women

Purpose : This study is to define the structural patterns of gender roles of women as perceived by co-eds. Method : Q-methodology was used on 174 statements collected through interviews with women aged between 20 an d 50. 38 Q-samples were selected from 330 Q-population. The Q-samples were administered to 29 co-eds. Result : Analysis of Q-type obtained by QUANAL program revealed three types of subjectivity in the perception of gender roles. Type 1, role is characterized by the tendency to play down the female gender role and think that women's body is an essential factor in forming the female gender role. Type 2, rejects motherhood image obedience and chastity dictated by male chauvinism. Type 3, shows a tendency to believeth at female gender cannot be separated from maternity and that women's basic role is housekeeping. The three types were common in believing in self-development and equal rights through economical in dependence.

Diagnosing Response Style Behavior by Means of a Latent-Class Factor Approach. Socio-Demographic Correlates of Gender Role Attitudes and Perceptions of Ethnic Discrimination Reexamined

It is generally accepted that response style behavior in survey research may seriously distort the measurement of attitudes and subsequent causal models that include attitudinal dimensions. However, there in no single accepted methodological approach in dealing with this issue. This article aims at illustrating the flexibility of a latent class factor approach in diagnosing response style behavior and in adjusting findings from causal models with latent variables. We present a substantive example from the Belgian MHSM research project on integration-related attitudes among ethnic minorities. We argue that an extreme response style can be detected in analyzing two independent sets of Likert-type questions referring to `gender roles' and `feelings of ethnic discrimination'. If the response style is taken into account the effect of covariates on attitudinal dimensions is more adequately estimated.

Perceptions of gender roles and attitudes toward work among male and female operatives in the Scottish construction industry

The predominant image of construction is that of a male-dominated industry requiring brute strength and a good tolerance for outdoor conditions, inclement weather and bad language. Reconciling this image with women's participation in the construction industry is problematic. However, there are early signs of a cultural shift in the industry. This paper presents an empirical review of wome's roles within the industry and the ways in which people make sense of their working experience when traditional gender roles are challenged. Based on qualitative research, the study found that men in the industry regarded as the gatekeepers are now finding ways to respond to and make sense of a changing workplace, and the realities that women are now actively encouraged to participate, legally protected against discrimination and more highly represented in non-traditional areas of the construction industry. Women are also findings ways as apprentices and tradespeople to position themselves within this new environment. They identify ways of working that are more likely to ensure a smooth experience for themselves. While the stimulus for the changing face of the workplace is the notion of gender equality, the responses are not gender neutral. All players are trying to negotiate ways to integrate each other into a new environment in a manner which allows them to comfortably reconcile issues of gender.